On AlterNet: population

Stories, blog posts, and videos tagged as "population"

The Global Pressures of Population and Access to Clean Water

John Donnelly, Global Post. April 19, 2012.

As the world climbs toward a population of 9 billion, how can we support all those people?

America: The Best Country in the World at Being Last -- How Can We Change That?

James Gustave Speth, Orion Magazine. March 1, 2012.

The data is piling up to confirm that we’re Number One, but in exactly the way we don’t want to be—at the bottom. Where did we go wrong and what can we do about it?

Are We Moving Towards Reform? For the First Time in 40 Years, U.S. Prison Population Declines

Phillip Smith, Drug War Chronicle. December 19, 2011.

America's experiment with mass incarceration may have peaked, exhausted by its huge costs, but change is coming very slowly.

7 Billion and Counting: Welcome to a Planet With Population Overload and Resources in Crisis [With Photos From National Geographic]

Scott Thill, AlterNet. October 29, 2011.

The definition of overpopulation has less to do with raw numbers of people than their relationship with the planet's sustainable resources.

The World at 7 Billion People: How Much More Growth Can the Planet Support?

Robert Engelman, Yale Environment 360. July 20, 2011.

With global population expected to surpass 7 billion people this year, the staggering impact on an overtaxed planet is becoming more and more evident.

Anti-Immigrant Groups Trying to Lure Support from Environmentalists

Peter Montgomery, AlterNet. March 9, 2011.

Anti-immigration leaders have created and fostered an array of organizations designed to enlist environmentalists.

The Pill Turns 50: Its Surprising Effects on Population, and the Risks It Poses to Our Water Supply

Sara Novak, Planet Green. May 7, 2010.

With so many women today taking the pill, we need to think about the adverse ecological effects that this powerful pharmaceutical have on our water supply.

My Mother's Day Gift to the Planet: Not Having Kids

Chris Bolgiano, Blue Ridge Press. May 6, 2010.

Like me, many women could discover that a childfree life offers meaningful experiences that balance the loss of mothering, and theirs could be a great gift to a beleaguered planet.

Pockets of White America Are in the Throes of an Existential Crisis

Rich Benjamin, AlterNet. December 19, 2009.

As the Census "time bomb" ticks, fear mounts over a perceived loss of whites' raw power - demographic, social, economic, and political.

20 Weird, Crazy Ideas for Helping the Earth

WebEcoistNovember 21, 2009.

Many ideas for stemming environmental catastrophe have turned out to be impossible, dangerous, or just … ridiculous.

Southeast Water Scarcity Blamed on Overpopulation

Environment News ServiceOctober 23, 2009.

The population is still growing with many people migrating into the region, but little has been done to increase water storage or reduce consumption.

Three Solutions to Our Water and Population Problems

Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute. October 23, 2009.

We must implement all three solutions in the right way to be effective.

Limbaugh Calls for NYT Environmental Writer to Kill Himself

Tara Lohan, October 21, 2009.

No, Rush, this is not how you talk about population issues.

Going Green Means Having Fewer Kids

Emily Badger, Miller-McCune.com. October 19, 2009.

There are already just too many people on the planet. What are we supposed to do about it?

We Must Stop Ignoring the Role of Population in Our Water Problems

Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute. October 14, 2009.

Addressing water problems comes down to three choices: increase the water supply, decrease the water demand per person, or change the number of people.

A Millionaire with a Super Yacht Is a Larger Strain on Resources Than Hundreds of Peasant Families

George Monbiot, Monbiot.com. October 2, 2009.

It's time we had the guts to name the problem. It isn't population; it's consumption. It's not sex; it's money. It's not the poor; it's the rich.

Economist: We Can Procreate Our Way Out of Climate Catastrophe

Lindsay Beyerstein, Majikthise. September 25, 2009.

Get to it, folks -- innovation requires it.

Can Condoms Save Us from Climate Change?

Tara Lohan, AlterNet. September 19, 2009.

The greenest technology available to us may not be solar panels, but instead contraception, according to a new report.

Why My Vasectomy Will Help Save the Earth's Resources

Matt Leonard, Earth Island Journal. June 10, 2009.

"Any child I had would have been raised here and would consume (despite my best efforts) far more resources than I am comfortable accepting."

Consumption, Not Population Is Our Main Environmental Threat

Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360. April 14, 2009.

Let's challenge the convenient notion that "over-consumers" in rich countries can blame "over-breeders" in distant lands.

Have We Hit the Limits of Human Population?

Kelpie Wilson, AlterNet. April 10, 2009.

The last 200 years of economic growth have been based on a monumental Ponzi scheme that has pushed us toward the ultimate tipping point.

The Population Debate Is Screwed Up

Laurie Mazur, AlterNet. March 28, 2009.

Debaters on population usually take two sides: either they see it as a huge problem facing humanity, or that it's a non-issue. They're both wrong.

Are We Breeding Ourselves to Extinction?

Chris Hedges, Truthdig. March 11, 2009.

Cutting back on fossil fuels, shutting down our coal plants, and building seas of wind turbines, will be useless unless we nip population growth.

The Good Life Doesn't Have to Cost Us the Planet

Andrew Simms, Joe Smith, YES! Magazine. December 17, 2008.

What if you woke up one day to find that humans eventually did make the right decisions, and the world turned out to be a pretty cool place.

The Problem Is Simple: Too Many People, Too Much Stuff

Paul & Anne Ehrlich, Yale Environment 360. August 7, 2008.

An equitable and humane solution to overpopulation and overconsumption may actually be possible.