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Organisation at Population Level
Published in Kimon Hadjibiros, Ecology and Applied Environmental Science, 2013
The population of the human species constitutes a special case in the biosphere’s history. Man significantly modifies the natural environment; he has been an accomplished predator of many—and still is a redoubtable competitor of many more—biological species. Human overpopulation constitutes the main factor of degradation of the biosphere and the environment in general (Chapter 5). As early as 1798, economist Thomas Malthus suggested that the increasing population will cause depletion of the resources, which will lead to poverty, hunger and death. Although the Malthusian predictions have not been confirmed because of technological and social activities (Chapter 13), the great increase of the global population during the last decades, the generalized expectation of approaching a high level of consumption and the use of harmful productive methods (Chapters 7, 8, and 9) lead to an increase of pressures on the environment and the resources. An observation of human population history reveals the factors that influence its evolution.
Understanding the Environment
Published in Julie Kerr, Introduction to Energy and Climate, 2017
Human overpopulation is one of the most serious environmental issues. Overpopulation leads to many of the planet’s most taxing problems today: environmental pollution of the air, land, and water; desertification; climate change; food shortages; health issues; habitat loss and species extinction; deforestation; overgrazing; poor agricultural practices; irresponsible land-use practices; natural resource depletion; lower life expectancies in the fastest growing countries; and increased emergence of new epidemics and pandemics.
Letters on Natural Philosophy
Published in Ambix, 2023
Erculiani’s central thesis in Letters on Natural Philosophy is an unusual naturalistic explanation for the Flood in the book of Genesis, a theory of elemental imbalance owing to human overpopulation. Erculiani engages with a variety of natural philosophical theories, including astrological influences of the planets on human bodies, the mingling of body and soul, the temperamental constitution of human bodies, and the origins of the rainbow. Published in Krakow and dedicated to Queen Anna Jagiellon, the book’s first three letters present a back-and-forth dialogue between Erculiani and the Burgundian physician Georges Guarnier. A fourth letter from Erculiani to the Polish royal chancellor, Martin Berzevczy, reiterates her position on the Flood. Together, the Letters make a definitive statement of Erculiani’s interest in wrestling with thorny questions of natural philosophy and demonstrating, as she put it, that “women do not lack the foresight and virtues that men have” (p. 111).