Humans face population ‘correction and collapse’ within our lifetimes

A chilling new study warns humanity faces a "major population correction" within some of our lifetimes.

There were one billion people on Earth in 1800 – that number hit eight billion in November 2022. The UN predicts the world population will reach 10 billion in 2057.

According to population ecologist William Rees from the University of British Columbia, this is unsustainable.

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In a paper published in the journal World, he writes: "Homo sapiens has evolved to reproduce exponentially, expand geographically, and consume all available resources.

"For most of humanity’s evolutionary history, such expansionist tendencies have been countered by negative feedback.

"However, the scientific revolution and the use of fossil fuels reduced many forms of negative feedback, enabling us to realize our full potential for exponential growth."

Although "full potential" might sound like a good thing, Rees describes our use of resources as an "overshoot" meaning a "correction" is on the way "later in this century".

"Humanity has already exceeded the long-term human carrying capacity of the earth," he said.

Another issue he raises is our tendency to work towards short-term goals which, despite having proven evolutionarily beneficial in the past, compels us to use as much resource as we can get our hands on.

Climate change, Rees argues, is evidence of this.

He concluded chillingly: "Unaddressed, these trends may well precipitate both global economic contraction and a significant human population 'correction' – i.e., civilizational collapse – later in this century.

"Arguably, in these circumstances, wide-spread societal collapse cannot be averted – collapse is not a problem to be solved, but rather the final stage of a cycle to be endured.

"In the best of all possible worlds, the whole transition might actually be managed in ways that prevent unnecessary suffering of millions (billions?) of people, but this is not happening – and cannot happen – in a world blind to its own predicament."

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