The Overpopulation Project
TOP – Research and Outreach
Too many people consuming too much
Tag: Biodiversity crisis
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Goodbye Paul Ehrlich
We remember a giant of the modern environmental movement, who passed away this past Friday at the age of ninety-three. by The Overpopulation Project Paul R. Ehrlich, an American biologist, died on 13 March. Ehrlich was one of the most influential environmental thinkers of the past half century. He built his early scientific reputation studying…
22 comments on Goodbye Paul Ehrlich -
Major UN report highlights overpopulation and overconsumption, need for profound transformation
A major new review of the state of the environment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides a comprehensive and refreshingly honest exploration of the root drivers of environmental degradation, and stresses the urgent need to overhaul how we live on this planet. by Olivia Nater, originally published by Population Connection The 7th edition…
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Farewell to Jane Goodall — Population Activist
Jane Goodall was a champion for chimpanzees, conservation, and population activism. The latter aspect of her work has been conspicuously neglected in recent tributes to this scientific giant. by Leon Kolankiewicz Pioneering English primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall (1934-2025) passed away last week at the age of 91. In the days since, numerous, well-deserved and glowing…
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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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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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Is Homo sapiens an invasive species?
The global spread and increase of the human species is exceptional and seems unmatched in the animal kingdom. Some researchers suggest we resemble so-called invasive species. Does the label fit? By Frank Götmark (This a translation of a Swedish essay published in Svenska Dagbladet on 30 March, slightly modified) Japanese oyster, raccoon dog, lupine –…
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America’s “Serengeti” at risk: Population-driven sprawl threatens the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
From the Everglades to the Arctic plains, population growth and associated development threaten America’s protected areas. A recent study from NumbersUSA, Greater Yellowstone: An Ecosystem at Risk, documents this for the United States’ flagship national park. By Leon Kolankiewicz and Rob Harding Rampant development and a surging human population are imperiling what has been dubbed…
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The Need For More Wilderness Preservation
In a picture essay with stunning photos from all around the United States, ecologist and author George Wuerthner highlights how valuable wilderness preservation is for both wildlife and human societies. by George Wuerthner Big W, or designated wilderness as prescribed under the 1964 Wilderness Act, is one of the most biocentric pieces of legislation ever…
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A genuine humanity
Do modern societies have a realistic path toward living in harmony with nature? How can population activists combine compassion and effective advocacy? We invite your answers to these difficult yet necessary questions. by Gaia Baracetti Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian photographer. His striking black-and-white photographs, taken during his long, immersive travels to forgotten or war-ravaged…
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Court ruling could lead to an environmental impact statement on US immigration policy
United States law requires that important federal policies and projects undergo environmental impact statements. While immigration policy has never been subjected to such an analysis, that might be about to change, thanks to a recent court ruling. by Philip Cafaro The U.S. National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) of 1969 mandates that any federal policy or…
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A primer on economic growth and biodiversity for COP16
Many readers will be familiar with the good work of CASSE: the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Here its executive director reminds us of the need to end growth if we hope to preserve biodiversity, a recurring theme at TOP (see here, here and here). by Brian Czech With the core…
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Biodiversity and the roles of human population and consumption: a debate
It is the rich minority’s consumption that mainly affects the status of the Earth’s life support system, according to a response in Svenska Dagbladet by David Collste at Stockholm Resilience Center and Jennifer Hinton at the University of Lund to an Op-ed by Malte Andersson and Frank Götmark. But will the poor majority consent to…
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Earth’s nature is being ravaged by population growth
Humanity’s rapid expansion leads to environmental destruction, starvation and ravaged biodiversity. Population growth needs to be ended as soon as possible for sustainability. By Malte Andersson and Frank Götmark Published 2024-01-02 in Svenska Dagbladet, morning newspaper in Sweden (translated by TOP) In 1800, the world’s population was 1 billion, but in 2022 we exceeded 8…
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Can nature-based tourism offer additional protection of wildlife in developing countries with strong population growth?
