To the editor:

Is there a link between condoms and climate change? The British medical journal Lancet recently reported that 200 million women worldwide want contraceptives but don't have access to them. This results in 76 million unintended pregnancies each year.

You don't need a Ph.D. to figure out that 76 million additional people on the planet every year is ultimately unsustainable. The article points out that "the world's population is projected to jump to 9 billion by 2050, with more than 90 percent of that growth coming from developing countries."

This seems like a relatively easy strategy to pursue vs. switching from fossil fuels to produce the needed energy, for example. How hard would it be to manufacture billions of condoms and distribute them through health clinics in third world countries?

A significant reason why this hasn't been accomplished to date is the well-organized and successful effort by the Catholic Church worldwide to prevent the distribution of condoms and other forms of birth control. This is well documented and not my opinion. Students, if you know how to do Google research, this could be at least a 5-page paper.

The Catholic Church's efforts to prevent the distribution of condoms is also a major reason given for the AIDS epidemic in Africa. A most prevalent occurrence is that males visit prostitutes, pick up the virus, and then bring it home to their wives.

It seems clear to me that someone needs to take on the pursuit of this population control strategy. The data indicates that we don't have unlimited time.

BOB TURES, Ed.D.

Flagstaff