Center Supports Speak-out Against Overpopulation

February 2009, the "littlest" month of the year, has been fittingly declared a month of action and communication on a huge issue: skyrocketing human population growth that's hurting our planet and pushing other species toward extinction.

Last week, the Center for Biological Diversity announced our support for the Global Population Speak-Out, a collaborative effort by scientists, activists, and others worldwide to highlight the issue of overpopulation in efforts to restore the planet's health.

Humans are now hogging up to 40 percent of the world's "net primary productivity," a measure of solar energy converted to life-sustaining resources by photosynthesis -- and in the process, we're fueling nearly every ecological problem, from species extinction to resource depletion to the biggest threat of all: climate change.

"Many of us are working hard to reduce our carbon footprints," said Randy Serraglio, conservation advocate with the Center. "But in the end, unless we get a handle on runaway population growth, it may simply become a case of too many feet."

“For many years now the issue of human population size and growth has been the elephant in the room,” said Randy Serraglio, conservation advocate at the Center. “But overpopulation is really at the root of virtually all of the ecological threats facing our planet, and it needs to be addressed. Species extinction, pollution, resource depletion, and — the biggest threat of all — climate change can all be traced back to unsustainable population growth.”

Humans now use up to 40 percent of the world’s Net Primary Productivity, a measure of energy from the sun that is converted into life-sustaining resources by photosynthesis. “With one species commanding so much of the available sustenance, it is no wonder so many other species are disappearing,” said Serraglio.

“A whole range of extinctions can be tied directly to the energy, housing, food, and other resource demands of our burgeoning population,” said Serraglio. “The Yangtze River dolphin, Atlantic gray whale, West African black rhino, Merriam’s elk, California grizzly bear, silver trout, blue pike, dusky seaside sparrow, and many others have succumbed to unsustainable human population growth.”

Check out our press release and learn more about the Global Population Speak Out.