Recently, a TOP blog emphasized the importance of addressing luxurious overconsumption, including the hypocrisy of rich people wanting to be seen as environmentally friendly. Is nature-based tourism merely pandering to this hypocrisy, or can sites with nature-based tourism or ecotourism be beneficial for wildlife in developing countries with increasing populations? By Oskar Lindvall and the…
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Ecological Footprint and Sustainable Population
With humanity currently in overshoot, societal changes must be enacted to return to sustainable levels. While either a country’s ecological footprint or population size could be altered to achieve the necessary level, combined efforts on both fronts would be most effective. By Denis Garnier, president of Démographie Responsable A sustainable population corresponds to the total…
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How to Fix the Planet, the Easy Way
To avoid disastrous deterioration of Earth’s climate and biosphere, humanity has to reduce its demands on nature. Fewer births and a falling population is no quick fix, but compared with voluntary austerity, it has many more up-sides than down-sides. by Jon Austen Scientists are reporting that there is an existential threat to life on Earth.…
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Big Australia needs rethink on World Population Day 2023
Another UN World Population Day passed with the UN focussing on anything but population growth. Australia’s population is growing faster than most, with sustainability not on the government’s radar, as Stephen Williams laments. By Stephen Williams I don’t pay much attention to awareness days, but I make an exception for World Population Day, first observed…
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Population’s effects on biodiversity: evidence from recent scientific literature
A lot of great scientific work has been done lately on population and biodiversity, spanning all areas of the globe. A new study from TOP describes this work and summarizes its main lessons. by The Overpopulation Project Earlier this year, Phil, Pernilla and Frank released A Bibliography of Recent Scientific Work on Population and Biodiversity…
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Wildlife in decline: the impact of human population growth and consumption
In a short film about wildlife loss, Nastaran Rahnama takes a broad approach, investigating food sold in the UK, its production far away, and the links to population growth and declining large mammals. By Nastaran Rahnama In my lifetime including living in Iran, England, and traveling, I noticed that the natural world and the sound…
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The Population Factor back by popular demand
In 2020 and 2021, I recorded two seasons of the TV show The Population Factor. Each episode features in-depth conversations focused on a particular aspect of the population/environment connection. Check out seasons one (hour-long episodes) and two (half-hour episodes), all available for free streaming at the links below. by Phil Cafaro Season 1 Episode 1.…
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To Advance Humanity and Save Nature We Need a Common Agenda
Problems caused by rapid population growth, environmental degradation and climate disruption are harming human welfare and the natural world. These problems are largely addressed separately, with little common understanding or integration of efforts. Our recent paper, Advancing the Welfare of People and the Planet with a Common Agenda for Reproductive Justice, Population, and the Environment,…
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Adversity for Biodiversity: A Reflection on My Experience at COP15
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework1 adopted in December 2022 by representatives of most of the world’s national governments is inadequate to halt and reverse the disturbing loss of biodiversity globally. Concerted efforts to increase the new Framework’s ambition were dismissed and ultimately ignored. Human overshoot – the collective impacts of more than eight billion people…
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A British perspective on population and biodiversity
A distinguished scientist’s new book makes the case that more people means less wildlife, in the United Kingdom and globally. This excellent offering is a must-read for anyone interested in the connection between human numbers and biodiversity protection. by Phil Cafaro For Trevor Beebe, the issue of people crowding out other species surfaced early in…
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Cultured meat and the lifeless world
By attempting to avoid animal suffering, are we depriving them of life? Is lab-cultured ‘meat’ enlightened environmentalism, or just another attempt to cheat limits to growth, divorcing us further from the natural world? Gaia Baracetti reflects on her sheep, her fields, food culture and the moral pitfalls of seductive new technologies. by Gaia Baracetti Many…
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Smaller human populations are neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for biodiversity conservation
That’s the title of a paper just published in Biological Conservation in response to TOP’s recent paper on population and biodiversity loss in that journal. Are its authors right? by The Overpopulation Project In one sense, Alice Hughes and company clearly are correct. Efforts to protect wild nature are ongoing throughout the world, and for…
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Boiling Frogs
Human population growth has exploded during the last century, decimating wildlife and devastating ecosystems. Without honest conversations about overpopulation, continued growth will likely condemn most wild animals to extinction and leave us with a much poorer planet By Brad Meiklejohn “Fewer people, more wild animals. Right now that feels like coming back from a time…
