Population and environment – what's the connection?
Useful sites
State of world population 2004: Population and the environment (United Nations Population Fund)
Report into the condition of the world's population in regard to resource use, poverty and ecological stress. This is part of a larger publication that addresses a wide range of issues to do with global population.
World resources 2002-2004: Decisions for the Earth: Balance, voice, and power (World Resources Institute, USA)
Emphasizes the importance of good environmental governance and how individuals, government managers, and business owners can make better environmental decisions.
AAAS atlas of population and environment (American Society for the Advancement of Science, USA)
Introduction
Looks at the consumption of key natural resources around the world.
Energy
Looks at the world's growing need for energy.
Freshwater
Describes the chronic or acute water shortage in many countries with fast-growing populations.
Foodcrops
Asks whether the world can feed growing populations.
Meat and fish
Describes the implications for land use with the trend towards consumption of meat and fish as countries and families grow richer.
Forest products
Looks at the challenges the world faces as it tries to find ways of using forests sustainably.
International trade
Asks if global markets will take ecological concerns into account in the future.
The population story – so far (World Watch Institute, posted by Sustainable Population Australia) (PDF file)
Article that discusses the impact of a still-rising world population combining with fast-rising resource consumption.
2004 Fenner Conference on the Environment Understanding the population – environment debate: Bridging disciplinary divides (Australian Academy of Science)
Provides transcripts of talks presented at the two day symposium.
Future dilemmas (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Australia) (PDF file)
Explores the impact of the size of Australia's future population on our environment, physical economy, national infrastructure and on our quality of life. A summary and guide to the technical report is available as a PDF file at Dilemmas distilled.
How to talk to Americans (Our Planet E-magazine, Earth Action Network, Inc., USA)
Comments on how the public has become insensitive to large scale environmental problems and human catastrophies.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation transcripts
The biology of civilisation (Ockham's Razor, 12 December 2004)
A discussion of the complex interrelationships between human culture and nature and the idea of ecological sustainability.
Discarding the Bovver boots: Ecological footprints (Earthbeat, 13 April 2002)
An interview with Professor Bill Rees, the man behind the concept of the ecological footprint.
Ecological footprint (Powerhouse Museum, Australia)
Defines the term ‘ecological footprint’, how it is used and its importance.
Sydney’s ecological footprint – a size 11 problem? (Online Opinion, Australia)
Uses the concept of an ecological footprint to put a number on a sustainable population size for Australia.
Footprint calculator (Earth Day Network, USA)
An online quiz that calculates your ecological footprint.
World in the Balance population interactives (Nova, USA)
Human numbers through time
Looks at population growth over the past two millennia, and what might happen in the next 50 years.
Global trends quiz
Test your understanding of the population trends and environmental challenges facing nations around the world.
Earth in peril
Explore how consumption and rapid population growth affect our planet's natural resources.
Page updated November 2006.