Population

See also Globalization and Entrepreneurshipalso Colonialism

Consumption, as well as Women, and Sustainability

and Third World Development and Food Scarcity

Population is an important topic, since in general more people mean more resource use. However, wealthy people use far more resources per capita than poor ones, and trying to control population is hard ethically and practically (for example, China's longstanding one child policy). Fortunately, as food security rises and infant mortality rates fall, so do fertility rates, since people have a greater assurance that they will have children to help (often on farms) and to support them in their old age, since there are no pensions or Social Security systems. it is a complex problem, but educating women is very close to the proverbial magic bullet.

Animated video overview

Websites

Population Matters

National Geographic.

Food for 9 Billion from Center for Investigative Research and PBS Food for 9 Billion includes farmers preserving forest, bloomuing the desert and a Singapore skyscraper (video).

Interactive, Maps and Infographics

Dashboard for the planet**

Gapminder.org **** (see its creator Rosling in TEDtalk videos).

The University Library is pleased to announce the acquisition of Social Explorer from Oxford University Press. Many faculty across the campus have expressed interest in this interactive resource, which makes it possible to use U.S. Census Data to create custom maps and find demographic data for both current and historical census years. 3/14. ***

Population Density.

The Remotest Places on Earth

Ghost Counties

Care2 gives various kinds of eco and demographic info based on geography.

If the world's population lived in one city (different densities).

World Maps (other maps)

Atlas of Global Inequality Ben Crow and others UC folk are creating this.

AAAS Atlas of Population & Environment

Plants vs people

Images

Visions of a Fallen World: What Our Crowded, Imperiled Planet Really Looks Like 3/15 alt link

Books

Alan Wesiman, author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US, has a [Alan Weisman's book, The World Without Us, grew out of two questions, he said. One was, "How can I write a best-seller about the environment?" The answer to that was the second question: "How would the rest of nature behave without the constant pressure we put on it?" Longnow.org talk (audio). This led him to wonder how does population factor into all of this, which gives us Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth? 2014. new one], Countdown, asks four key questions: most important questions on Earth-and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth's ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth?audio interview LOE.org. excellent BookTV video interview 3/14.

Living within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos(1995) by Garrett Hardin (of Tragedy of the Commons fame). More recent is The Ostrich Factor: Our Population Myopia.

"The Coming Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What We Can Do To Avoid It," by Julian Cribb. NYT review.

In his new book, World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse, Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown looks at the state of the world's resources ( a "food bubble"), warning that the outlook does not look good when it comes to feeding the world's population.

Thomas Keneally, author of Three Famines: Starvation and Politics, about the modern history of famines. author interview 10/11

Lectures

College 8 Plenary 2010 Nov. 9 "On Population," Jade Sasser, UC Berkeley. Short article on population, health and global warming.
Reading: Hartmann "10 Reasons Why Population Control is not the Solution to Global Warming", Hart "Treading on Taboo," and Petroni "An Ethical Approach to Population and Climate Change " (password required)

Audio

Alan Wesiman, author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US, has a new one, Countdown, asks four key questions: most important questions on Earth-and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth's ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth?audio interview LOE.org.

Food & Water: Sustaining Life on a Crowded Planet World Affairs Council 2012: CARE, Oxfam America. Highly recommended.

Interview with Betsy Hartmann, who interrogates whether overpopulation is a main cause of our ecological woes (also links to articles). 7/11

7 Billion And Counting: Can Earth Handle It? Link 1/11 NPR segment and slideshow.

Empowering women limits population 3/13.

Articles and Reports

U.S. Population Grows At Slowest Rate Since The Great DepressionThe U.S. population grew by just 0.72 percent in the year ended July 1, 2013, the Census Bureau reported Monday. That’s the slowest growth rate since 1937. 12/13.

New UN Report foresees shortages of food and fuel. 1/12

Resources Revolution is a report that explains how we can shift production sustainably to meet future needs.

