Biologist Ehrlich Honored for Work on Population Dangers
California biologist Paul Ehrlich received the 1987 World Wildlife Fund Gold Medal today for publicizing the dangers of the population explosion that limits resources for all species on the planet.
Prince Philip of Britain, president of the Swiss-based WWF International, made the presentation to Ehrlich, a 55-year-old professor at Stanford University.
Humans are caught in a slow-motion crisis, which will come to a head in 40 or 50 years when agricultural production and resources can no longer sustain the population, Ehrlich later told a news conference. The effect on humanity would be the same as that of a major nuclear war, he said.
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