Study: Want to save the planet? Don’t have children

LUND, Sweden — Recent research has unveiled the four best ways to completely minimize your own greenhouse gas emissions and keep the planet healthy. The most significant tactic? It may also be the most shocking: Have less children!

Researchers from Lund University and the University of British Columbia studied 39 peer-reviewed research articles and government-sourced statistic reports in order to identify the most efficient ways to personally benefit the environment.

Man kissing pregnant woman's belly
Sorry parents: A new study finds that the most impactful thing a person can do to help keep the planet healthy is to have less children.

The amount of people on this planet plays a tremendous role on greenhouse gases. The researchers determined that having one fewer child can save up to nearly 60 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

In addition to avoiding procreation, the team found these three environment-efficient personal lifestyle changes to be the most beneficial: Eat healthier, reduce air travel, and ditch your vehicle.

“There are so many factors that affect the climate impact of personal choices, but bringing all these studies side-by-side gives us confidence we’ve identified actions that make a big difference,” says lead author Seth Wynes, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, in a press release. “Those of us who want to step forward on climate need to know how our actions can have the greatest possible impact. This research is about helping people make more informed choices.”

Choosing to eat healthy foods is rewarding to your own body as well as the planet. Switching to a plant-based diet is beneficial due to the enormous amounts of emissions that are produced from livestock as well as food retailers. According to this study, focusing on a plant-based diet can be four times more effective than recycling.

Traveling isn’t exactly simple to avoid as we all deserve to get away every now and again. But minimizing emissions from travel is easily one of the most significant. A single round-trip transatlantic flight produces 1.6 metric tons of emissions, while driving an average car for a year produces about two-and-a-half metric tons.

The study suggests that not driving is eleven times more effective than recycling.

The researchers also found that these for personal lifestyle choices are usually overlooked in school textbooks and media suggestions. Instead, the focus is usually on smaller, less efficient actions such as minimizing electricity use or recycling plastic and cans.

Lund University associate professor Kimberly Nicholas, who co-authored the study, acknowledges that although the lifestyle changes maybe be hard at first, they are extremely beneficial to people around the world.

“We recognize that these are deeply personal choices. But we can’t ignore the climate effect our lifestyle actually has. Personally, I’ve found it really positive to make many of these changes,’ she says. “It’s especially important for young people establishing lifelong patterns to be aware which choices have the biggest impact. We hope this information sparks discussion and empowers individuals.”

The research was published this week in the journal Environmental Science Letters.

Comments

  1. “Don’t have more children”, scientists say. But in the western world the number of child births have stabilized. In the non-western countries however, the situation is the opposite. And what do they do when they are too many? They demand to migrate to western countries. About time that someone points out the elephant in the room.

    1. It would help if foreign aid weren’t contingent on “no abortions” or contraception. I’m sure it was insisted upon by the evangelicals

      1. Well, that WOULD be murder. But you guys don’t seem to have a problem killing the already born, esp if they’re the wrong color….do you?
        PS: stoopid comment

      2. But, but, southvalley, you seem to be okay with ALL types of murder by the sounds of things. If we deem you to be unwanted, a nuisance and an “accident” waiting to happen then I can’t see why we can’t terminate your existence??

      3. The overwhelming majority of countries that are third world and developing that have this issue are in the ME, parts of Asia. I highly doubt evangelicals have any say in places like Afghanistan, Syria, India, the whole of Africa and so on. Just another weak attempt at bashing Christians. Pond sand you hippie emo.

      4. Africa receives a bunch of foreign aid. They also are encouraged to kill gay people…Uganda in particular…but everyone else who gets our aid does it too. No abortion or contraceptives

      5. All faiths are ignorant because based on beliefs not facts.. Wake up, wake up and stop just blaming one faith, because they are ALL the same. The Catholics preached to have women barefoot and pregnant….Get an education on the subject. Human animals are inherently stupid and suicidal. We are killing our own environment because there are TOO MANY of us and the planet cannot sustain us.

      6. It is the same in those countries where they have Abrahamic faiths. The problem is organized religion wherever you might be on this planet. Look at the Mormons in this country and the chattel of constant pregnancies. They have the most suicides among women in that confession because of the pressure of constant reproduction. Wake up you imbeciles!

      7. Mormons, Christians, Jews, Muslims are all Abrahamic faiths and all the same. The Muslim religion is directly derived from Judaism.

    2. This was so predictable and obvious many, many years ago.
      The population is still growing exponential and predicted to have 10 Billion people on this world by 2050. This Earth (Gia) has a habit when she is fed up to bite back and when she does it will not be pretty
      Anybody with halve a brain knows that this is unsupportable. This earth does not have the resources to support this many people and yet we are still using up and cutting down the resources we have and at a ever increasing speed.

      Been saying this for more than 60 years, my time is coming to an end and thankfully wil not be around to face this dilemma. It ain’t my problem.

      1. Almost 50 years ago, I attended a conference with Paul Ehrllich author of the book : The population Bomb, 1968 and I have always said that this is the problem that will put an end to us. Resources are finite and NO there is no Deus ex Machina that will come and save us. The man made God will not provide for fhe starving children even in this country where we have a President who pretends to be religious and is instauring a fascist Government. Organized religion is the ultimate form of fascism. We need to go to zero population growth and give women the power over their reproductive organs. Men who do no want abortions should get a vasectomy.

