01-09 Climate Change

It was 1983 in Singapore, long before anyone showed concern about climate change, that we were told that Singapore women who were educated and had economic security were having fewer children. This meant fewer workers in 20 years, and a weaker tax based to fund social programs.
Jumping forward to 2010, population decline is now the problem of all the developed nations. Warnings about climate change and demographics. No one is listening.
Now it is 2021 and climate change has been politicized. We are angry that nations like Indonesia, and India with growing populations are building coal-fired power plants rather than curb their populations. Confusing.
Population declines associated with the pandemic and climate change is making it difficult to predict the future. Are women postponing children or is something permanent going on. More confusion.
There is one certainty. Technology will be more important than demographics in curbing climate change. Technology that developed nations can export around the world.
What is relevant is population shifts and migration. Environmental migration like the photo showing people in Chad heading south to find sources of fresh water for planting and surviving.
And future populations of the islands in the South Pacific being forced to emigrate to Australia because rising oceans and extreme weather will send salt water into their aquifers.
There are big challenges ahead for large populous nations like China, India and the USA that will be forced to deal with regional climate shocks, regional population shifts and the changing demands for food, housing, schools and workers.
This all translates into politics as societies become more urban. In some nations dealing with population declines, like Bulgaria, rural communities are being abandoned and shops forced to close.
What is so interesting about the global transformations taking place associated with climate change and the pandemic is that everyone everywhere is trying to get good population numbers.