‘A Life on Our Planet’: Attenborough’s recipe and human reluctance — Chronicle of a failure foretold

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right” I. Asimov In the outstanding film “A life on our planet”, Sir David Attenborough tells us which actions we need to implement to avoid a future catastrophe. His plan is feasible and affordable: we already have all the knowledge and technology required … Continue reading ‘A Life on Our Planet’: Attenborough’s recipe and human reluctance — Chronicle of a failure foretold →

People and Planet – Sir David Attenborough’s take on overpopulation

TOP believes there is no better video presentation on the consequences of overpopulation than Sir David Attenborough’s RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) President’s Lecture. The well-known British naturalist delivers an impressive speech explaining why population growth is a multiplier of every environmental problem. Given that the Earth has physical limits, “sustainable … Continue reading People and Planet – Sir David Attenborough’s take on overpopulation →

Students view human population growth as a threat to biodiversity

In their curriculum, university students in biology and environmental sciences rarely learn how human population growth affects the environment, or discuss its role relative to other factors. Human activities are often dealt with in courses, but not population increase. One exception, described below, comes from a Swedish ecology class that learned about and discussed how … Continue reading Students view human population growth as a threat to biodiversity →

Why Europeans are worried about African babies

Any time a Westerner expresses preoccupation about very high birth rates in a poor country, the conversation immediately turns to racism. Let’s dig deeper. by Gaia Baracetti Let’s not start with Prince William for once. Let’s begin with the great Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli. He was one of those rare rural poets who actually knew … Continue reading Why Europeans are worried about African babies →

How should environmentalists think about immigration?

Between toxic calls for immigration controls based on racial criteria and hyperbolic denunciations of any mention of population issues as “ecofascist,” the room for intelligent and honest discussion of immigration policy is being gobbled up from both the Left and the Right. Yet the issue is too important to leave to the yahoos or the … Continue reading How should environmentalists think about immigration? →