Are there too many of us?

NewScientist.com: THINK of the biggest crowd you've ever been in - perhaps 50,000 in a sports stadium. Just 6 hours from now there will be that many more people in the world, and another 50,000 in the following 6 hours, and on and on... No wonder that the burgeoning human population is often seen as is the single biggest problem facing our world.

There are nearly 7 billion humans alive today, twice as many as there were in 1965, with 75 million more being added each year. UN predictions say there could be an extra 2 to 4 billion of us by 2050. The planet has never experienced anything like it.

Can the world sustain this growing horde? It's a contentious question. John Beddington predicted a population-led global crisis by 2030, and a group of influential billionaires including Bill Gates and George Soros identified overpopulation as the greatest threat facing humanity.

SHOOT: It's been claimed before, that there are too many of us. New technology and fossil fuels have made it possible for us to expand our numbers exponentially, because we are able to almost magically create 'something out of nothing'. Cities, homes, even jobs. Mechanised farming helps realise the supermarket system. But we're fast reaching a point where even the magic of technology is struggling to beat energy limits, and climate effects. This was, I believe, reflected in last years oil prices going through the roof, and current unemployment figures.

clipped from www.newscientist.com Overpopulation is often singled out as the planet's root problem. If only it were that simple. Leading thinkers on population can't agree on what the answers – or even the questions – are. In this special feature, New Scientist brings you the best of expert opinion. There are 7 billion of us and counting, but the raw numbers hide a multitude of complexities With more than a billion already going hungry, limiting population growth has to be a priority, say Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich Human ingenuity has always saved us from the burden of our swelling numbers – and Jesse Ausubel is convinced that it can save us even now Overconsumption is the real problem 06:02 23 September 2009 The population timebomb is fast being defused – now we need to fix the habits of the greedy few, argues Fred Pearce Europe's problems will grow as it shrinks High population growth is not sustainable – but neither is low fertility, says Reiner Klingholz