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Linking population growth and biodiversity loss: a new bibliography
Excessive and growing human numbers are a leading cause of decreasing biodiversity in many parts of the world. In researching a paper on this topic last year, we became aware of the large amount of good scientific work recently published on it. In an effort to spur more such work, we are publishing an annotated…
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The moral imperative of depopulation
Anthropocentrism is preventing humanity from dealing with the world’s cascading environmental crises. Stephen Williams reviews the work of Catholic historian Paul Collins who argues depopulation is an urgent moral imperative. By Stephen Williams A new discussion paper on population ethics written by Catholic historian Paul Collins is as radical as it is worthy. The paper…
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Population growth has contributed 80% of ecological overshoot
William Rees is the originator of ecological footprint analysis, the influential approach to measuring sustainability. In a new article, he argues that humanity is deep into ecological overshoot and that we need to ratchet back our numbers and the size of our economies before nature does it for us. by Philip Cafaro William Rees has…
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More like a dying planet report
Earth continues to hemorrhage biodiversity, according to the latest Living Planet Report. Unfortunately, its authors cannot manage a clear statement of how to stop the bleeding. by The Overpopulation Project “You could think of it as a health check for the planet,” says the World Wildlife Fund, introducing its most recent biennial Living Planet Report,…
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Conserving biodiversity means limiting human numbers
A recent letter in Biological Conservation criticized TOP researchers for writing about how more people means less space for wildlife. We responded that without limiting our numbers, people will not be able to protect the natural world. Who’s right? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the on-line comments below. by The Overpopulation Project This…
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Is it wrong to explore the connections between overpopulation and biodiversity loss?
A recent letter in Biological Conservation criticizes TOP researchers for writing about how more people means less space for wildlife. We are curious what our readers think of the arguments and how you would respond. Please share your suggestions in the on-line comments below. by The Overpopulation Project This summer, TOP researchers published an article…
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New publication shows how overpopulation drives biodiversity loss
The concept of human overpopulation, once common, is now rarely used in the scientific literature. Yet overpopulation is a major driver of biodiversity loss and a key obstacle to fairly sharing habitat and resources with other species. A new publication from TOP explores the connections between human numbers and preserving wild nature. by The Overpopulation…
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The “Silent Lie” in Coverage of Madagascar’s Famine
Graphic media coverage of the current hunger in southern Madagascar is not wasting the opportunity to advocate climate justice. But nobody mentions there are now seven Madagascan mouths to feed for each one present in 1950. This denialism is not in the interests of the hungry, nor Madagascar’s disappearing wildlife, argues Madeline Weld. By Madeline…
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The Population Factor returns for a second season
The Population Factor, the show hosted by The Overpopulation Project’s own Phil Cafaro, returns with a second season, starting off with a discussion about the Nature Needs Half proposal. by The Overpopulation Project Wildlife populations are dwindling rapidly across much of the world and the number one cause is habitat loss, driven by excessive human…
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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…
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The moral case for population reduction
A frequent assumption in population policy debates is that stabilizing populations will be sufficient to achieve ecological sustainability. But as Karin Kuhlemann observes, “that a population’s size is stable in no way entails sustainability. It may be sustainable, or it may be far too large.” A recent book from philosopher Trevor Hedberg convincingly argues the…
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An Environmental Impact Statement on US Immigration Policy
What impact does US immigration policy have on greenhouse gas emissions, habitat preservation, or water and air pollution? Episode six of The Population Factor on Earthx TV addresses these questions, while episode seven, the final episode of season one, discusses how declining human populations open up new opportunities for ecological restoration. by The Overpopulation Project…
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Earth Wars: Nature Strikes Back
The current pandemic has had many severe consequences, but it has also acted as a reminder of the need for international cooperation when facing global challenges. Continued environmental destruction will likely increase the risk for future pandemics. Population growth is one of the main driving factors of the continued encroachment into nature and needs to…
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