The human population is huge, and it just keeps growing. For a lot of environmental problems, it’s the elephant in the room that’s always in the background. More people require more resources and more space and that puts an even greater strain on endangered wildlife and habitats. I mean, the biggest way to increase your carbon footprint is to make a kid. And while a lot of conservationists know that the human population is a growing issue, very few organizations are actually talking about it.

Liz (of Alaska trip fame) and I have been ranting about making babies (or rather, not doing that) for a long time. I convinced her to have some whiskey with me to talk about the growing human population and our unsustainable consumption. Really, though, when it comes to fixing a lot of these problems, the solutions are more about investing in people and empowering women (something conservationists don’t do a ton of work on). It’s a reminder that we need to be looking outside of the sciences for long-term solutions to these big problems.