The Haber Effect: II

Let's take a second look at the quote from Vaclav Smil. "He estimates that two of every five humans on earth today would not be alive if not for Fritz Haber's invention." (Italics mine.) At current estimates of over 6 billion humans on the planet, that means that we have Haber's invention to thank for the existence of 2.4 billion human beings. Let us, at the outset, stipulate that once a human is born, it is a life to be respected and cared for. On the other hand, is it not now clear that the cost to the planet of maintaining such a large population represents the single greatest threat to our survival? (Let us further stipulate that even if Einstein or Haber had become musicians rather than scientists, others would likely have gotten credit for the scientific breakthroughs with which they are credited.) Now, let's look at another characterization of Haber's work, this time from the on-line encyclopedia, Wikipedia: "The sudden availability of cheap nitrogenous fertilizer is credited with averting a Malthusian catastrophe, or population crisis." This conclusion, it seems to me, is the exact opposite of the truth; rather than averting a Malthusian catastrophe, the use of ammonium nitrate fertilizers has in fact caused a Malthusian catastrophe.