Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?

by Alan Weisman

  Davey, E., acting chair: Optimum Population Trust. “Think-Tank Urges Population Inquiry by Government.” News release, January 5, 2009. http://populationmatters.org/2009/press/thinktank-urges-population-inquiry-government.

  DeParle, Jason. “The Anti-Immigration Crusader.” New York Times, April 17, 2011.

  Desvaux, Martin. “The Sustainability of Human Populations: How Many People Can Live on Earth.” Significance, vol. 4, no. 3 (September 2007): 102–7. http://populationmatters.org/documents/sustainable_populations.pdf. Accessed: June 2009.

  _______.“Towards Sustainable and Optimum Populations.” Optimum Population Trust, April 8, 2008. http://www.populationmatters.org/documents.

  Doughty, Steve. “One in Three Babies Born Today ‘Will Live for at Least 100 Years.’ ” Daily Mail (UK), March 27, 2012.

  Doward, Jamie. “British Farming in Crisis as Crop Losses from ‘Relentless’ Floods Pile Up Woes.” Observer (UK), February 23, 2013.

  Fairlie, Simon. “Can Britain Feed Itself?” The Land Magazine, no. 4 (Winter 2007–2008): 18–26.

  Ferguson, Andrew, ed. “2nd Footprint Forum, Part II: Ethics of Carrying Capacity.” Optimum Population Trust Journal, vol. 3, no. 2 (October 2003).

  Forum for the Future. Growing Pains: Population and Sustainability in the UK. June 2010.

  Gillis, Justin, and Celia W. Dugger. “U.N. Forecasts 10.1 Billion People by Century’s End.” New York Times, May 3, 2011.

  Griffin, Nick. “A Right Menace.” Independent, May 23, 2009.

  Guillebaud, J. “Youthquake: Population, Fertility and Environment in the 21st Century.” Optimum Population Trust, 2007.

  _______, and Hayes P. “Editorial: Population Growth and Climate Change.” British Medical Journal, vol. 337 (2008): 247–48.

  “Inside Out/West Midlands: Report on Sharia Law.” BBC Home, January 20, 2009.

  Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences. EcoIslam, no. 8, June 2011.

  Johnson, Wesley. “UK Population ‘Largest in Western Europe by 2050.’ ” Independent (UK), July 30, 2010.

  Kaiser, Jocelyn. “10 Billion Plus: Why World Population Projections Were Too Low.” Science/ScienceInsider, May 4, 2011. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/05/10-billion-plus-why-world-population.html.

  Khalid, Fazlun M. “Guardians of the Natural Order.” One Planet Magazine, August 1996.

  _______.“Islam and the Environment,” in Social and Economic Dimensions of Global Environmental Change. Vol. 5 of Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2002, pp. 332–39.

  _______.“The Copenhagen Syndrome.” Globalia Magazine, December 1, 2010.

  Knight, Richard. “Debunking a YouTube Hit.” BBC News, August 7, 2009.

  Levitt, Tom. “Chief Scientist Refutes Fred Pearce’s Bad Logic About Population and Environment.” Ecologist, February 14, 2012. http://www.theecologist.org/News.

  Martin, Roger. “Population, Environment and Conflict.” Population Matters, paper presented at the African Population Conference in Ougadougou, organized by the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS). UAPS, 2011.

  McDougall, Rosamund. “The UK’s Population Problem.” Optimum Population Trust, 2003, updated 2010.

  Morris, Steven, and Martin Wainwright. “BNP Leader Held by Police over Racist Remarks.” Guardian (UK), December 14, 2004.

  Murray, Douglas. “It’s Official: Muslim Population of Britain Doubles.” Gatestone Institute website, December 21, 2012. http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3511.

  “Muslim Demographics.” YouTube video. Posted by friendofmuslim, March 30, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU.

  Myhrvold, N. P., and K. Caldeira. “Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change and the Transition from Coal to Low-Carbon Electricity.” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 7 (2012): 1–8.

  Nicholson-Lord, David. “The Fewer the Better.” New Statesman, November 8, 2004.

  Optimum Population Trust. “Britain Overpopulated by 70 Percent.” Press release, February 18, 2008.

  _______.“Population Projections,” June 3, 2009.

  “People and the Planet.” Report for the Royal Society Science Policy Centre, London. Final report, April 26, 2012.

  Pipes, Daniel. “Predicting a Majority-Muslim Russia.” Lion’s Den (blog), Daniel Pipes: Middle East Forum, August 6, 2005. http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/08.

  “School Children Offered Contraceptive Implants.” BBC News, Health, February 8, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16951331.

  Snopes.com. “Muslim Demographics.” Uban Legends Reference Pages, last updated April 2009. http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/demographics.asp.

