This section contains some books and videos about population. The list is by no means complete: do let us know if you find something you think might be of interest.
Isaac Asimov on OVERPOPULATION (short film, 8 min)
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was a professor of biochemistry at Boston University, but is better known to the general public as a science fiction writer. As a writer he wrote over 500 books, not only science fiction, but also on popular science, history, astronomy, mathematics, biblical exegesis and literary criticism. As this video shows, he was an able communicator, expressing his views with clarity and in a very direct way. Watch the film here
Human Population Through Time, a 6 min FILM from the American Museum of Natural History
It took 200,000 years for our human population to reach 1 billion—and only 200 years to reach 7 billion. But growth has begun slowing, as women have fewer babies on average. When will our global population peak? And how can we minimize our impact on Earth’s resources, even as we approach 11 billion? Watch the film here
Population Conversation Symposium, Kilifi, Kenya – March 2022
In March 2022, Population Matters Director Robin Maynard attended the Population Conversation Symposium in Kilifi, Kenya. This key event, organised by local public health consultancy WellSense and supported by PM, brought together diverse stakeholders to discuss the wide-ranging impacts of rapid population growth and to identify the actions needed to mainstream the crucial ‘population conversation’. Watch the film here (16 minutes)
Civilization is running out of gas This 10 minute youtube video is about the likelihood that sources of fuel become exhausted, and the consequences for humanity. It mentions neither climate change nor population.
Difficult Questions About Population – written and produced by QCOP members and published in 2020.
Complete with case studies, maps, cartoons, graphs, useful quotes, a booklist and references, this is a most readable and handy introduction to the subject. It is user friendly and easy to use, with the Difficult Questions on one side and supplementary material on the opposing side.
For more details, a pdf version and how to obtain your copy see here.
A life on our planet:My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future. David Attenborough. My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future. Penguin 2020.
'As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day - the loss of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity. I have been witness to this decline. .....We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited. All we need is the will do so.
Should we control world population? Diana Coole, Polity Press, 2018 ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2340-5
The author admits that the title of this book is deliberately provocative. Nevertheless, it is profoundly fair. It discusses seriously every aspect of the debate, drawing the conclusion that a case can be made for reducing our numbers in ways that are compatible with human rights.
Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot by Tom Butler (Editor), Goof Books 2015, ISBN-13: 978-1939621238
Every problem facing humanity, from poverty to violent conflict over resources, is exacerbated by a ballooning human population - and so is every problem facing nature, including ecosystem loss, species extinctions, and climate chaos. But why is the demographic explosion and its effects ignored by policymakers and the media?
The Land is Full: Addressing overpopulation in Israel by Alon Tal, Yale University Press 2016, ISBN 9780300216882
A fascinating assessment of how Israel's extraordinary population growth undermines the country's environment, social equity and quality of life - and what must be done about it.
Move Upstream: A Call to Solve Overpopulation, Karen Shragg, Freethought House, 2015, ISBN: 9780988493834
‘Overpopulation is our biggest, most ignored problem on Planet Earth and it is solvable. The solutions are compassionate because we will be volunteering to have fewer children in order to avoid a catastrophic ending to life as we know it…It is time to eliminate the taboo on talking about…human numbers…I will spend much of this book addressing the many parties who must wake up…’
The End Game by Barnosky and Hadly, William Collins, 2015 ISBN: 978-0-00-754817-0
What combination of problems will trigger widespread wars and even societal collapse? We still have the chance to avoid this tipping point. But this unique opportunity will be gone within twenty years. ‘End Game’ is the call to action we need. Very readable.
The World We Made by Jonathan Porritt. Phaidon Press Ltd. 2013
It helps to have a vision of life in a more sustainable world. Try this topic based and very readable book.
Countdown, Alan Weisman, pub. Little, Brown, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4087-0267-3
This book is subtitled ‘Our last, best hope for a future of life on Earth?’ and tackles the issues of population growth squarely.
Full Planet, Empty Plates, Lester R. Brown, pub. W.W.Norton, 2012 ISBN 978-0-393-34415-8
‘One of the consequences of this explosive growth in human numbers is that human demands have outrun the carrying capacity of the economy’s natural support systems.….If world population growth does not slow dramatically, the number of people trapped on hydrological poverty and hunger will almost certainly grow.....The only humane option is to move quickly to replacement fertility of two children per couple and to stabilize world population as soon as possible’.
Life on the Brink, Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation, edited by Philip Cafaro and Eileen Crist, The University of Georgia Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-8203-4385-3.
This important book contains some twenty four essays with titles such as ‘Human Population Growth as if the Rest of Life Mattered’, ‘Why the Silence on Population?’, ’Overpopulation versus Biodiversity: how a Plethora of people produces a Paucity of Wildlife’, and ‘Confronting Finitude’.
Post Carbon Reader, eds. Heinberg and Leach, Watershed Media with Post Carbon Institute, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9709500-6-2
This important book in sixteen parts dealing with sustainability, resilience, climate, water, biodiversity etc, includes a section by William Ryerson, President of the American Population Media Center, on ‘population, the multiplier of everything else’.
More: Population, Nature and What Women Want, Robert Engelman, Island Press, 2010 ISBN-13: 978-1-59726-019-0
If there is one thing that this book makes clear, it is that putting into women’s hands the power to make choices about their own bodies results in reduced fertility. It destroys at a stroke the falsehood used by some objectors that population action is ‘sexist’, or that it consists of ‘rich white men telling poor black women what to do’.
Maybe one: a case for smaller families, Bill McKibben, pub. Simon and Schuster, 1999 ISBN 0-684-85281-0
A sensitively reasoned plea in support of one child families, in which he demonstrates that only children are no more likely to be damaged by childhood experiences than anyone else.