Abstract
Our human species is pretty amazing. We have spread over most of the planet and changed much of Earth in order to support us. However, there are costs to our conquering the planet and to our technology. We are using up resources such as petroleum and metals. In addition, we are polluting with wastes such as the carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels. Much of nature and many people are suffering because of human overconsumption. Our mark on the natural world is likely to become more and more severe as time goes on. Indeed, all the environmental indicators show this to be the case (see Chap. 4 by Washington in this volume). There is injustice in what we are doing to the planet—and injustice in what we are also doing to our fellow human beings. How can we make the world more just? Although there are many possible actions that can help, this chapter will concentrate on one—voluntary limitation of human fertility.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
ACOG. (2016). Optimizing support for breastfeeding. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. https://www.acog.org/-/media/Departments/Toolkits-for-Health-Care-Providers/BreastfeedingToolkit.pdf?dmc=1&ts=20180818T0154117648. Accessed 18 Aug 2018.
Assadourian, E. (2013). Re-engineering cultures to create a sustainable civilization. In L. Starke (Ed.), State of the world 2013: Is sustainability still possible?. Washington: Island Press.
Blackstone, A. (2014). Doing family without having kids. Sociology Compass, 8(1), 52–62.
Bloom, D., & Finlay, J. (2009). Demographic change and economic growth in Asia. Asian Economic Policy Review, 4(1), 45–64.
Blue Ventures. (2018). About blue ventures. Available at https://blueventures.org/about/. Accessed 14 Jul 2018.
Bongaarts, J., & O’Neill, B. (2018). Global warming policy: Is population left out in the cold? Science, 361, 650–652. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat8680.
Breuner, C., & Mattson, G. (2016). Sexuality education for children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(2). Available at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/138/2/e20161348. Accessed 18 Jul 2018.
CDC. (1999). Achievements in public health, 1900–1999: Family planning. Division of Reproductive Health, US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4847a1.htm. Accessed 11 Jul 2018
CIA. (2017). The world factbook—central intelligence agency. Available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html. Accessed 15 Aug 2018.
Constable, A. (2016). Climate change and migration in the Pacific: Options for Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. Regional Environmental Change, 17(4), 1029–1038.
Crist, E., Mora, C., & Engelman, R. (2017). The interaction of human population, food production, and biodiversity protection. Science, 356, 260–264.
Curtis, K., & Peipert, J. (2017). Long-acting reversible contraception. New England Journal of Medicine, 376(5), 461–468.
David, H. (1988). Born unwanted: Developmental effects of denied abortion. New York: Springer.
David, H. (1992). Born unwanted: Long-term developmental effects of denied abortion. Journal of Social Issues, 48(3), 163–181.
Engelman, R. (2016). Nine population strategies to stop short of 9 billion. In H. Washington & P. Twomey (Eds.), A future beyond growth: Towards a steady state economy. New York: Routledge.
Engelman, R., Mastny, L., Terefe, Y., Gourmelon, G., Yang, J., Bish, J., Fanta, J., et al. (2016). Family planning and environmental sustainability: Assessing the science (Worldwatch Institute Report). Washington DC: Worldwatch Institute. Available at http://fpesa.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/16-118_WW_FPESAReport-working-links.pdf. Accessed 17 Jul 2018.
Farrell, C. (2016). What we can learn from Norway about retirement. Forbes. Available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2016/11/06/what-we-can-learn-from-norway-about-retirement/. Accessed 19 Jul 2018.
FP2020. (2018). Family planning 2020. Available at http://www.familyplanning2020.orghttp://www.familyplanning2020.org/microsite/about-us. Accessed 17 Jul 2018.
Garcia-Moreno, C., Guedes, A., & Knerr, W. (2012). Understanding and addressing violence against women—femicide. World Health Organisation. Available at http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77421/WHO_RHR_12.38_eng.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 16 Aug18 Jul 2018.
GFN. (2018). World footprint. Global Footprint Network. Available at https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/. Accessed 30 Jun 2018.
Gies, E. (2017). The real cost of energy. Nature, 551(7682). Available at https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-07510-3. Accessed 19 Jul 2018.
Glass, J., Smith, R. and Andersson, M. 2016. CCF Brief: Parenting and happiness in 22 countries Council on Contemporary Families. Available at: https://contemporaryfamilies.org/brief-parenting-happiness/ (Accessed 4 Jul. 2018).
Grossman, R. (2012). The importance of human population to sustainability. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 14(6), 973–977.
Guttmacher Institute. (2018). Adding it up: Investing in contraception and maternal and newborn health. Available at https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/adding-it-up-contraception-mnh-2017. Accessed 24 Jun 2018.
Haswell, M., & Washington, H. (2014). Not so cheap: Australia needs to acknowledge the real cost of coal. The Conversation, June 9th. https://theconversation.com/not-so-cheap-australia-needs-to-acknowledge-the-real-cost-of-coal-26640. Accessed 18 Aug 2018.
Holdren, J., & Ehrlich, P. (1974). Human population and the global environment: Population growth, rising per capita material consumption, and disruptive technologies have made civilization a global ecological force. American Scientist, 62(3), 282–292.