  Swinford, Steven. “Contraceptive Implants and Injections for Schoolgirls Treble.” Telegraph (UK), October 30, 2012.

  _______.“Girls of 13 Given Birth Control Jab at School Without Parents’ Knowledge.” Telegraph (UK), October 28, 2012.

  “UK Muslim Population Doubled in a Decade.” PressTV, December 22, 2012.

  United Kingdom Office for National Statistics, “What Are the Chances of Surviving to Age 100?” Historic and Projected Mortality Data (1951–2060) from the UK Life Tables, 2010-based, March 26, 2012.

  Vaïsse, Justin. “Eurabian Follies.” Foreign Policy, January/February 2010.

  Vaughan, Adam. “UK’s Year of Drought and Flooding Unprecedented, Experts Say.” Guardian (UK), October 18, 2012.

  Ware, John. “What Happens If Britain’s Population Hits 70m?” BBC Panorama, April 19, 2010.

  Whitehead, Tom. “Immigration Drives UK’s Population Boom.” Telegraph (UK), July 1, 2011.

  _______.“Women Wait Until 29 and Settle for Fewer Children.” Telegraph (UK), September 24, 2010.

  Wiley, David. “Letter: Optimum Population.” New Scientist, no. 1944, September 24, 1994.

  Wire, Thomas. Fewer Emitters, Lower Emissions, Less Cost: Reducing Future Carbon Emissions by Investing in Family Planning: A Cost/Benefit Analysis. London School of Economics, Operational Research. Sponsored by Optimum Population Trust, August 2009.

  Chapter Six: Holy See

  BOOKS

  Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision. New York: United Nations, 2010 (Updated: April 15, 2011)

  Hasler, August. How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion. New York: Doubleday, 1981.

  Keilis-Borok, V. I., and M. Sánchez Sorondo, eds. Science for Survival and Sustainable Development: Proceedings of Study Week 12–16 March 1999. Vatican City: Scripta Varia 98, 2000.

  Krause, Elizabeth L. A Crisis of Births: Population Politics and Family-Making in Italy (Case Studies on Contemporary Social Issues). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005.

  _______. Unraveled: A Weaver’s Tale of Life Gone Modern. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.

  Livi-Bacci, Massimo. A Concise History of World Population. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

  Losito, Maria. The Casina Pio IV in the Vatican: Historical and Iconographic Guide. Vatican City: Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 2010.

  Maguire, Daniel C. Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.

  McClory, Robert. Turning Point: The Inside Story of the Papal Birth Control Commission. New York: Crossroad, 1995.

  Mumford, Stephen. American Democracy and the Vatican: Population Growth and National Security. Washington, DC: American Humanist Association, 1984.

  Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Popolazione e Risorse [Population and Resources]. Vatican City: Vita e Pensiero, 1994.

  Seewald, Peter, and Pope Benedict XVI. Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of Times. Translated by Michael J. Miller and Adrian J. Walker. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010.

  Tanner, Norman, and Guiseppe Albergio, eds. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1990.

 
; ARTICLES

  Allen Jr., John L. “Vatican Studies Genetically Modified Crops.” National Catholic Reporter, May 18, 2009.

  Benedict XVI. Caritas in Veritate: Encyclical Letter on Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth. June 29, 2009.

  “Berlusconi Investigated in Teen Dancer Case.” Associated Press, January 14, 2011.

  “Berlusconi’s ‘Party Girls’ Driven by Ambitious Parents.” Agence France-Presse, January 20, 2011.

  Bruni, F. “Persistent Drop in Fertility Reshapes Europe’s Future.” New York Times, December 26, 2002.

  Capparella v. E.N.P.A, Civil Court of Rome, February 11, 2009. Conciliation Report, p. 392.

  Carr, David. “The Bible Is Pro-Birth Control.” Reader Supported News, March 8, 2012. http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/295-164/10356-the-bible-Is-pro-birth-control.

  Catholics for Choice. “Truth and Consequence: A Look Behind the Vatican’s Ban on Contraception,” 2008.

  Colonnello, Paolo. “Gli Amici Serpenti del Cavaliere.” LaStampa.it, January 19, 2011. http://www.lastampa.it/2011/01/19/italia/politica/gli-amici-serpenti-del-cavaliere-XTm7TjZWlU8f1vvGr32FaN/pagina.html.

  Cowell, Alan. “Scientists Linked to the Vatican Call for Population Curbs.” New York Times, June 16, 1994.

  Delaney, Sarah. “Genetically Modified Crops Call for Caution, Bishop Tells Synod.” Catholic News Service, October 8, 2009.

  Donadio, Rachel. “Europe’s Young Grow Agitated over Future Prospects.” New York Times, January 1, 2011.

