Population and biodiversity
Homo sapiens became the first species to stop living inside local ecosystems. All other species, including our ancestral hominid ancestors, all pre-agricultural humans, and remnant hunter-gatherer societies still extant exist as semi-isolated populations playing specific roles (i.e., have “niches”) in local ecosystems. This is not so with post-agricultural revolution humans, who in effect have stepped outside local ecosystems. Indeed, to develop agriculture is essentially to declare war on ecosystems. -- Niles Eldredge
While the quote above remains valid, its emphasis on the transition to agriculture misses the potentially more fundamental issue of the shift from immediate-return to delayed-return subsistence. (See the "core ecological issues" page.)
It is critical we preserve biodiversity and protect the health of ecosystems. The web of life is Earth's life support system. Yet we are seeing a pronounced, human-caused increase in extinction rates. The following links address these issues.
For resources to help you take action, see the "organizations and action" page.
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Accelerated extinction rates
It is now well known that we are seeing markedly accelerated extinction rates. Many researchers in relevant disciplines contend we are seeing a sixth mass extinction. Rarely mentioned in the media, the link to human population growth is well established.-
"We report three major and confronting environmental issues that have received little attention and require urgent action."
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Researchers in Science article say "estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way."
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American Museum of Natural History press release.
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Jeffrey McKee, professor of anthropology, Ohio State University, on the link between the size and growth of the human population and current extinction rates. See his book on the "recommended books" page.
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Excellent film from the Species Alliance.
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The CBD recently stepped forward as the ONLY sizable environmental organization in the US taking a serious stand for the truth concerning overpopulation. Their focus, of course, is on the link to habitat and species loss.
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Perhaps the problem is not so much extinction rates as the decline in numbers within species?
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From paleontologist Niles Eldredge. "Millions of plants and animals won't make it to the next millennium. Here's a glimpse of some species the future will never see."
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"Fortunately, there’s still time to stop it."
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"Landmark United Nations-backed report finds that agriculture is one of the biggest threats to Earth’s ecosystems."
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A worthwhile note from CJA Bradshaw, professor in The Environment Institute and School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide.
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Incisive editorial by University of Rhode Island ecologist Fred Meyerson. Original published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment: http://www.frontiersinecology.org/
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Ehrlich speaks clearly on the problem in this interview from Science Friday on the US's National Public Radio. Note his well justified criticism of scientists, heads burried in the minutia of their research, avoiding speaking out on the issue.
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Helpful overview of the issue from Niles Eldredge. In my view he stumbles on human carrying capacity but makes clear the problem of agriculture and greatly accelerating extinction rates.
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"Wilderness areas act as a buffer against species loss."
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It's not only the loss of species that matters, but the drop in numbers within species. This lowers genetic diversity and has other serious effects. This BBC article offers some sobering statistics.
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"We declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency."
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"We are jeopardizing our future by not reining in our intense but geographically and demographically uneven material consumption and by not perceiving continued rapid population growth as a primary driver behind many ecological and even societal threats"
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BBC report on an IPSO panel's findings on state of the oceans.
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Population ecology
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Russ Hopfenberg's site. Information on the view that human population growth is, at base, the direct result of increases in the global food supply.
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The population taboo
How population became a taboo topic, the impact that has had, and one effort to counter the problem.-
Major report from the UK, with input from scores of experts, concludes the loss of attention to population has been a major setback. Includes good, readable discussion of how attention turned away from population following the 1994 Cairo Conference.
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Project I created, now coordinated by the Population Institute, specifically to help weaken the taboo against public discussin of overpopulation by bringing new voices to bear on the issue. Endorsed by a distinguished group.
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Population solutions
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Girls' education is key. This is an informative document from the Population Reference Bureau
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The is the method used by the Population Media Center. It can influence such things as desired fetility and use of family planning services. It's results have been tested and documented in multiple studies.
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Lestor Brown describes dramatic past successes of Thailand and Iran in reducing fertility rates by implementing simple, low cost programs.
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Illuminating talk from Martha M. Campbell of the School of Public Health, U.C. Berkeley. Covers not only reasons for the silence but key findings on what works in addressing population. Emphasis here on access to family planning.
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Debunking population myths
Efforts to dismiss the importance of population have evolved into a myth-filled lore. A little logic undoes it.-
Hans Rosling's misleading presentations about population growth debunked by Anne and Paul Ehrlich.
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A pair of essays I wrote for my prior site. (See my Guardian piece, "Return of the population timebomb," for an even more concise presentation.)
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This article of mine complements the simple observation that human consumption levels were not a problem until our numbers grew large enough to make them so.
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Bill Ryerson of the Population Media Center on an array of myths. Interesting section on proposed solutions highlights the need for PMC's approach.
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Other population links
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By J. Kenneth Smail, professor emeritus of anthropology, Kenyon College. This article focuses on the scale of population decline we may now need and the time urgency involved, having neglected the issue for so long.
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Video of Al Bartlett's famous talk highlighting the surprising nature of exponential growth.
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Overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue… according to a survey of the faculty at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
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Based in Durango Colorado, Richard Grossman has been writing for years about the population issue.
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A post in which I gathered the official statements on population, recent and past, from an assortment of scientific groups (and a group of world leaders).
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By Tiroir A Films Productions, this film seeks humane solutions by starting from the premise that "overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem - a 'domination system'" that has pervaded human history.
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