Quote Originally Posted by thir View Post
Maybe is it anti-conceptives that make the difference? I know the catholic countries are not supposed to have or use it, but obviously they do. Or else they have written of sex!
No. It's development and education that goes with it. It's the only factor that really has an impact on birth rates. Except, of course, a harsh 1-child-policy as they did in China (do they still?). Which, btw, leads to an ever growing surplus of males (as in India, too). Which, in turn, will become a major problem very soon, if it isn't already. Especially, surprisingly enough, for women.

Quote Originally Posted by thir View Post
I must agree with Denuseri in her other comments, absolutely!
Yep, me too. Although I'm pretty sure that as soon as a barrel of oil costs $500 there'll be plenty of ideas where to get our energy from. Just as there won't be any problem with cheap de-salination as soon as enough (rich) people don't have enough drinking water anymore.

If there's one outstanding ability we humans possess, then it's the ability to adapt.