Cross-posted from RH Reality Check.
“Are we going to talk about sex again?!” screamed my 12-year-old son, Nick, as he ran down the stairs, away from me. That was five years ago, and I had just sat down with him to have one of our father-son talks, this time about sex and sustainability.
Now Nick, a senior, is preparing for college at the same time that the global community is preparing for its own important landmark: The United Nations predicts that on Oct. 31, world population will reach 7 billion.
The confluence of these two events gives me reason to think about the world Nick is inheriting from my generation, and makes me consider what I can say to him as he heads off to college.
This world of 7 billion
I try to get my head around it. It’s a world of 7 billion people. With greater connectivity than I could have ever dreamed possible. A world of widening disparities and growing environmental degradation. A world with a changing climate. A world of crashing economic markets and changing debt ceilings.
It’s also a world of finite resources and growing demand.
Consider water: As the world̵... Read more
