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HUMAN
POPULATION
IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITY
The
fate of the human species is inextricably interwoven with the collective
fates of threatened wild spaces, as well as the plants and animals that
live in them, around the globe. Healthy habitats are integral to healthy
human populations worldwide.
Human
Population Impacts on Biodiversity
A single species
-- Mankind -- has more impact on habitat degradation throughout the
globe than all other species combined. Read
Dr. Mel Otten's article about the five primary processes
of degradation: over harvesting, alien species introduction,
habitat fragmentation, pollution and outright habit
destruction.
In
the News:
- Water-Borne
Diseases are One of the Greatest Threats to Human Health. Issues
of access to clean drinking water are complicated by soaring populations
living in sqalid conditions. The WHO estimates that at least 3.4 million
people die annually due to water-borne diseases and related complications.
- Is
population control part of the solution? Demographers estimate
that world population, currently at around 6 billion, will plateau in
the next 70 years at 9 billion. A plateau sounds reassuring. Rubbing
elbows with 50 percent more people than exist today seems less so. Should
we strive to decrease the level at which we plateau?
- As
its population soars, California’s environment approaches a crisis.
In 2000, California added a breathtaking 571,000 people, a 1.7 percent
growth rate that outpaces that of Bangladesh. In all the media hoopla
over the rolling blackouts in California, little attention was paid
to the explosive increase in electricity demand due to the state's rapid
population growth.
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