Blame SmartPhones?

The most attention-grabbing aspect of the article, though, and the most bracing, is its strong suggestion that one of the big factors in this global population decline is the smartphone. It cites an early-stage recent paper, published by the University of Cincinnati, that looked at birth rates through the roll-out of 4G wireless networks in the US and the UK. “The number of births fell first and fastest in the areas that received high-speed mobile connectivity earliest,” writes Burn-Murdoch. The paper’s authors, he continues, “argue that smartphones have transformed how young people spend time with one another, sharply reducing in-person socialising and leading to the collapse in their fertility.”

From “Fewer people are having babies. Could smartphones be the reason?” (Irish Times).

Elon Musk is a public proponent of the idea that global population collapse is a higher risk than climate change. Personally, that sounds non-sensical, however, there is some validity to how it affects the world - and it is interesting to see that current population growth is driven by people living longer, than more births. We’re talking a century from now before this comes anything to consider however and that’s a long horizon for us all to think of….

For now, lets focus on getting us a planet we can continue to live on for the next millenia - and get off fossil fuels….