  _______.“Surreal: A Soap Opera Starring Berlusconi.” New York Times, January 22, 2011.

  Ehrlich, Paul R., and Peter H. Raven. “Butterflies and Plants: A Study in Coevolution.” Evolution, vol. 18, no. 4 (December 1964): 586–608.

  Engelman, Robert. “The Pope’s Scientists.” Conscience, vol. 31, no. 2 (2010).

  Flanders, Laura. “Giving the Vatican the Boot.” Ms. Magazine, October/November 1999.

  Fox, Thomas C. “New Birth Control Commission Papers Reveal Vatican’s Hand.” National Catholic Reporter, March 23, 2011. http://ncronline.org.

  “Il fratello di Roberta. ‘Brava, hai lavorato bene.’ ” Repubblica TV, September 21, 2010. http://video.repubblica.it/le-inchieste/il-fratello-di-roberta-brava-hai-lavorato-bene/95230/93612.

  Glatz, Carol. “Synod Working Document Seeks Ways to Promote Justice, Peace in Africa.” Catholic News Service, March 19, 2009.

  Grandoni, Dino. “98% of Catholic Women Have Used Contraception the Church Opposes.” Atlantic Wire, February 10, 2012.

  Gumbel, Andrew. “Italian Men Cling to Mamma; Unemployment and a Housing Crisis Force Males to Live at Home in Their Thirties.” The World section, Independent (UK), December 15, 1996.

  Hebblethwaite, Peter. “Science, Magisterium at Odds: Pontifical Academy Emphasizes Need for Global Population Control—Pontifical Academy of Sciences.” National Catholic Reporter, July 15, 1994.

  ISTAT. Demographic Indicators: Year 2010. January 24, 2011. http://demo.istat.it/index_e.html.

  Kertzer, David I., Alessandra Gribaldo, and Maya Judd. “An Imperfect Contraceptive Society: Fertility and Contraception in Italy.” Population and Development Review, vol. 35, no. 3 (September 2009): 551–84.

  Kessler, Glenn. “The Claim That 98 Percent of Catholic Women Use Contraception: A Media Foul.” The Fact Checker (blog), Washington Post, February 17, 2012.

  Kington, Tom. “Silvio Berlusconi Gave Me €7,000, Says 17-Year-Old Belly Dancer.” Observer (UK), October 30, 2010.

  _______.“Silvio Berlusconi Wiretaps Reveal Boast of Spending Night with Eight Women.” Observer (UK), September 17, 2011.

  Kissling, Frances. “The Vatican and Reproductive Freedom: A Human Rights Perspective on the Importance of Supporting Reproductive Choices.” Testimony given by Frances Kissling before the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health at a hearing in the UK Parliament on Monday, July 3, 2006. http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/conscience/current/.

  Krause, Elizabeth L. “ ‘Empty Cradles’ and the Quiet Revolution: Demographic Discourse and Cultural Struggles of Gender, Race, and Class in Italy.” Cultural Anthropology, vol. 16, no. 4 (2001): 576–611.

  _______.“Dangerous Demographies and the Scientific Manufacture of Fear,” in Selected Publications of EFS Faculty, Students, and Alumni. Paper 4, July 2006.

  _______.“ ‘Toys and Perfumes’: Imploding Italy’s Population Paradox and Motherly Myths,” in Barren States: The Population “Implosion” in Europe, edited by Carrie B. Douglass. London: Berg, 2005, pp. 159–82.

  Krause, Elizabeth L., and Milena Marchesi. “Fertility Politics as ‘Social Viagra’: Reproducing Boundaries, Social Cohesion, and Modernity in Italy.” American Anthropologist, vol. 109, no. 2 (June 2007): 350–62. doi: 10.1525/AA.2007.109.2.350.

  Lavanga, Claudio. “Berlusconi Tells Businessman to Bring Girls, But Not Tall Ones, Wiretaps Reveal.” NBC News, September 17, 2011.

  Ludwig, Mike. “New WikiLeaks Cables Show US Diplomats Promote Genetically Engineered Crops Worldwide.” Truthout, August 25, 2011. http://www.truth-out.org/new-wikileaks-cables-show-us-diplomats-promote-genetically-engineered-crops-worldwide/1314303978.

  _______.“US to Vatican: Genetically Modified Food Is a ‘Moral Imperative.’ ” Truthout, December 29, 2010.

  Meldolesi, Anna. “Vatican Panel Backs GMOs.” Nature Biotechnology, vol. 29, no. 11 (2011). doi:10.1038/nbt0111-11.

  Mumford, Stephen D. “Why the Church Can’t Change.” Council for Secular Humanism Free Inquiry, vol. 21, no 1 (Winter 2000/2001).

