(This is Part 4 of a series. Go back to Part 3.)
1b. Gap between rich and poor
Not only is world population expanding, but the gap between rich and poor is also expanding. In 1950 there were two poor people for each rich person. Today there are over four poor people for each rich person. And if current trends continue, by 2025 there will be six poor people for each rich person.
The exact breakdown at present, according to the World Bank, is that the rich comprise 16% of the planet, the middle class comprise 7%, and the poor comprise 77%. Notice what a small percentage the middle class is. The gap between rich and poor is growing wider.
This is not a fruitful trend for the planet, not least because it means that so many human beings are suffering just in the daily struggle to survive.
The rural poor are often living in desertified areas where the land has been stripped of most of its cover. Often the jungle or forest has been cut down for cropland, firewood or expanding magacities, leaving a denuded soil that is then washed away by rains, making it more and more difficult to eke out an existence by farming the land.
Trees, shrubs, bushes and other plants are the crucial intermediaries between rain and the land. Trees, in particular, serve the vital function of both locking in the soil and helping to bring rain to it. They also serve a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Yet the world's forests and jungles are severaly declining. Half the world's forests and jungles have already disappeared, and the rate of decline is accelerating. The Amazon jungle is losing an area the size of New Jersey each year to developers, loggers, cattlemen and farmers. Indonesia is losing an area of forest the size of Connecticut annually. Among other losses, the world is losing its greenery.
The poor bear the brunt of this loss most keenly. Because of the stripped environment, exacerbated by often-corrupt governments, the economy is usually moribund. Almost three billion people in the world are trying to get along on less than $2 a day. Non-agricultural jobs are scarce, educational opportunities are limited, and the poor are often exploited by the elite who control most of the land and resources.
So the poor are flocking to the cities, hoping for a better life. What they find are huge slums surrounding the poor world's megacities such as Mexico City, Lagos, Delhi, Dahka, Karachi, Sao Paolo and so on.
Cities across the world are growing at a tremendous rate, and slums are growing even faster than the cities. Fifty years ago the world was 18% urban; today it is 42% urban. And it is projected to be 57% urban by 2030. Moreover, it's estimated that slum dwellers will make up half the population of cities in poor countries by 2030.
The quality of life is extremely poor. Rivers and canals are often open sewers, filled with industrial waste and raw sewage and yet still serving as drinking water. As a result, amoebic dysentery and other diseases are common. The air is often choking with particulates, sulfur dioxide and ozone. Infrastructure such as roads, electrical grids, sewers and water systems are missing or severely overburdened.
The cost is high not only to the human inhabitants but also to the ecology. Often highly polluting industries such as metal smelters and paper mills have moved in from rich countries because environmental regulations are looser. And there is little or no money available for environmental cleanup because scarce resources must be put to the immediate need of sustaining life.
(This is the end of Part 4. Go to Part 5.)
—jim sloman, 12.07.06
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