Andrew Shelley wrote:

>>The number of the race of man is increasing.
>>
>>
>
>It is not possible for the human carrying capacity of the earth to have been
>exceeded, whilst at the same time having an increasing human population. Hence
>my original assertion, that the carrying capacity has not yet been exceeded.
>
Actually, it is possible due to the use of fossil fuels.  If you trace
the graph of petroleum
extraction and lay on it the graph of population growth starting from
the beginning of the
20th century, they match almost completely.  Petroleum gave the human
species more
resources to draw upon.  Without it, population would be much lower.  And
as it declines (which it MUST; petroleum is not infinite), population
will decline too.
You can't feed people with good intentions.

>
>
>
>
>>The number of humans might  have been stable for thousands of years.
>>
>>
>
>The population being stable implies that the birth and death rate
>are exactly matched, ie, on average, each person has exactly one child.
>I find this improbable.
>
LOL.  Over the years, if half the people have 2 children, and half have
none, you get
to the same place.  If the population grew 10% in some good years, and
dropped by 10% due to
famine, you're back at the same place.  It does not mean that each and
every year for thousands of
year there were * exactly * the same number of people on the planet.

    Lynnet