Why so much loathing Perseus? Are you someone who abhors restraint? Sheila is arguing for balance, not the disappearance of humans. She is trying to get us to save ourselves by preserving the ecosystem.

Population 'control' ain't half of it. Even if a human sterility virus swept the planet halting all reproduction overnight, the planet will still be shagged by the rising afluence of all those here on earth today.

There needs to be a massive die off to get numbers down closer to the 1 - 2 billion that were here around the 1850's when the explosion in fossil fuel use started slowly cooking us all.

After the new plague has got the numbers down then we can talk about 'population control'.

I can't think of any case where humans have been ecologically positive for the planet. We have a plague of humans and all plagues end in disease and die off.

Good article - I agree that human overpopulation is probably the biggest environmental problem facing the world today.

However, as others have suggested, it's not simply the fact that there are too many people - it's also that as the world 'develops', per capita consumption of resources and energy increases exponentially. Mind you, given the increasing awareness of issues such as climate change, 'peak' oil and energy, I think it's quite likely the orgy of consumption that currently characterises 'developed' societies is likely to be wound back drastically in the relatively near future.

I'm a big fan of national parks, sanctuaries and conservation zones for wild animals and plants. I'm also a big fan of leaving as small a footprint as possible on the rest of the planet.

And I agree that there's no need for bile such as that posted by Perseus in the discussion. This is a probably the most serious issue facing us all, and we don't need to let the debate become distorted by political antipathies and pre-existing enmities.

The Government will not do anything about flooding our once great country with immigrants simply because they push the "Go for Growth" mantra. More people equals more wealth......for those at the top at least, whilst those earners from the middle down suffer the effects of climate change, loss of arable land, loss of space and lack of affordable food, however, the following might be of interest to some...........

'07 ELECTION DIRECTION - REDUCE IMMIGRATION

HOW EASY IS THIS FOR MILLIONS OF US TO DO ON ELECTION DAY?

1. With both ballot papers in hand; walk into the privacy of the voting booth.

2. Number the squares as you wish for your valid vote.

3. Across the clear, blank space of approx 1 cm on the top of both ballot papers write

'REDUCE IMMIGRATION' - which can't and therefore won't obscure or invalidate your

vote.

4. Fold them both, walk out of the voting booth, drop them into the respective

Representative

and Senate ballot boxes on the way out...too easy!

The words 'Reduce Immigration' are legal and acceptable to write on your ballot

papers, according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), providing that

you do not obscure the candidates names and/or your numbers in the squares.

Well the Christian right has a habit of abusing the laws of thermodynamics so why not the green left. What the Author and many "greenies" fail to understand is humans are part of nature. We are acting just like any other successful animal consuming and breeding as much as possible, if we use all our resources then our population will collapse. This has been happening on the Planet for millions of years, well before we turned up. No what she is asking us to do is unnatural. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't do some of the things she is saying but I do want her and other of her like to stop talking crap.

I'm with wizofaus and Perseus. Arguing that overpopulation is a problem is not wrong or even silly in and of itself. However, when one reads what many have to say on the matter, one detects a strong, unambiguous undercurrent of self loathing, whether it's of "the Anglo-Celtic system found in most English speaking countries," or of our species as a whole. CJ Morgan is pathetic to refer to Perseus' argument as bile, especially as he/she does not scold Agent Smith/ Catastrophist for the immediately preceding filth/post.

As a good capitalist, I see no contradiction in the idea that a system that holds the concept of efficiency as one of its highest ideals, can be sustainable. If we reduce waste and increase efficiency, we can have a larger world population yet have less impact on the globe.

Although I am all for immigration, (and going by my experience as an election scrutineer, I must say I doubt Aime's plan would have much impact,) Aime and pelican are pushing the thread to the crux of the matter. Namely, the Western World doesn't have an over-population crisis. At all. The over-population crisis is in the developing and non-developing Third World. Indeed, the effects of the self-loathing espoused by the author and several posters are becoming all too apparent in Europe and Japan. It is in the third world that the twin phenomenon of high population growth and rapid modernization are posing the world's most serious environmental problems.

Population growth will take care of itself- it is a well understood fact (although not by the Green-Left) that once a country reaches a GDP of about $15000, the population starts to level out. What is important is to help developing countries avoid the worst aspects of modernization- find alternatives to coal-power, help them to recycle etc.

Making our own system more efficient makes good sense. Hatred of humans as somehow unnatural, or a plague, the appropriation of the laws of thermodynamics into pseudoscientific faff, and an inability to use the “comma” button on a computer does not.