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EARTH'S LIMITED CARRYING CAPACITY!!

6/23/2026

EARTHS LIMITED CARRYING-CAPACITY FOR HUMANITY

THERE IS NO OTHER SPECIES THAT HAS ALTERED EARTH’S NATURAL WORLD AND LANDSCAPE THE WAY HUMANS HAVE. HUMANITY’S IMPACT ON THE LAND HAS BEEN SO GREAT THAT WE ARE NOW CROSSING INTO A GEOLOGICAL NEW ERA KNOWN AS THE ANTHROPOCENE ERA, WHICH IS DRIVEN BY HUMAN BEHAVIOR. SINCE THE HUMAN SPECIES WAS FIRST INTRODUCED ON EARTH, AND CHOSE TO BE THE MASTER OF THEIR OWN DESTINY, THERE HAS BEEN AN EVER-INCREASING ADVERSE IMPACT ON OUR PLANET AND THE NATURAL WORLD. LIVING IN BALANCE WITH NATURE WAS A REQUIREMENT DURING THE HUNTER-GATHER PERIOD, BUT BEGAN TO GRADUALLY SHIFT AS WE MOVED INTO THE AGRICULTURAL PERIOD. WORLD POPULATIONS REMAINED MINIMAL FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, SO IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT WAS MINOR.
IT IS BELIEVED THAT MANKIND FIRST APPEARED ON EARTH ABOUT 650,000 YEARS AGO. THE EVOLUTIONARY CHANGES IN THE POPULATION NUMBERS OF THE HUMAN SPECIES WAS VERY SLOW UNTIL ABOUT 1400 AD WHEN EUROPE BEGAN EXPERIENCING RESOURCE AND ENERGY SHORTAGES. THIS LED TO THE NEED TO FINANCE EXPEDITIONS TO DISCOVER NEW LANDS AND SOURCES TO SUPPLY THE NEEDED RESOURCES AND FOOD FOR THE EUROPEAN POPULATION.
THE MID 1800’S INTRODUCED THE “INDUSTRIAL “REVOLUTION”, AS THE WORLD POPULATION WAS APPROACHING ONE BILLION PEOPLE. THE DAMAGE TO THE NATURAL WORLD ACCELERATED BEYOND ACCEPTABLE LEVELS. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, MASS SPECIES EXTINCTION, AND OVER-EXPLOITATION OF OUR GLOBAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY ARE CURRENT EXAMPLES OF HUMANITY’S EFFORTS TO ALTER THE LANDSCAPE AND THE NATURAL WORLD. OUR RAPID GROWTH IN WORLD POPULATION, COUPLED WITH INCREASED AFFLUENCE AND RAPID INCREASE FOR CONSUMPTION OF GOODS AND SERVICES, IS DRIVING OUR PLANET CLOSER TO IT’S LIMITED CARRYING-CAPACITY, WITH AN EXPECTED WORLD POPULATION OF 10 BILLION PEOPLE BY 2050. MANY ECOLOGISTS SUGGEST OUR RESOURCE AND ENERGY SUPPLIES ARE ALREADY UNABLE TO MEET OUR GROWING DEMANDS, AS WE ARE DEPLETING OUR RESERVES TO MEET CURRENT CONSUMPTION DEMANDS. ON THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT, OUR CURRENT LIFE STYLE REQUIRES ABOUT 20 ACRES OF LAND TO SATISFY OUR CURRENT LEVEL OF CONSUMPTION OF RESOURCES AND ENERGY. DIVIDING THE LAND BASE ON EARTH BY OUR CURRENT WORLD POPULATION, PROVIDES ONLY SLIGHTLY OVER 4 ACRES PER PERSON.
PREDICTING THE CARRYING-CAPACITY OF EARTH FOR THE HUMAN SPECIES IS DIFFICULT AS IT DEPENDS UPON HUMAN CHOICES; HOW MUCH EACH PERSON CONSUMES, HOW FOOD IS PRODUCED, HOW ENERGY IS GENERATED, AND HOW WASTE IS MANAGED. THESE VARIABLES FOR MOST ANIMALS REMAINS CONSISTENT IN THEIR RESOURCE USE AND BEHAVIOR, ALLOWING FOR MORE ACCURATE PREDICTIONS OF THEIR ECOSYSTEMS CARRYING-CAPACITY.
