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There is a silent aspect of civilizational decline: a marked fall in population numbers. I write silent deliberately, as it happens in the background without too many of us taking notice, or realizing the gravity of the situation. When talking about the collapse of civilizations, most people envision mass casualty events (famine, war, natural disasters), wiping out half of the population in almost an instant. Sure enough, this looks both terrifying and extremely powerful in Hollywood movies, but nothing could be further from the truth. Especially not when it comes to our modern civilization, and its unfolding demise. A radically different world is unfolding in front of our eyes, and we are not the least prepared.
There are economical implications to this development. But IMHO population decline is necessary to ease the pressure on the ecosystem. 34% of mammals are humans, 62% is livestock, only 4% are wild animals. We shifted the natural world so far out of balance, that the need to sacrifice economic growth for sustainability is inevitable.
https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-billion-people-in-the-world-is-a-crisis-not-an-achievement/
In truth the bomb has already gone off and we’re living in its aftermath. Secondary explosions are still going on in various places. Humanity is slowly coming to its senses but isn’t fully aware yet of all the damage that’s been done.
Problem is that other wildlife is unlikely to survive the bottleneck of human population