The Overpopulation Project
TOP – Research and Outreach
Too many people consuming too much
The views and opinions expressed in guest blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Overpopulation Project.
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Autonomy and Overpopulation – Can They Co-exist?
The ongoing environmental crisis has prompted philosophers to examine the ethics behind limiting procreation in an overpopulated world. A paper published recently by Greg Bognar of Stockholm University aims to demonstrate that anti-natalist policy stances need not violate procreative liberty and personal autonomy. By Ayaka Paul In his new paper, “Overpopulation and Procreative Liberty,” Professor
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Drawdown: a review of the Review
By Jane O’Sullivan Hats off to Paul Hawken, the environmentalist behind Project Drawdown. Three years ago, he published a best-selling book, ‘Drawdown: the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming’. The concept was brilliantly simple. It stripped away the complexity of how to respond to climate change, by cataloguing the hundred most impactful
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Planet of the Humans: New Film Shakes Up a Complacent Environmental Movement
by Philip Cafaro and Jane O’Sullivan A full-length feature film from Michael Moore and long-time collaborator Jeff Gibbs, first screened last year, has just been released for free viewing on YouTube, garnering over 3 million views in less than a week. While flawed in several ways, it nevertheless makes a valuable contribution to the public
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Can Human Use Be Combined with Biodiversity Protection in the Tropics?
With the ongoing tropical biodiversity crisis, protected areas play an important role for many species. But strict protection can harm local human communities that are reliant on the lands around them for survival. In addition, resources are often lacking to prevent illegal exploitation or hunting in strictly protected areas. Community-managed reserves have been suggested as
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A lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic on the perils of density
In recent years, some environmentalists have argued that increasing population density is the key to creating sustainable societies. COVID-19 suggests they are mistaken. When increasing density becomes a substitute for setting limits to human numbers and demands on nature, environmental conditions deteriorate. And as usual, poor people and other species wind up paying the price.
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The disconcerting association between overpopulation and the COVID-19 crisis
This week, we reprint a valuable article by Professor Alon Tal, published in The Times of Israel on 25 March, on the connection between overpopulation and the coronavirus pandemic. Professor Tal explains the relationships between population density, human encroachment on natural areas, and disease transmission, and also the situation in Israel, a densely populated country.
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Fertility levels in global regions and countries: what is the role of religion?
Population growth depends strongly on fertility rates, so it is important to study factors that determine fertility. Despite much research, there is no consensus about the most important factors involved, except that contraceptive use can be effective. Factors correlated with declining as well as increasing or high fertility should be studied simultaneously. Religiosity is potentially
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From Population to Production: Scientists’ Changing Views on How to Feed the World
Fifty years ago, in his 1970 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Norman Borlaug said: “There can be no permanent progress in the battle against hunger until the agencies that fight for increased food production and those that fight for population control unite in a common effort.” Borlaug was insightful, but also a genuinely humble man.
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Gallery of infographics – Learn more about overpopulation and environment
Source: Barro-Lee Educational Attainment Dataset (2015): PRB Data Sheet 2015
