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In reply to the discussion: A giant insect ecosystem is collapsing due to humans. It's a catastrophe [View all]SaintLouisBlues
(1,257 posts)the Western World is a huge part of the problem.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/american-consumption-habits/
It is well known that Americans consume far more natural resources and live much less sustainably than people from any other large country of the world. A child born in the United States will create thirteen times as much ecological damage over the course of his or her lifetime than a child born in Brazil, reports the Sierra Clubs Dave Tilford, adding that the average American will drain as many resources as 35 natives of India and consume 53 times more goods and services than someone from China.
Tilford cites a litany of sobering statistics showing just how profligate Americans have been in using and abusing natural resources. For example, between 1900 and 1989 U.S. population tripled while its use of raw materials grew by a factor of 17. With less than 5 percent of world population, the U.S. uses one-third of the worlds paper, a quarter of the worlds oil, 23 percent of the coal, 27 percent of the aluminum, and 19 percent of the copper, he reports. Our per capita use of energy, metals, minerals, forest products, fish, grains, meat, and even fresh water dwarfs that of people living in the developing world