'Hey Bill Nye, What's the Best Way to Handle Overpopulation?' #TuesdaysWithBill | Big Think

Hi Bill, I'm Martina from Slovakia. I am studying medicinal chemistry and I have two questions to answer. The first is the question: how would the problem of a population that continues to grow probably be solved? And the second question is very important is... Will I marry you? So Martina, I'll get to your second question at the end. A growing population is a problem, but note that the rate at which the human population is growing is slowing and this is almost certainly not so much a consequence of finite resources, which is

what

people like Malfis speculated at the turn of the century.

XVIII, it is not A matter of finite resources is apparently raising the standard of living of women and girls, people like you. As women and girls become better educated, they have fewer children and those who do have more resources, so they are better served and more successful. So

what

we want to do, in my world here in science education, is to get women and girls around the world the

best

education possible as quickly as possible so that there are more resources per person in the years to come. The world population will almost certainly reach nine

bill

ion human beings, but it is very possible that it will reach ten

bill

ion.

And apparently the earth has enough resources for that and we just have to redistribute or reconfigure the way we use energy, water and the way we distribute information. These are solvable problems and I'm excited to work on them every day. Even right now I'm working on them. So how do we go about doing this? It is important to note that if someone in Niger has five children, the impact of each of those five children on the global environment is much, much smaller than the effect I have on the global environment. I live in the United States in a developed country; we use energy like crazy; we use clean water like crazy; most of us have access to the Internet.

My environmental impact is much greater because I travel on airplanes; I arrived here on an electric subway train; We're on electric computer systems right now, so my effect on the environment is much greater than that of children in the developing world. But what we want to do is not do less for people in the developed world, we want to do more for people in the developing world who have less. We want to use our resources more efficiently and that's where young people like you come in. You are studying chemistry and biology, you are going to make changes in our agricultural systems, our disease management and the way we educate people in your country. class and the people who come after you, I mean women and girls.

Let's change all that. And that's why I talk about this all the time: we want reliable, renewably produced electricity for everyone in the world, we want clean water for everyone in the world, and we want access to Internet information for everyone in the world because when you provide those things that people have the opportunity to educate themselves. They have access to educational materials, they have access to good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle because they don't have to fight diseases as much and they become more productive. And it's women like you who will make all of this happen.

Now, as to whether I will marry you or not, I must say that it is unlikely. I don't want to categorically say no because I saw you out of the corner of my eye, but I just wouldn't count on it. I just wouldn't count on it. We live in different countries; we are from different cultures; My assessment is based on the videos, we are of different ages with different life experiences and you would just want something more in about 15 minutes. But thanks. I am flattered by the question. Continue.