And it warrants greater attention, not less. This roundtable discussion with the staff of World Population Balance answers the question, “Is there a problem with population?” An attempt to answer the question with a “not really” was recently published in a commentary at Resilience.org. The article, Population: What’s the Problem?, written by Chris Smaje, made some points that World Population Balance staff members believe should not stand unchallenged.

In this staff roundtable edition of the podcast, Executive Director Dave Gardner, Carolyn VandenDolder and Alan Ware examine Smaje’s premise, his characterizations, and his assumptions. Ultimately, we strongly disagree with his conclusion. You can read an article we wrote in response to Smaje: Yes, (Over)Population IS a Problem! 

LINKS:

I=PAT equation 

A Good Life for All Within Planetary Boundaries (University of Leeds study) 

Detailed fertility rate information (including nations achieving rapid fertility rate reduction) https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate