The Overpopulation Project
TOP – Research and Outreach
Too many people consuming too much
Category: Water security
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Watershed Woes
Despite half a century of efforts to improve water quality and restore fisheries in America’s Chesapeake Bay, its ecological condition continues to decline. A new study quantifies the environmental problems within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, explores their causes, and discusses possible futures. by Philip Cafaro As the third largest estuary on Earth, the Chesapeake Bay…
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Overpopulation is a major factor in global mortality
The media love a crisis but ignore systemic problems. Storms and fires get much attention yet kill relatively few people, whereas neglected overpopulation kills many more, through diseases, malnutrition and other causes. By Frank Götmark and Malte Andersson The late Hans Rosling, his book Factfulness and the website Our World in Data describe medical advances…
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Thirsty for Growth: How Arizona is Trading Water for Sprawl
Touted as a conservation success story, new legislation in Arizona is actually a ploy to resume unsustainable development in areas that are running out of water. It foolishly seeks to override hard physical limits with paper water credits, displacing wildlife and farmland in service to sprawl. by Phil Cafaro In June 2025, the Arizona Department…
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Growth Addiction and Water in the American Southwest
GrowthBusters is a terrific podcast dealing with the environmental costs of growth, hosted by Dave and Stephanie Gardner. On their latest episode, river activist Gary Wockner talks about the state of the Colorado River and the growth obsession that keeps cities and states in the southwestern U.S. from responding rationally to increasing water scarcity. by…
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Overpopulation: A New Survey Confirms the Cause of the Planet’s Environmental Crises
Synthesizing findings from hundreds of recent peer-reviewed scientific studies, a comprehensive new article reviews the effects of expanding human populations on humanity’s most pressing environmental problems. by Alon Tal A vast amount of research and rhetoric is devoted to the world’s many sustainability challenges. Yet most advocates and scientists assiduously avoid acknowledging the predominant driver…
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From bodily autonomy back to family planning
In its recent report State of World Population 2021 the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) highlights bodily autonomy as a universal right. Of course, nobody in a civilised society would object against this position. However, by limiting the notion to the domain of gender-based violence and harmful practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation,…
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Freshwater, trade and population: global patterns and possible solutions
Climate change and it’s relationships to technology, energy and food are often discussed in the media, whereas freshwater, also a critical resource for humanity, tends to be overlooked. It is even more overlooked in terms of other species – lakes and other surface waters provide homes for hundreds of thousands of species. A recent article…
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