At the most basic level, the cause of climate disruption is obvious: a rise in heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere because we are burning so much coal, oil, and natural gas around the world. But this basic cause and effect aspect of climate disruption is only part of the equation. The problem is not simply what we are doing; it's also how many of us are doing it. Population growth has had -- and will continue to have -- a big effect on our climate.
Want to know how big? Take this POP Quiz, created with our partners at Population Connection, to test your population smarts. Here's a hint if you're taking the quiz: In the last two decades alone, global population has gone from six to seven billion people. At the current pace, our planet could have 11 billion people by 2050.
Although developed countries like the U.S. are still responsible for the majority of wasteful fossil fuel consumption, developing nations, where most of the population growth is happening, are where consumption is increasing the fastest. For such countries, essential resources like water are scarce, and modern family-planning resources are even scarcer. An estimated 222 million women in those nations would like to be able to plan the spacing and timing of their children but don't have the education, access, power, religious, or cultural permission to use a modern method of family planning.
When women have more children, more closely together, it creates additional challenges -- such as providing food and water for their larger families. In many cases, women spend up to a quarter of their day -- six hours -- just finding and collecting water for their families. Often, they need their children to help them gather water, which keeps young boys and girls out of school and perpetuates the cycle of poverty.
To make matters worse, the climate disruption caused by many decades of wasteful resource and fossil fuel consumption in developed countries like the U.S. disproportionately affects people in developing countries, who have far fewer resources to cope with disasters. Women and children fare worst of all: They are 14 times more likely to be killed during a natural disaster than men are.
This senseless cycle needs to end, for the sake of women, children, and our environment. Tomorrow is World Population Day. What better time to take action so that all women -- both here and the world over -- have access to the family-planning resources they need? Yes, it's essential that we curb climate pollution to limit climate disruption, but we can never truly have a healthy planet unless we provide support for healthy women and families.
Join our Google hangout tomorrow with Population Connection, Population Action International, Blue Ventures, and Representative. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) to learn more.