  _______.“Why the Pope Can’t Change the Church’s Position on Birth Control: Implications for Americans.” Presentation to Vatican Influence on Public Policy Symposium, at the Center for Research on Population and Security: St. Louis, Missouri. January 27, 1999.

  O’Brien, Jon, and Sara Morello. “Catholics for Choice and Abortion: Prochoice Catholicism 101.” Conscience, Spring 2008: 24–26.

  Partridge, Loren W. Review of The Casino of Pius IV, by Graham Smith. The Art Bulletin, vol. 60, no. 2 (June 1978): 369–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049799. Accessed: 30/03/2012.

  Paul VI. Humanae Vitae: Encyclical letter on the regulations of birth control. May 1, 1968.

  Pontifical Council for the Family. “Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends.” March 25, 1994.

  Potrykus, Ingo, and Klaus Ammann, eds. “Transgenic Plants for Food Security in the Context of Development: Proceedings of a Study Week of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.” New Biotechnology, vol. 27, no. 5 (November 2010): 445–718.

  Raven, Peter H. “Does the Use of Transgenic Plants Diminish or Promote Biodiversity?” New Biotechnology, vol. 27, no. 5 (2010): 528–53.

  Ravenholt, R. T. “Poorest Peasant Couple in Remotest Village Will Seize Opportunity to Control Family Size.” Paper presented to the First USAID World Population Conference, Washington, DC, December 1976.

  _______.“World Fertility Survey: Origin and Development of the WFS.” Paper presented to the Conference at the National Press Club on 30 Years of USAID Efforts in Population and Health Data Collection. Washington, DC, June 3, 2002.

  Sarzanini, Fiorenza. “Fede, Mora e le Feste: ‘Lui Stasera è Pimpante, Chiama le Nostre Vallette.’ ” Corriere della Sera, January 19, 2011.

  Schnieder, Jane, and Peter Schneider. “Sex and Respectability in an Age of Fertility Decline: A Sicilian Case Study.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 33, no. 8 (1991): 885–95.

  Shiva, Vandana. “The ‘Golden Rice’ Hoax: When Public Relations Replaces Science.” Accessed at http://online.sfsu.edu/rone/GEessays/goldenricehoax.html.

  Swomley, John M. “The Pope and the Pill.” Christian Social Action, February 1998.

  Urquhart, Gordon. “The Vatican and Family Politics.” For Conservative Catholic Influence in Europe: An Investigative Series. Washington, DC: Catholics for a Free Choice, 1997.

  “Vatican Calls for ‘More Solid Morality’ in Wake of
Berlusconi Sex Scandal.” France24 International News 24/7, January 21, 2011. http://www.france24.com/en/20110120-berlusconi-political-persecution-scandal-vows-prostitution-minor-law.

  Chapter Seven: Gorillas in Our Midst

  BOOKS

  Hall, Ruth. The Life of Marie Stopes. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1978.

  Hanson, Thor. The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda, revised edition. Warwick, NY: 1500 Books, 2008.

  Turner, Pamela. Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008.

  ARTICLES

  Anderson, Curt. “U.S. Arrests 3 in Uganda Tourist Slayings.” Associated Press, March 3, 2003.

  “Bwindi Impenetrable Forest,” Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network website. http://www.teamnetwork.org/network/sites/bwindi-national-park-0.

  Caccone, Adalgisa. “DNA Divergence Among Hominoids.” Evolution, vol. 43, no. 5 (1989): 925–41.

  Clarke, Jody. “Tullow Accused of Acts of Bribery in Uganda.” Irish Times, October 14, 2011. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1014/1224305758151.html.

  Cohen, Tamara. “What Separates Man from the Apes?” Daily Mail (UK), March 8, 2012.

  Craig, Allison Layne. “ ‘Quality Is Everything’: Rhetoric of the Transatlantic Birth Control Movement in Interwar Women’s Literature of England, Ireland and the United States.” PhD diss., University of Texas at Austin, December 2009.

  Gaffikin, Lynne. “Population Growth, Ecosystem Services, and Human Well-Being,” in A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice, and the Environmental Challenge, edited by Laurie Mazur. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2009.

  _______, and Kalema-Zikusoka, G. Integrating Human and Animal Health for Conservation and Development: Findings from a Program Evaluation in Southwest Uganda. Conservation Through Public Health, Evaluation and Research Technologies for Health, and John Snow, 2010.

  Gatsiounis, Ioannis. “Uganda’s Soaring Population a Factor in Poverty, Deadly Riots.” Washington Times, June 14, 2011.

  Kanyeheyo, Ivan Mafigiri. “Nation’s Population Growth a Self-Laid Economic Trap.” Monitor (Kampala), June 23, 2011.