Population | Alliance for Sustainable Colorado

In 1971, Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich published his equation I = P x A x T where environmental (I)mpact is the product of the size of the human (P)opulation, the amount consumed per person (A)ffluence, and the level of (T)echnology employed – the force multiplier that amplifies humankind’s effects on natural systems.

Rising rates of poverty, starvation, desertification, and pollution, and shrinking food production, forests, energy supplies, fish populations and other indicators reveal that current human population exceeds the planet’s carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is defined as the maximum population number of an organism that can be supported given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available in that biological system.

The following population statistics paint a grim picture:

1 in 10 people who has ever been alive is currently on the earth.
One-half of the world’s population is under 25.
The U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world.
There are 750,000 teen pregnancies annually in the U.S.
8 in 10 of these pregnancies are unintended, and 81% are to unmarried teens.
One-third of girls get pregnant before age 20.

In Colorado, we’re experiencing the following trend:

2000 – Population = 4,302,000
2010 – Population = 5,160,000
2040 – Population = 8,000,000 (forecast)

Immigration controls may temporarily limit human migration and population distribution, but they are ineffective at fixing the much bigger problem of global human overpopulation that is overwhelming the ecological systems that make life possible. Policies need to be based on science and evidence, not dogmatic ideology. Reducing poverty, increasing access to health care, giving women education and job opportunities, and providing sex education, assuring control over reproductive choices and increasing availability of birth control, are critically important to curtailing runaway population growth.