  2. More anti-white propaganda, since these very same liberals, and probably that one right there too, want to ship in 3rd worlders onto the dole, to give them an equal chance to double their population every 40 years on Western generosity

      1. Just check out the African population curve. 1.2 billion, expected to double by 2016 to 2.5 billion, or more than the entire population of the earth in 1950. 60 years ago the population of Africa was less than 300 million. So they are 4x larger in only 60 years. So why should the white countries restrict their population growth? If anything they should be encouraging domestic population growth while letting the Africans figure out their own problems themselves, with no open borders, and sending them back whenever they arrive without a personal invitation

      2. Surely you can’t be serious. White birthrate is below replacement level. So the best thing white people can do for the planet is to have more children, not less. For brown people though, yes. They should have fewer children

  3. This nonsense must have been writen by a goodless, hedonistic athiest. Keep on smoking that crack pipe snowflake!

    1. What does that even mean? All the article is suggesting is that you try and adjust how much you consume, mainly through diet and travel. It also points out that as the activity of humans produce greenhouse gases, having fewer children will mean less greenhouse gas production. It all makes logical sense. No need to call the author names. Not that there is anything wrong with being an *atheist* or *godless*, which are the words I’m assuming you were trying to use.

      1. ?? Your reply makes no sense. Why not take a second to comment with something meaningful?

      2. Notice that if you care about planet earth, do recycling. and become vegetarian people get very upset with you.You don’t even have to say a cross word to them.The way you live is considered wrong.

      3. I am a staunch Atheist and also an environmentalist and vegetarian who believes that me must limit our foot print on this planet and yes we need to go to zero population growth because overpopulation is the actual problem but nobody wants to face it. The resources of this planet are NOT infinite and there will be a point where everything will run out if we have not nuked each other. Human animals are inherently stupid and are in complete denial of facts facing them. Organized religion has separated us from nature where we came from and our vital connection to it.

      4. I’m an atheist too but think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that religion has separated us from religion. Admittedly it often takes an anthropocentric view but there are plenty of other factors you could point to for a disconnect from nature. I might be misunderstanding you though- could you elaborate on your view?

      5. Organized religion has separated us from Nature where we came from and to which we are related!. You missread my post.

  4. This is a brilliant plane… Only the idiots dumb enough to buy into the global warming scam will practice it and that will limit their voting power in future generations… will also slowly eliminate the genetic defect that makes some humans so stupid as to believe it…. This is perfect… we need to preach it to all liberals so that one day we can have a world that it liberal free.

  5. Will you be telling muslims, indians and africans to control their reproduction to help save the planet? They are the biggest breeders after all.

    1. No they are not. Give them the means to control the population instead of teaching them man invented religions that keep them enslaved to the countries who steal all their natural resources. Without Africa you would not have your cell phones and modern conveniences, including petrol. Stupid, really stupid and ignorant in America, but it is not your fault because the Orange Clown has now put De Vos in charge of your education….

  6. Great idea…let the Muslims take over and then they get rid of all the Swedes that don’t convert to Islam.

    1. Have you ever been in Africa? You would not have all your modern conveniences without African resources, you imbecile!

  7. If we don’t take steps to control our population, like paying men world wide to have voluntary vasectomies, fate or nature will eventually control our population for us.

  8. it would seem that the authors of the study (not to mention some in the comment thread) haven’t watched the news and must be ignoring the reality in Europe now. Apparently they forgot that, unlike the westernized, educated “Euro-trash”, about 30% of Muslims, who btw adhere to an Abrahamic religion, ( albeit a rather violent interpretation imho) are already overtaking the native Euro population 2 to 1. In another 30 yrs, they’ll be the majority b/c they don’t give two sh*ts about these ‘studies’. While these pseudo-intellectuals are yammering on about ‘climate change’, they forget to study the giant white elephant in the room. Demographic realities are gonna kick the West in the ass before any more Rhode Island-sized chunks breaks off the Ross Shelf. I think they should be more concerned with their careers being that academics/scientists are the first to ‘go’ when despots and religious tyranny become the rule of the day.

  9. The reason this report is advocating for “NO CHILDREN” IS SO THAT THE MUSLIMS, WHO ARE BREEDING AT A RATE OF 8 TIMES OUR RATE, IT WILL TAKE 15 YEARS BEFORE MUSLIMS TAKE OVER OUR COUNTRY, U.S.A…THIS TOO IS THE REASON BEHIND THE “ABORTION PUSH BY THE LIBERALS .ABORTING BABIES AS LATE AS 9TH MONTH IS JUST PLAIN MURDER..I

  10. Yes, that would help
    But, instead, why dont we just change our ways ?

    MOST of the land used to grow corn and soy (2 largest crops)
    goes to feeding cattle. not humans.
    lets cut out the middle-man (middle-cow?)
    If we all became vegan (or even reduced meat by %30 to %50)
    it would change the planet in huge ways.
    less land used. less antibiotics, steroids, hormones
    less water poluted. less soil damaged, less errosion
    less animals with disease.
    less heart disease and cancer. more productivity, longer lives

    the 2nd fix is Permaculture.
    small farms growing several species, can actually be MORE efficient
    than large tracts of land growing 1 crop.
    monocultures (1000s of acres of 1 crop) need lots of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides to work.
    they damage soil, use a lot more water, and produce runoff and other toxins.
    the soil is damaged more every year. and there are less and less minerals and micronutrients in the food.

    small local permaculture farms are diverse, and restore the soil.
    the plants are healthy and there is no need for chemicals.

    buy locally grown food NOW!.
    grow your own NOW!

    if everyone grew %20 of thier food, and bought at local markets
    there would be an amazing change.

  11. Don’t have children if you are high IQ Christian white person. If you’re an african have all you want then come to the West. We have a lot of room. We need the long member trait to improve the human race.

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