King, Jr., M. (1962). The importance of voting. The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Available at http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/importance-voting#. Accessed 20 Jul 2018.
Kim, R. (1994). The legacy of institutionalized gender inequality in South Korea: The family law. Law Digital Commons, Boston College Law School. Available at http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/twlj/vol14/iss1/7. Accessed 19 Jul 2018.
Lam, D., & Duryea, S. (1999). Effects of schooling on fertility, labor supply, and investments in children, with evidence from Brazil. The Journal of Human Resources, 34(1), 160.
Lloyd, C., & Ivanov, S. (1988). The effects of improved child survival on family planning practice and fertility. Studies in Family Planning, 19(3), 141.
McCloskey, J. (1993). Changing fertility patterns of three generations of Navajo Women (Ph.D. thesis). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.
McFalls Jr., J. 2007. Population: A Lively Introduction. 5th edition. Washington DC: Population Reference Bureau. Available at https://www.prb.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/62.1LivelyIntroduction.pdf. Accessed 2 Jul 2018.
McKibben, B. (1998). Maybe one: A case for smaller families. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Miller, C. (2018). Americans are having fewer babies: They told us why. New York Times 5th July 2018. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/upshot/americans-are-having-fewer-babies-they-told-us-why.html. Accessed 10 Jul 2018.
Murtaugh, P., & Schlax, M. (2009). Reproduction and the carbon legacies of individuals. Global Environmental Change, 19(1), 14–20.
Oliver, T., Oleson, K., Ratsimbazafy, H., Raberinary, D., Benbow, S., & Harris, A. (2015). Positive catch & economic benefits of periodic Octopus fishery closures: Do effective, narrowly targeted actions ‘catalyze’ broader management? PLOS ONE, 10(6), e0129075.
Population Education. (2018). Population education resources for teachers. Available at https://populationeducation.org. Accessed 19 Jul 2018.
PP (Planned Parenthood). (no date). Breastfeeding. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/breastfeeding. Accessed 26 Aug 2018.
PRB. (2018). 2018 World population data sheet. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau. Available at https://www.prb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018_WPDS.pdf. Accessed 11 Sept 2018.
Rieder, T. (2016). Toward a small family ethic: How overpopulation and climate change are affecting the morality of procreation. New York: Springer.
Robson, L., & Rakotozafy, F. (2015). The freedom to choose: Integrating community-based reproductive health services with locally led marine conservation initiatives in southwest Madagascar. Madagascar Conservation & Development, 10(S1), 6–12. Available at http://www.journalmcd.com/index.php/mcd/issue/view/82/showToc. Accessed 16 Aug 2018.
RoR. (2012). Family planning policy. Republic of Rwanda, Ministry of Health, Maternal and Child Health. Kigali: Government of Rwanda. http://www.moh.gov.rw/fileadmin/templates/Docs/Rwanda-Family-Planning-Policy.pdf. Accessed 26 Aug 2018.
Sanderson, W., & Scherbov, S. (2010). Remeasuring aging. Science, 329(5997), 1287–1288.
Steingraber, S. (2003). Having faith: An ecologist’s journey to motherhood. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group.
UNDESA. (2009). Completing the fertility transition. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2009 (p. 450). New York: United Nations. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/completingfertility/bulletin-english.pdf. Accessed 1 Aug 2018
UNDESA. (2017). World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html. Accessed 26 Aug 2018.
UNFPA. (2018). Demographic dividend. United Nations Population Fund. https://www.unfpa.org/demographic-dividend. Accessed 2 Jul 2018.
USAID. (2017). Social and behavior change: Family planning and reproductive health. USAID. Available at https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health/cross-cutting-areas/social-and-behavior-change/family-planning-reproductive-health. Accessed 12 Jul 2018.
USCB. (2018). Fertility of women in the United States: 2016. US Census Bureau, Department of Commerce. Available at https://census.gov/data/tables/2016/demo/fertility/women-fertility.html#par_list_62. Accessed 4 Jul 2018.
USDA 2018. USDA Calculator. US Department of Agriculture. Available at: https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/tools/CRC_Calculator/ (Accessed 3 Jul. 2018).
USDS. (no date). Population. U.S. Department of State. Available at https://www.state.gov/j/prm/population/. Accessed 19 Jul 2018.
Washington, H. (2015a). Overshoot. Reference module in earth systems and environmental sciences, New York: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.09517-8.
Washington, H. (2015b). Demystifying sustainability: Towards real solutions. London: Routledge.
WHO. (2018). Emergency contraception. World Health Organization. Available at http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/emergency-contraception. Accessed 15 Aug 2018.
World Bank. (2018). Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. World Bank. Available at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS. Accessed 19 Jul 2018.
Wynes, S., & Nicholas, K. (2017). The climate mitigation gap: Education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions. Environmental Research Letters, 12(7).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Grossman, R. (2020). Population Issues and Solutions. In: Kopnina, H., Washington, H. (eds) Conservation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13905-6_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13905-6_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13904-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13905-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)