Overpopulation: The Real Inconvenient Truth

When it comes to the environment, overpopulation is the elephant in the room. It doesn’t matter how much we recycle, buy hybrid cars, or install solar panels on our rooftops—without addressing our swelling population and its impact on a limited stash of resources, we’re, well, screwed.

Now comes proof of just how much good we could do by controlling our populace: A recently-released study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that if we slowed global population, we could cut emissions an incredible 16 to 29 percent by 2050 and even more steeply by the end of the century.

So why, despite the mounting evidence, do we continue to sidestep the issue of overpopulation? There are several reasons, the most basic being that it’s a tricky topic to broach. In a recent Mother Jones article, Julia Whitty reported that the carbon legacy of one American child and her offspring is 20 times greater than every other sustainable maternal choice combined. The problem is, those other sustainable choices are a lot less personal, and so are much easier to preach about. (Put another way: “Don’t have kids!” is a tough sell).

The controversial issue of family planning also comes into play. In a recent post, Change.org blogger Ben Proffer shared that almost 40 percent of pregnancies worldwide are unplanned, and 123 million women have an unmet need for family planning. But the best tools at our disposal to combat this—legalizing abortion and making contraceptives widely available—are two of the thorniest social, political and religious issues around.

In light of the complicated nature of the issue—eloquently described by Whitty as “The Last Taboo”—it seems the best recourse we have is simply to stop ignoring it. Not everyone will make the same choices when it comes to overpopulation, and there’s no way to mandate its control on a global scale. But by acknowledging overpopulation is a Big Problem, we can prompt people to ponder the choices they make, and governments to pass measures to help.

In other words, it’s time to acknowledge the elephant. And you can start by signing a petition in support of the Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act, which would strengthen and expand U.S. foreign assistance for family planning and reproductive health programs in developing nations.

Photo credit: David Crow/Wikimedia Commons

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