Dealing With Overpopulation

Thanks to Zuckerman for exposing the inevitable links among individual reproductive decisions, growth of the human population, environmental degradation and average human well-being.

When asked on an exam to choose the single most effective solution to global environmental problems, only 22% of students in a basic ecology class here picked “to achieve zero population growth quickly.” The rest favored solutions such as reduction of greenhouse gases and of tropical deforestation. However laudable these goals are, what most students (and policy-makers) miss is that the population is growing exponentially. This means it is doubling every 35-40 years. To keep up with this growth requires that we double all resources (fossil fuel, food, water, etc.) and halve each individual’s environmental impact by 2030, double and halve them again by 2070, and so on.

This is impossible to achieve on our finite planet. If we try, we are destined to lose ground eventually. The result will be a rise in the death rate (with attendant suffering) until it matches the birthrate.

But we have an alternative to this dismal scenario: We can voluntarily reduce our birthrate. It is time to demand that our leaders overcome their reluctance to discuss these issues and develop a national population policy.

MARY V. PRICE, NICKOLAS M. WASER, Professors of Biology, UC Riverside