Overview/update by Robert J. Walker is the executive vice president of the Population Institute. 10/11

We can feed 10 billion, but we have to change.

Population Projections Vary (9/20/11) "Leading demographers, including those at the United Nations and the U.S. Census Bureau, are projecting that world population will peak at 9.5 billion to 10 billion later this century and then gradually decline as poorer countries develop. But what if those projections are too optimistic?"

Carl Haub, who was senior demographer at the Population Reference Bureau for three decades, wants you to think the unthinkable. What if the vaunted "demographic transition" that's supposed to be an inevitable part of countries' economic and social development doesn't materialize?

This transition has happened in all developed countries, leading birth rates to go to around two children per couple or less -- the point at which a country's population becomes stable or shrinks. If it happens world-wide, world population stabilizes. If it doesn't, well, can the earth really handle more than 10 billion people?More

New UN report predicts population will top 10 billion.

World Population Day: A Connection Between Global Warming And Overpopulation? 7/11.

Preliminary results from China's census reveal a population that is older, rapidly urbanizing, and growing more slowly, with a widening gap between male and female births. Those demographic changes, combined with comments Tuesday by President Hu Jintao, suggest the country's controversial one-child policy may be on its way out. Science Mag 4/11

Lester Brown on family planning 4/11.

Grist article 1/11 with links to National Geographic etc.

"The world is one poor harvest away from chaos" by Lester Brown "In early January, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that its Food Price Index had reached an all-time high in December, exceeding the previous record set during the 2007-08 price surge. Even more alarming, on Feb. 3, the FAO announced that the December record had been broken in January as prices climbed an additional 3 percent. Will this rise in food prices continue in the months ahead? In all likelihood, we will see further rises that will take the world into uncharted territory in the relationship between food prices and political stability..." More 2/11. Note that food prices were in part responsible for Tunisia etc uprisings.

Mother Jones Magazine has a series of articles on population (5/10)One of the authors participated in a radio panel 5/10 . There's a consensus that Earth doesn't have enough resources to support the world's growing population -- but there's disagreement about the root of the problem. Some think the problem lies with the growing third world, others that it is the consumption habits of the developed nations that cause the problem. More.

Petroni, Suzanne "An Ethical Approach to Population and Climate Change " (Requires College 8 password)

J.A. Goldstone "The New Population Bomb" Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2010 Accessible via UCSC library.

Climate-change planning should include family planning grist 4/11.

Growing a Better Future: Food justice in a Resource-Constrained World 5/11 report from Oxfam.

Beyond Malthus! Authors: Lester Brown, Gary Gardner, Brian Halweil 1999 167 pp

Video

Hans Rosling video and other links. role of religion connection to climate.

Population/consumption (Animated video overview).

Festival of Dangerous Ideas 2013: Vandana Shiva - Growth = Poverty.

Miniature Earth: what if the world were 100 people.

PBS Newshour coverage Food for 9 Billion 10/11 update: example: Turning the Population Tide in the Philippines 1/12.

Julia Whitty debates on PBS Need to Know. 7/11

If the earth were 100 people video.

World in Balance PBS Nova.

Sir David Attenborough: People and the Planet. 3/11

The Most Important Video You'll Ever See" posted by the fellow who made the similarly titled viral video on global warming.

The new film "Mother: Caring Our Way Out of the Population Dilemma" takes a feminist/humanist view as it explores the issue of our exploding numbers. 5/11.

Does the average American have any idea what the global population is? Watch and see.

Online Courses

Global Problems of Population Growth: This Yale survey course introduces students to the important and basic material on human fertility, population growth, the demographic transition and population policy. Topics include: the human and environmental dimensions of population pressure, demographic history, economic and cultural causes of demographic change, environmental carrying capacity and sustainability. Political, religious and ethical issues surrounding fertility are also addressed. The lectures and readings attempt to balance theoretical and demographic scale analysis with studies of individual humans and communities. The perspective is global with both developed and developing countries included.