RESOURCE CONSUMPTION IS ONLY PART OF THE ISSUE. EARTH CARRYING-CAPACITY IS ALSO LIMITED BY CLIMATE STABILITY, CHEMICAL POLLUTION, BIODIVERSITY AND OTHER EARTH SYSTEMS. RESEARCHERS AT THE STOCKHOLM RESILIENCE CENTRE, IN AN EFFORT TO DEFINE A FRAMEWORK FOR PLANETARY BOUNDARIES, IDENTIFIED NINE CRITICAL THRESHOLDS THAT ESTABLISH A “SAFE OPERATING SPACE” FOR OUR CIVILIZATION. THEIR RECENT REVIEW DISCLOSED THAT SIX OF THOSE BOUNDARIES HAVE ALREADY BEEN EXCEEDED. THEY INCLUDE LAND-SYSTEM CHANGES, LOSS OF DIVERSITY, NUTRIENT POLLUTION, AVAILABILITY OF FRESHWATER, AND THE INTRODUCTION OF CHEMICALS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION IS CLOSE TO EXCEEDING ACCEPTABLE LEVELS. THE RESEARCH ALSO REVEALED THAT THE AMOUNT OF BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTION HUMANS REQUIRE FOR THEIR CURRENT LIFE STYLES, HAS EXCEEDED THE LEVEL NEEDED TO MAINTAIN FUNCTIONAL ECOSYSTEMS.
THE UNITED NATIONS PROJECT THAT GLOBAL POPULATION WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND FOR THE NEXT 50 TO 60 YEARS, WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE GROWTH OCCURRING IN AFRICA AND PARTS OF ASIA. THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU PREDICTS THE WORLD POPULATION WILL REACH 10 BILLION PEOPLE BY 2050. WHETHER EARTH CAN SUSTAIN 10 BILLION PEOPLE DEPENDS LESS ON THE NUMBERS THAN ON HOW THESE PEOPLE LIVE. CURRENT CONSUMPTION PATTERNS ARE ALREADY UNSUSTAINABLE FOR 8 BILLION PEOPLE, WHICH IS OUR CURRENT WORLD POPULATION.
THE ANSWER TO “WHAT IS EARTH’S CARRYING-CAPACITY” IS THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY EXCEEDING IT AT OUR CURRENT STANDARD OF LIVING, PARTICULARLY IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. THE PLANET CAN ONLY REGENERATE ENOUGH RESOURCES FOR LESS PEOPLE THAN WE CURRENTLY HAVE, AT THE PRESENT AVERAGE DAILY CONSUMPTION LEVEL. THE NUMBER COULD GO UP WITH MAJOR SHIFTS IN HOW WE PRODUCE FOOD, GENERATE ENERGY AND DISTRIBUTE RESOURCES. IT IS MORE LIKELY TO GO DOWN IF SOIL DEGRADATION, CLIMATE DISRUPTION, AND BIODIVERSITY LOSS CONTINUE UNDERMINING THE NATURAL SYSTEMS THAT SUPPORT AGRICULTURE AND CLEAN WATER. “CARRYING-CAPACITY IS NOT A NUMBER WE DISCOVER. IT IS A NUMBER WE CHOOSE THROUGH THE WAY WE LIVE!
WE HAVE ENJOYED THE GOOD LIFE! WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY THE BOUNTY OF LIFE SUSTAINING ELEMENTS FROM THE NATURAL WORLD. WE HAVE OVER-POPULATED AND OVER-HARVESTED. PAST CULTURES COLLAPSED AND FAILED DUE TO THEIR INABILITY TO RESOLVE THESE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. DO WE FOLLOW HISTORY OR USE OUR TALENTS AND SKILLS TO PROLONG LIFE ON THIS MAGICAL PLANET? IT WILL NOT BE EASY, BUT WE CAN PROVIDE A MORE DESIRABLE FUTURE.

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June 15th, 2026

6/15/2026

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DESTRUCTION OF THE NATURAL WORLD!

