The human population is set to hit the seven billion mark next year. Paul Ehrlich, entomologist, conservationist, and author, in 1968, of the seminal book on human overpopulation, The Population Bomb, discusses a recent article by ecologists Charles Hall and John Day that reconsiders a perennial question: is there a limit to our growth? (American Scientist, 97:230-37, 2009).
The Scientist: It’s hard to dispute that resources will become scarcer if the human population continues to grow. But there’s a pervasive optimism that ingenuity and technology will result in more efficient ways to use, recycle, or find replacements for these resources.
Audio: Ehrlich on American overpopulation
Paul Ehrlich: They’ve been saying that ever since I’ve been in this game, which is now 60 years, roughly. In 1968 they were saying we could easily support five billion people. Well, we’ve got seven billion now, ...
