Articles
Christian Berggren (2018) “Good Things on the Rise: The One-Sided Worldview of Hans Rosling”
A well written, detailed criticism of Factfulness (by Hans and Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Rönnlund). Christian shows us how the book employs a biased selection of variables, avoids analysis of negative trends, and does not discuss any of the serious challenges related to continual population growth. See also the abridged version of the article here!
Karin Kuhlemann, “A computer predicted the world will end in 2040. If we don’t change our ways it may happen” (2018)
According to a computer model, World3 the planet’s limits are going to be exceeded within a few decades in every realistic scenario. We need to act immediately, if we want to avoid a catastrophy, but in fact, we dismiss all the warnings as crying wolf. Demographic trends are not written in stone: people can change their minds how many children they have and overconsumption is also depends on individuals.
Karin Kuhlemann, “We Can’t Tackle Overpopulation When The Time Comes – We Need To Talk About It Now” (2018)
An excellent article summarising the facts and explaining why must we talk about and act to reduce overpopulation. A concerted effort to change social norms and access to contraception can make a huge difference in future populations, while techno-optimism and “apocalyptic blindness” cannot lead to a “happy ending”.
Martha Campbell and Malcolm Potts, “Do Economists Have Frequent Sex?” (2012)
Is the demographic transition theory a flawed, even a dangerous paradigm? The article argues that there is no empirical evidence that all countries and regions will drift to a two-child family, implying the UN projections are overly optimistic. Instead of resting tranquilly in the belief in an automatic demographic transition, the authors argue for new efforts to enhance the power of family planning.
Joseph Chamie, “Is Population Growth a Ponzi Scheme?” (2010)
The ex-director of the United Nations Population Division explains us why is more not always better, when it comes to population growth. Ponzi demography is a pyramid scheme that attempts to make more money for some by adding on more and more people through population growth. The problem is, that as all Ponzi schemes, Ponzi demography is also unsustainable: when the bubble eventually bursts and the economy sours, the scheme spirals downward with higher unemployment, depressed wages, falling incomes, more people sinking into debt.
The author – founder and president of Population Media Center – summarises why population growth is a problem, what the magnitude and dimensions of the problem, and what are the most common myths and beliefs concerning overpopulation. He also provide the solutions for the issue, making the summary on the topic complete and comprehensive.
Leslie Scrivener, “Alan Weisman asks: Can we voluntarily reduce world population growth?” (2013)
Weisman answer his question in the affirmative, through the story of Iran’s successful voluntary family planning program.
Alon Tal, “Overpopulation Is Still the Problem” (2013)
Article from Alon Tal argues that overpopulation remains the leading driver of hunger, desertification, species depletion and a range of social maladies across the planet.
Marc Champion and Tarek El-Tablawi, “The Arab Spring’s Riskiest Legacy May Be Egypt’s Baby Boom” (2018)
Egypt’s recent baby boom, the addition of 11 million people in just seven years will weigh on government budgets and the economy for at least a generation. Failure to reduce birthrates will lead to scarcities of water and food, as the productivity of agricultural land degrades. Egypt’s government now identifies population control as a top national priority together with fighting terrorism, and its family planning efforts may be starting to pay off.
Blogs and Podcasts:
Population Media Center weekly news is perhaps the best complete catalog of overpopulation articles/essays/thoughts. Comprehensive weekly news digest on population matters.
Transition Earth’s blog exploring the relationships between population growth, human rights, women’s equality, family planning, carbon footprints and economic activity.
The Population Growth Blog, is part of the project of Transition-Earth (Earth Island Institute), which is aiming to increase awareness on the effects of increasing population growth and unsustainable economic growth on people and the planet.
The Growthbusters blog, from Dave Gardner, consistently serves up bracing analyses of pro-growth biases within American society and considers practical alternatives. His Growth Bias Busted blog deconstructs mainstream news stories that deal with growth, in an effort enlighten journalists and encourage them to begin questioning their unexamined assumptions about prosperity through growth
Robin Maynard’s blog about human population growth, about role and value of nature in human health and wellbeing, food security, and sustainable farming. He is director of the Population Matters organisation (UK).
Overpopulation podcast features enlightening conversations between World Population Balance Executive Director Dave Gardner, staff, and guests. It raises overpopulation awareness and spreads the great news that overpopulation is solvable.
The Big Chew is a lively podcast by writer Maria Stadtmueller dealing with a variety of environmental issues, and treating population matters as central to achieving ecological sustainability. Highly recommended.
More People more problems? is a podcast episode from A1, an informative and exciting conversation between Joel Cohen (Professor of populations at Rockefeller University and Columbia University; author, “How Many People Can the Earth Support?”), Robert Engelman (Senior fellow, Worldwatch Institute; senior fellow, Population Institute; author: “More: Population, Nature and What Women Want”) and Kathleen Mogelgaard (consultant on population and environment issues; adjunct professor, University of Maryland; associate, World Resources Institute)
Population-matters is a blog of a population activist, whose professional life has been devoted to helping people to have control over their fertility.
The Population Press is a publication of Blue Planet United, a non-profit organization dedicated to education and grassroots action on issues of environment, population, and sustainability.
The population Bomb, 50 years later: A Conversation with Paul Ehrlich is an Episode in Climate One Podcast. In 1968, the best-seller “The Population Bomb,” written by Paul and Anne Ehrlich warned of the perils of overpopulation: mass starvation, societal upheaval, environmental deterioration. Can the earth continue to support an ever-increasing number of humans?