I JUST COMPLETED REVIEWING AN ARTICLE BY ED BOKS, PAST BOARD MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL ANIMAL CONTROL ASSOCIATION, ABOUT POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT IN FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN CALIFORNIA. THE CHANGE IS DESIGNED TO GROW CHEAP FAST GROWING TIMBER. THE RESULT WILL DESTROY BIODIVERSITY AND ACCELERATED THE DEMISE OF MANKIND. THE PRACTICE INVOLVES THE SPRAYING OF VAST ACRES OF BURNED OVER LANDSCAPES WITH GLYPHOSATE (ROUNDUP) TO KILL INDIGENOUS VEGETATION, WILDLIFE AND OTHER ORGANISMS. ONCE THE AREAS HAVE BEEN STERILIZED OF NATIVE LIFE, THEY ARE PLANTED WITH FAST GROWING FREQUENTLY NON-INDIGENOUS NURSERY STOCK. NATURAL CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE VARIOUS ORGANISMS AND ESSENTIAL BIODIVERSITY IS COMPLETELY DESTROYED, AND A FUTURE OF CATASTROPHIC EVENTS SUCH A WILDFIRES ARE INEVITABLE.
IT IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED FACT THAT THE ELEMENTS THAT SUSTAIN LIFE ON OUR PLANET ARE CONTAINED ONLY WITHIN THE NATURAL WORLD, THE WORLD AS CREATED PRIOR TO THE INTRODUCTION OF MANKIND. FORESTS MAKE UP A CRITICAL PART OF THAT NATURAL WORLD WITH ONLY 27% OF EARTH’S ORIGINAL TREE-COVERED LANDS REMINING. IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE MAJOR COMPETITION FOR THE REMAINING RESOURCES AND ENERGY BY 2050 WHEN THE WORLD POPULATION REACHES 10 BILLION PEOPLE. WE ARE CURRENTLY DEFORESTING THE EQUIVALENT OF 20 FOOTBALL FIELDS EVERY MINUTE WORLDWIDE, WHICH WILL INCREASE AS OUR POPULATION INCREASES BY 75 MILLION PEOPLE ANNUALLY.
THE REPORT DISCLOSES THAT NUMEROUS TIMBER INDUSTRIES AND THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOREST SERVICE; ARE SPRAYING LARGE ACRES OF FIRE SCARED NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEMS LANDS WITH THE CHEMICAL ROUNDUP TO PREPARE THE SITES FOR GROWING TREES THE WAY AGRICULTURE GROWS CORN AND OTHER ROW CROPS. A YEARLONG INVESTIGATION INTO CALIFORNIA’S FORESTS PESTICIDE RECORDS, REVEALED THAT FOREST USE OF GLYPHOSATE REACHED 266,000 POUNDS IN 2023, NEARLY 5 TIMES MORE THAN WHAT IT WAS TWO DECADES AGO. INFORMATION ALSO DISCLOSED PLANS TO DRENCH ALMOST 10,000 ACRES ON THE LASSEN NATIONAL FOREST WITH THE HERBICIDE GLYPHOSATE, EXCEEDING THE TOTAL ACRES OF FOREST LANDS SPRAYED IN CALIFORNIA IN 2023.
GLYPHOSATE IS ALSO BRING APPLIED TO CLEARCUT FOREST LANDS AND AROUND TRAILHEADS, CAMPGROUNDS, SKI RESORTS, AND THE HEADWATERS THAT FEED SALMON WATERS AND RURAL DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS. THIS IS WHAT “RESTORATION” NOW MEANS IN MUCH OF CALIFORNIA’S PUBLIC FORESTS: NOT THE RETURN OF NATURAL LIVING DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS, BUT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BIOLOGICAL DESERTS, SINGLE SPECIES TREE PLANTATIONS. THE SITUATION IS FURTHER EXACERBATED BY PLANTING NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES WHICH TEND TO OUT-COMPETE WITH THE NATIVE VEGETATION.
I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE SCIENTISTS WOULD EVEN CONSIDER IMPLEMENTING A PRACTICE WHICH WILL CAUSE SUCH DISASTROUS RESULTS. IF OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ARE EDUCATING SCIENTISTS TO UTILIZE THESE TYPES OF MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES, WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM. I PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED THE DOMINATE GOAL OF TIMBER HARVESTING DURING MY 34 YEARS WITH THE FOREST SERVICE. MY EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS LEFT ME WITH A VERY DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURAL WORLD, OF WHICH FORESTED LANDS ARE A CRITICAL PART. I NOW SEE TREE COVERED LANDS AS A MAJOR PART OF THE NATURAL WORLD CONTAINING MOST OF THE ELEMENTS THAT SUSTAIN LIFE ON EARTH.
