Carrying Capacity

Books- Foundational

Catton WR. 1980. Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press.

One of a small group of sociologists concerned with the human predicament, Catton has written a book about the disease of growth that still is well worth reading today.

Levin S. 1999. Fragile Dominion. Reading, MA: Perseus Books.

Excellent, among other things introduces the biosphere and the human enterprise as complex adaptive systems.

Meadows DH, Meadows DL, Randers J, Behrens III WW. 1972. The Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update. Washington, DC: Universe Books.

A 30 year update of the classic (and largely correct) work.

Wackernagel M, Rees W. 1996. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

Introduction to calculating the biological capacity of Earth to support Homo sapiens.

Klare MT. 2012. The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books

Best recent book on the mineral resource situation, especially on fossil fuels.

Articles- Foundational

Ehrlich PR, Holdren J. 1971. Impact of population growth. Science 171: 1212-1217.

First systematic examination of the population driver and its effects, starting development of I=PAT, looking at non-linearities, etc.

Holdren JP. 1991. Population and the energy problem. Population and Environment 12: 231-255.

Classic analysis, source of famous “Holdren scenarios”

Holdren JP, Ehrlich PR. 1974. Human population and the global environment. American Scientist 62: 282-292.

Comprehensive overview, introducing what have become famously known as ecosystem services.

Vitousek PM, Ehrlich PR, Ehrlich AH, Matson PA. 1986. Human appropriation of the products of photosynthesis. BioScience 36: 368-373.

First quantitative attempt to estimate share of Earth’s productivity being coopted by Homo sapiens.

Articles- Recent

Hall CAS, Day Jr. JW. 2009. Revisiting the limits to growth after peak oil. American Scientist 97: 230-237.

Shows that “Limits to Growth” authors and others warning of ecocatstrophe in 1970s were “right on.”

Ehrlich PR, Ehrlich AH. 2009. The Population Bomb Revisited. The Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development 3: 63-71.

Ehrlich PR. 2008. Demography and Policy: A View from Outside the Discipline. Population and Development Review 34: 103-113.

Harte J. 2007. Human population as a dynamic factor in environmental degradation. Population and Environment 28: 223-236.

Excellent look at nonlinearities, thresholds, etc.

Myrskylä M, Kohler H-P, Billari FC. 2009. Advances in development reverse fertility declines. Nature 460: 741-743.

Why development may not be the entire answer to lowering fertility rates.

O’Neill BC, Dalton M, Fuchs R, Jiang L, Pachauri S, Zigova K. Global demographic trends and future carbon emissions. Proceedings of the National Acadmy of Sciences, USA 107: 17521-17526.

Analysis of the connection between population growth and increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, a connection almost totally neglected in the popular press.

Rees WE. 2011. Ecological Footprint, Concept of. Pages In press in Levin S, ed. Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, 2nd edition. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Fine explanation of this critical concept. Until the new edition of the Encyclopedia appears see Rees’ article in the 2001 edition.

Rockström J, W. Steffen, K. Noone, Å. Persson, et al. 2009. Planetary boundaries:exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and Society 14: 32 URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art32/.

A first attempt at looking for the thresholds we dare not cross.

Videos

Mother: Caring for 7 Billion

“The film illustrates both the overconsumption and the inequity side of the population issue by following Beth, a mother and a child-rights activist as she comes to discover, along with the audience, the thorny complexities of the population issue. Beth – who comes from a large American family of 12 and has adopted an African-born daughter–travels to Ethiopia where she meets Zinet, the oldest daughter of a desperately poor family of 12. Zinet has found the courage to break free from thousand-year-old-cultural barriers, and their encounter will change Beth forever.

Grounded in the theories of social scientist Riane Eisler, the film strives not to blame but to educate, to highlight a different path for humanity. Overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem – a “domination system” that for most of human history has glorified the domination of man over nature, man over child and man over woman. To break this pattern, the film demonstrates that we must change our conquering mindset into a nurturing one. And the first step is to raise the status of women worldwide.” -MotherTheFilm.com