St Michael and All Angels

31/05/2026

We live in a spectacularly beautiful part of God's Creation!

Victoria Drive snakes its way along the shoreline towards Camps Bay and Lion's Head. In the foreground is Coral Gardens, an immensely pretty dive site as the name suggests.

18/04/2026

Thank heavens. How he was going to turn that thing at Bishop's Pulpit is matter of fascinating speculation ......

11/04/2026

"A recent 2026 study in Environmental Research Letters, led by Corey Bradshaw, concludes that Earth's sustainable carrying capacity—at comfortable, ecologically balanced living standards—is around 2.5 billion people."
We are now at 8.3 billion.

Humanity's population growth reveals a dramatic acceleration that many scientists argue has pushed Earth beyond its sustainable limits.

For roughly 200,000 years since modern humans emerged, our numbers grew slowly amid harsh conditions, high mortality, and limited resources, finally reaching one billion around 1804.

Then, in just over two centuries—approximately 220 years—the global population exploded to exceed eight billion today, now hovering near 8.3 billion.

This surge stemmed from the Industrial Revolution, advances in medicine, sanitation, agriculture, and fossil fuels that dramatically lowered death rates while fertility remained high initially.

A recent 2026 study in Environmental Research Letters, led by Corey Bradshaw, concludes that Earth's sustainable carrying capacity—at comfortable, ecologically balanced living standards—is around 2.5 billion people.

Our current numbers, fueled by overconsumption and resource depletion, represent a clear overshoot. Fossil fuels temporarily masked the strain by boosting food and energy production, yet they intensified climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and ecosystem degradation.

Humanity now demands resources equivalent to 1.7 Earths annually. Without major shifts in consumption, technology, and policies, pressures on food security, water, and stability will intensify, even as growth slows toward a projected peak near 12 billion mid-century.

The rapid expansion highlights how innovation enabled short-term gains at the expense of long-term planetary health.