The return of the population timebomb

Professor Chris Rapley, the head of the UK's Antarctic research agency, says that the growing global population is one of the biggest problems facing the environment. He has named the issue the "Cinderella" issue of the eco debate.

"If we believe that the size of the human [ecological] 'footprint' is a serious problem, and there is much evidence for this," he writes, "then a rational view would be that along with a raft of measures to reduce the footprint per person, the issue of population management must be addressed."

A number of studies suggest that humankind is consuming the Earth's resources at an unsustainably fast rate.

Even so, the issue of population is hardly ever discussed at environmental summits or raised by green lobby groups.

Technorati tag: Population, Resources