That should take about 50 more years by projected estimates.

I agree that land space is not a problem, but food and natural resources (especailly) will be.

Selfishly speaking for our little race though, I can say we shouldn't have too much of a problem. The "S" curve of life will kick in.. As we run out of resources and food to sustain ourselves, our population will begin decreasing in size until we CAN sustain ourselves. Humanity will not become extinct because of lack of food or resouces (aside from global disaster).

You can bet our great grandchildren, and possibly our grandchildren will grow up in a world that will feel the crunch of overpopulation though.

Currently fossil fuels are estimated to last for another 75 years, while nuclear power will suffice for around 300 with current resources. I dont' have any estimates on food though - Homework for someone perhaps?

As far as species go, we are very versatile. We are masters of our environment, and for this reason I believe humans can devise more efficient and intelligent ways of gathering and using resources. Depending on what the future of science has to offer, over-population may be greatly post poned. But the threat is there and it gets closer every decade.

You should check some global population statistics and see exactly how exponential human growth is.

Interstingly enough, the reason we became "intelligent" is because we do eat meat. That one brave little monkey got so hungy that it decided to chomp down on a juicy carcass - And because of this - We were able to sustain ourselves for weeks on a single meal. For the first time, we had excess energy.. Energy that evolution put to good usage - The brain.

The brain requires roughly 25% of the total energy used by your body. Our Neandrethal brethern were no so fortunate to be avid eat meaters and their brains did not have the luxury of developing. Ours did... So we killed them all. Yay Magnum! :rolleyes:

I agree that humankind will never be a peaceable species for as long as we are barbaric enough to feast on sentient beings, but it has been a necessity for our race to achieve evolution's idea of perfection.

It's hard to change roughly 60,000 years of genetic programming and people just now are getting the message that vegetarianism may be a wise choice. For as long as high-calorie, fatty foods taste good to the majority of us - animals will continu to be slaughtered and eaten by many.

Given the abundance of edible plants out there, I think it will be very good to switch over from omnivore to herbivore one day. Much energy is lost in the heiarchy of the food chain.. We should be going directly to the source which is plants. This is most economical, enviromental and conscious route to take. But you must realize Veh, that conversion on a global scale will take many thousands of years.

For now though, I like the taste of a number of meats and I will continue to eat them. It's bad for me and bad for them, but I'm programmed to like meat and gladly fall into my cravings at the expense of others.

Life feeds life - That's just the way it is. Sure, there are better ways of doing it, but hey.. I'm only human.

Similarly, I would recommend "The Jungle".. It's quite an eye opened and a stomach churner from what I remember.