Giving Compass
  • Sign In
  • About Us
    About Giving Compass How We Choose Content and Organizations Annual Reflections Our Newsletter
  • Getting Started
  • Learn About Issues
    Topic Guides
    Animal Welfare COVID-19 Criminal Justice Democracy Disaster Relief Education Environment Health Homelessness Immigrants and Refugees Racial Equity Women and Girls
    Curated Articles
    Partner Collections Giving Compass Selections See All Articles
  • Give to Causes
    Issue Funds & Intermediaries Projects Nonprofits
  • Get Involved
    Philanthropy Resource Directory Events Volunteer Opportunities
  • Partner With Us
    Nonprofits Authors Use Our Content Services Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
Sign Up
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Sign In

Paul Ehrlich on The Population Bomb, 50 Years Later

Climate One May 3, 2018
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
Click here for more.
Paul Ehrlich on The Population Bomb, 50 Years Later Giving Compass
  •  Share
  •  Save
Share

Giving Compass’ Take:

• Paul Ehrlich discusses The Population Bomb 50 years after its original publication, sharing why he believes the population situation is even more dire today.

• What are the most effective ways to sow population growth without infringing on personal freedoms? How can food supplies be more equitably distributed? 

• Learn about the importance of sustainable farming in feeding the global population. 


This year marks the 50th anniversary of Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s seminal best-seller, The Population Bomb. The book warned of the dangers of overpopulation, including mass starvation, societal upheaval, and environmental ruin.

Greg Dalton:  And one of the critiques of the book is often that it is overly dark it’s doomsday and what would you say that today?

Paul Ehrlich:  It’s much darker today.  And you can prove it. In other words, there’s no — after all, we were worried then about the problems of feeding human society when there was 3 1/2 billion people on the planet.  Since then, something on the order of 200 to 500 million people have starved to death or died of nutrition-related illness. Now we’ve got way over 7 billion people. We have something on the order of 800 million that’s more than double the population of United States, hungry and starving and another billion or two who are micronutrient malnourished. And people will say well, we don’t have any food problem.  Well, the people saying that, of course, usually don’t.

Greg Dalton:  Some organizations, Oxfam included, say that the world produces enough calories.  It’s a matter of distribution, getting them to the right place. Is that your view?

Paul Ehrlich:  At the moment that’s probably true.  That is if we did everything right and distributed things fairly, then everybody can have a decent diet.  Of course, what do we distribute fairly? In places where there’s a lot of hunger the food isn’t distributed fairly because the father has to get more than the kids or everybody starves.

Read the full article about The Population Bomb at Climate One.

  •  Share
  •  Save
Share

Learning and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact on Climate take a look at these selections from Giving Compass.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    Profiles of Big Bets in Philanthropy Tackling Complex Issues

    Giving Compass' Take: • Climate and Land Use Alliance’s (CLUA) is an example of how collaborative philanthropic investment can tackle a complex issue. In this post, The Bridgespan Group explains other big bets in philanthropy that are doing the same.  • How can more donors get involved in big bets in philanthropy through collective impact?  • Jean Case explains the value of big bets in philanthropy.  Climate change is among the most daunting social problems for philanthropists to address. The issue is global in scale, involves a very large number of stakeholders and regulatory environments, and must take into account the continually evolving scientific understanding of how to slow climate change and help communities and countries adapt to it. Even the biggest big bets from individual funders may seem insufficient to make a dent in the problem. Even the biggest big bets from individual funders may seem insufficient to make a dent in the problem. Since 2010, the Climate and Land Use Alliance’s (CLUA) five main funders (Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, ClimateWorks Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and The David & Lucile Packard Foundation) have committed more than a half a billion dollars to a set of common strategies, with $211 million of that total coming in 2018. 


Looking for a way to get involved?

Learning with others and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for Climate, take a look at these events, galas, conferences and volunteering opportunities to connect with individuals like you.

Loading...
Learn More

Are you ready to give?

If you are looking for opportunities to take action and give money to Climate, here are some Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations and Projects aggregated by Giving Compass where you can take immediate action.

Loading...
Learn More
Connect

Loading...

Loading...

Learn More
Take Action

Loading...

Loading...

Loading...

Learn More
More from
Giving Compass
  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    We Need to Talk About Climate Change
  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    The Uneven Risk of Climate Change
  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    Geoengineering Climate Solutions [Audio]
Follow Us
Newsletter

Become a newsletter subscriber to stay up-to-date on the latest Giving Compass news.

About Us
  • About Giving Compass
  • In The News
  • Contact Us
  • Content at Giving Compass
  • Partner With Us
Trending Issues
  • Environment
  • Homelessness
  • STEM Education
  • Equal Pay Act
  • Gender Equality

Copyright © 2021, Giving Compass, LLC

•
  • Privacy Policy
  • User Agreement

Sign in

Your personal information is confidential at Giving Compass. For more information, please visit our privacy policy. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use.