ALTHOUGH, I DISAGREE WITH PRIVATE TIMBER COMPANIES DISREGARD FOR THE ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS MANY OF THEIR MANAGEMENT GOALS CAUSE, I CAN UNDERSTAND THEIR FOCUS ON AVAILABLE RESOURCE SUPPLY AND PROFITABILITY. WITH ONLY 27% OF OUR ORIGINAL TREE COVERED FORESTLANDS REMAINING, WE MUST CONSIDER IF WE CAN TOLERATE THE MINING OF EVEN OUR PRIVATE FORESTED LANDS, LET ALONE OUR PUBLIC FORESTED LANDS. IT IS NOW AN ACCEPTED FACT, THAT THE LIFE SUSTAINING ELEMENTS FOR AT LEAST 80% OF ALL ORGANISMS ON EARTH, ARE MAINLY PROVIDED BY THE NATURAL WORLD. MANKIND IS BUT A PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, AND MUST LIVE IN BALANCE WITH NATURE.
34 YEARS WITH THE FOREST SERVICE, EXPOSED ME TO NUMEROUS CHALLENGES AND CONCERNS. I OBSERVED A VERY SLOW TRANSITION FROM A FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL RESOURCES, TO A RECOGNITION THAT MULTIPLE RESOURCES EXISTED ON EVERY ACRE, TO AN UNDERSTANDING THAT FORESTS COVER MOUNTAIN SIDES AND VALLEYS, BUT ARE ACTUALLY AN AMALGAMATION OF SMALL, UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS. I ALSO LEARNED THAT THE VALUE OF THE LIFE SUSTAINING ELEMENTS PROVIDED BY THE NATURAL WORLD AND TREES, FAR EXCEEDS THE VALUE OF THE WOOD PRODUCTS THE FORESTS PRODUCE. THE CONCEPT OF APPLYING VAST QUANTITIES OF CHEMICALS TO LARGES AREAS OF PREVIOUSLY FORESTED LANDS, AND THE DEVASTATING HARM THAT WILL RESULT, SIMPLY SEEMS POORLY THOUGHT-OUT AND LACKING IN KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATURAL WORLD RELATIONSHIPS. SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE!
THE DANGEROUS IMPACTS ON WILDLIFE AND THE MASSIVE NUMBERS OF MICRO-ORGANISMS IN THE SOIL, SHOULD BE OBVIOUS. THE DESTRUCTION OF HABITAT FROM FIRE AND CLEAR-CUTTING FOLLOWED BY HEAVY DOSES OF GLYPHOSATE CLEARLY ACCELERATES THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NATURAL WORLD. THE REPORT CONCLUDES THAT THE CHEMICAL TREATMENT WILL INJURE OR KILL 9 % OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS CURRENTLY PROTECTED BY THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, AND DAMAGE CRITICAL HABITAT FOR 96% OF LISTED SPECIES. THE FISH AND AQUATIC LIFE IN NEARBY STREAMS AND WATER BODIES WILL SUFFER INJURY AND DEATH. ECOSYSTEM BALANCE AND FUNCTION WILL BE UPSET ON LARGE ADJACENT AREAS TO THE TREATED ACRES.
ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING IMPACTS, WHICH APPARENTLY IS NOT UNDERSTOOD OR SELDOM CONSIDERED, IS THE FACT THAT FORESTS ARE AN AMALGAMATION OF SMALL UNIQUE ECOSYSTEMS. YES, FORESTS COVER MOUNTAIN SIDES AND VALLEYS, BUT THE ENTIRE PLANET IS DIVIDED INTO INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS, BOTH ON LAND AND AT SEA. THE QUESTION IS, HOW DOES THE APPLICATION OF LARGE DOSES OF CHEMICALS TO VAST PREVIOUSLY TREE COVERED LANDS ADVERSELY IMPACT THE CURRENT AND FUTURE NATURAL WORLD?
