Over-consumption

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Energy consumption per capita per country

CO₂ emission per capita per year per country

Over-consumption is a concept akin to overpopulation, referring to situations where per capita consumption is so high that even in spite of a moderate population density, sustainability is not achieved. For example, the People's Republic of China has an area comparable to that of the United States of America. China's population density is 4.7 times higher than that of the USA, but its per capita energy consumption is 9 times lower than that of the USA, so that in spite of its "overpopulation", China uses only half the amount of energy consumed by the USA.

Over-consumption is measurable. Two articles in Physics Today, July 2004, showed that the combination of over-consumption of energy and over-population may have serious consequences for the future of mankind if action is not taken in this generation. An excessive consumption of energy that is generated from the combustion of fossil fuels is the main cause of global warming, and other pollution.

Over-consumption creates an overclass who suffer from affluenza. This in turn leads to overpopulation, which is when a species exceeds its carrying capacity. Excessive unsustainable consumption leads to resource depletion and reduced ecological health.

The concept was coined to counter rhetorical use of overpopulation, simplistically referring to population density without taking into account per-capita consumption, by which developing nations are judged as consuming more than their economy can support. A key argument, often made by Green parties and the ecology movement, is that consumption per person, or ecological footprint, is lower in poor than in rich nations.

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