“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world,” Margaret Mead famously said.

Her statement rings especially true especially in the case of climate change. The United States – with only 5 per cent of the world’s population – consumes about 25 per cent of the world’s fossil fuels, and disproportionately contributes to global warming.

This high level of consumption by a relatively small amount of the population shows how great an impact a small number of people can have on the environment – let alone a slew of new ones. General consensus is that as populations continue to grow and thrive, it’s becoming more evident than ever before that population growth, global warming and resource scarcity are inextricably linked.

Certain resource consumption – like the burning of fossil fuels – is contributing to climate change, which is, in turn, having a deleterious effect on other resources, such as food and water. A study at the Lawrence Livermore National Labs and Stanford University found that for every one degree of worldwide temperature increase, there will be a 3-5 per cent decline of wheat, rice, corn, soybeans, barley, and sorghum – the world’s six main staple crops.

With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) projection of a temperature increase of between 3 – 11 degrees by the end of the century, this could become a real problem for the world’s food supply, which continues to grow.

According to the US Census Bureau’s International Data Base, there are currently about 7 billion people in the world. By 2050, this number is predicted to rise to almost 10 billion.

That’s like inviting 70 people to a dinner party, but having 100 people show up – metaphorically speaking, how would you feed all of those mouths?

Here’s one way: Rethink the use of resources, use less and conserve more. Moving toward “sustainable” initiatives is a way of preserving our environment and mitigating climate change, yes - but it’s also the only way to ensure we have the resources to continue sustaining ourselves.

Kathleen Rogers is the President of the Earth Day Network.