The Population Explosion by Paul and Anne Ehrlich is filled with statistics meant to tie all of the world’s environmental troubles to one basic problem: overpopulation. Filled with facts, figures, and statistics from beginning to end, the Ehrlich’s conclusions about exponential population growth are dour; “America and other rich nations have a clear choice today. They can continue to ignore the population problem and their own massive contributions to it. Then they will be trapped in a downward spiral that may well lead to the end of civilization in a few decades” (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 23). The authors argue that a variety of culprits contribute to the problem, including the views of the Vatican on reproduction, birth control, and abortion, and a variety of others from journalists to some environmentalists.
The Population Explosion presents the argument that the world’s growing population (approximately 100 million annually) is the root cause of the planet’s diminishing resources, and consequently the source of famine, global warming, acid rain and a majority of other environmental problems. The authors argue that everything from droughts to dying forests is the cause of the world’s environmental problems – all of them stemming from overpopulation. After presenting myriad statistics to support their argument, the authors predict a bleak future if immediate and widespread actions are not taken by governments and other authorities around the globe, “Then they will be trapped in a downward spiral that may well lead to the end of civilization in a few decades. More frequent droughts, more damaged crops and famines, more dying forests, more smog, more international conflicts, more epidemics, more gridlock, more drugs, more crime, more sewage swimming, and other extreme unpleasantness will mark our course” (Ehrlich et al. 23).
The Population Explosion is in the vein of works by authors like Malthus, a popula...