Letters: Defusing the population bomb

Re “A human deluge,” First of a five-part series, July 22

Population growth and climate change are the greatest threats humanity is confronting. Countries of the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Middle East urgently need to take effective measures to curb their population growth.

It is proven that educating women and providing access to contraception make a huge difference. In the Indian state of Kerala, the literacy rate is comparable to European nations; as a result of educating women, the rate of population growth there is low. Even Iran reduced its population growth in the 1990s by requiring couples to take a course in family planning before getting married.

There are proven ways to achieve near-zero population growth, but political leaders need to exhibit the willingness and commitment to do the job. The lack of action on their part will no doubt lead to dire consequences for the world.

Chaitanya Davé

Rancho Palos Verdes

Your reporting starkly illustrates the range of social, economic and environmental ills that attend societies with rapid population growth.

Pro-growth advocates overlook these cataclysms, asserting that technological innovation will solve many problems. Clearly, it’s not solving them now, and the problems will only be exacerbated by additional growth.

No organism can sustain exponential population growth. Such growth is accompanied by a population crash.

David Salahi

Laguna Niguel

Why does the answer to overpopulation rest with the female anatomy? Why not make men infertile? Those opposed to abortion should be satisfied because no fetus is produced.

In this article, Ramjee Lal Kumhar considered a vasectomy “but feared complications.” He decided that his wife, Marta, should have her fallopian tubes tied — no complications, of course.

Shirley Harris

Fullerton

Population planning, like charity, must begin at home. According to some estimates, if nothing is done the U.S. will hit the 1 billion mark between 2100 and 2120.

With some exceptions, most of our legal immigration has occurred via family immigration. Family reunification remains the seemingly sacrosanct cornerstone of our present immigration policy. For our own good, this self-destructive policy must be scaled back.

President Obama and Mitt Romney should speak out objectively on this issue now, before the November election.

Harvey Pearson

Los Feliz

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