THE FIRST CONCERN IS THAT DIVERSITY AND INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS ARE CRITICAL ELEMENTS WITHIN THE NATURAL WORLD. ECOSYSTEMS ARE NATURAL SMALLER UNITS, WHERE SEVERAL DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ORGANISMS LIVE AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER, THEREBY ALLOWING THE ECOSYSTEM TO FUNCTION PROPERLY. WHEN EVALUATING TIMBER MANAGEMENT TREATMENTS, THE SCIENTIST MUST BE ABLE TO READ THE LAND, IDENTIFY INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS AND BE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING. I LEARNED THESE SKILLS BY MAPPING AND SAMPLING THE VEGETATIVE COMMUNITIES ON A 200 THOUSAND ACRE RANGER DISTRICT, IN THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER. UPON COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT, I FOUND THE AVERAGE SIZE OF THE INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS WAS JUST 35 ACRES, AND THE UNIT BOUNDARIES WERE DETERMINED BY THE SITE CONDITIONS THE VEGETATION WAS GROWING ON. SUCH THINGS AS SOIL TYPE, SOIL CHARACTERISTICS, SLOPE, ELEVATION, ASPECT AND MOISTURE AVAILABILITY; DEFINE THE ECOSYSTEM BOUNDARIES. CHANGING OR MANIPULATING THESE SITE CONDITION IS NOT AN OPTION FOR MANKIND, EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY THINK THEY KNOW BETTER THAN NATURE.
PLANTATIONS ARE PRETTY MUCH VOID OF DIVERSITY, AND FAIL TO RECOGNIZE UNIQUE ECOSYSTEMS. THE LACK OF DIVERSITY, SETS UP A FUTURE CYCLIC PATTERN OF CATASTROPHIC EVENTS LIKE WILDFIRES, INSECT AND DISEASE INFESTATIONS AND OTHER SEVER WEATHER EVENTS. A PROPERLY TRAINED FIRE FIGHTER, KNOWS THAT AS A FIRE PROGRESSES FROM ONE VEGETATIVE ECOSYSTEM TO ANOTHER, THE FIRE BEHAVIOR CHANGES AND YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO APPLY SUPPRESSION ACTIONS. ENHANCING DIVERSITY, REQUIRES USING NATURAL REGENERATION OR AT LEAST LOCAL NATIVE SEED SOURCES! SEEDS FROM THE MOTHER TREE REMAIN VIABLE FOR YEARS. FOLLOWING NATURES WAY IS THE SECRET!
FINALLY, PLANTATIONS FREQUENTLY INVOLVE FAST GROWING NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES THAT TEND TO INTERFERE WITH NATIVE VEGETATIVE GROWTH. FOREST ECOLOGISTS HAVE LEARNED MUCH ABOUT THE LIFE OF TREES AND HOW THEY COMMUNICATE, RECOGNIZE THEIR OFF-SPRING AND CARE FOR THEM. THESE CAPABILITIES ARE LOST IN PLANTATION PLANTING OF DOMESTICATED NURSERY STOCK. INTRODUCING NON-INDIGENOUS FAST GROWING TREE SPECIES INTO PLANTATION, SIMPLY EXACERBATES THE ISSUES.
READING THE LAND, IDENTIFYING ECOSYSTEMS, UNDERSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN NATURE, AND INTERPRETING THE NATURAL CONNECTIONS TO HUMANITY; ARE ESSENTIAL SKILLS REQUIRED OF RESOURCE SCIENTISTS TODAY. I MUST ADMIT THAT DURING MY YEARS WITH THE FOREST SERVICE, I FOUND VERY FEW SCIENTISTS CAPABLE OF APPLYING THESE SKILLS AS THEY EVALUATED THE IMPACTS OF VARIOUS MANAGEMENT TREATMENTS. THIS WAS CONFIRMED DURING MY CAREER, AS I REVIEWED NUMEROUS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS, OBVIOUSLY PREPARED FROM TEXTBOOK INFORMATION RATHER THAN ON-SITE DATA FROM THE TREATMENT AREAS. BASED ON MY OWN EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCES, I DO NOT BELIEVE ADEQUATE TRAINING IN THE COMPLEXITY OF THE NATURAL WORLD IS OCCURRING WITH STUDENTS IN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS. IT IS BEYOND MY ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE COULD JOIN COMMERCIAL TIMBER COMPANIES TO APPLY SUCH DEVASTATING MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON OUR REMAINING PUBLIC FOREST LANDS. THE SCIENCE OF FORESTRY IS SO MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN SIMPLY “GROWING TREES A CROPS “. WE HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH SINCE 1905, YET FAIL TO RECOGNIZE AND APPLY OUR MODERN DAY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS WE DEPEND UPON FROM THE NATURAL WORLD! APPARENTLY, PROFIT AND WEALTH IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVEN HUMAN LIFE!

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