Paul Ehrlich, who created the overpopulation panic, has died at 93

Paul Ehrlich, the ecologist whose 1968 book, "The Population Bomb," set off decades of panic over overpopulation, has died at the age of 93.

Key Takeaways:

• Paul Ehrlich died in a retirement home due to complications from cancer, according to his daughter.

• His 1968 book, "The Population Bomb," ignited a global panic about overpopulation, tragically inspiring multiple governments to put population control policies into place.

• Ehrlich's predictions not only failed to materialize, but the furor they caused contributed to population control-related atrocities across the globe.

The Details:

The New York Times reported that Ehrlich had died from cancer complications on March 13 at the age of 93. His daughter, Lisa Marie Daniel, said he passed away at his retirement community's nursing facility.

In 1968, he published "The Population Bomb," which warned that overpopulation was imminent, and would lead to worldwide famine and catastrophe. This made him an international star, and his message was spread far and wide.

According to WORLD, Ehrlich also "co-founded Population Connection, originally named Zero Population Growth, the same year his book was published. The organization advocates for so-called family planning, abortion, and zero population growth, according to its website."

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make," he told Mademoiselle in 1970. "The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.”

In the 1970 Earth Day issue of The Progressive, he claimed that four billion people would perish in what he called the “Great Die-Off" between 1980 and 1989.

Ehrlich made numerous doomsday predictions; in a 1971 speech, he said “If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000,” and predicted the United States would be rationing food and water by the year 1980. He said there would be mass famines around the world, killing hundreds of millions of people in the 1970s and 1980s, and also predicted widespread ecological disaster. For example, he said that by 1980, "all important animal life in the sea" would be extinct.

While none of his doomsday predictions materialized, Ehrlich did not recant, and continued to issue further warnings.

As recently as 2023, he insisted that overpopulation would lead to Earth's destruction.

“The rate of extinction is extraordinarily high now and getting higher all the time,” he told 60 Minutes. “Humanity is not sustainable. To maintain our lifestyle for the entire planet, you’d need five more Earths. Not clear where they’re gonna come from.”

Earth currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction, according to scientists | 60 Minutes

Why It Matters:

Since the dissemination of Ehrlich's claims, global fertility rates have plummeted, as global governments embraced anti-child policies while fearing impending overpopulation. Policies mandating birth control, abortion, sterilization, and limited births flourished.

Some of the worst consequences can be seen in China, where the government put a coercive One Child Policy into place, created with the help of the United Nations Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Fund. Under the policy, families who had more than one child were punished; some were merely fined, while in other cases, consequences were much worse. At times, visibly pregnant women were literally dragged off the streets, their children forcibly aborted.

Though the policy has, in recent years, been rescinded and the government is now trying to persuade citizens to have more children, the consequences of forced population control linger.

Zoom Out:

Abortion activists used the idea of overpopulation as an excuse to promote abortion, typically in developing countries, where there are higher fertility rates. Wealthy western leaders frequently give money to African nations to fund birth control and abortion, all in the hopes of keeping residents from having “too many” children.

Prince William complained in 2021 about the human population in Africa being too large. “The increasing pressure on Africa’s wildlife and wild spaces as a result of human population presents a huge challenge for conservationists, as it does the world over,” he claimed, adding, “Africa’s extraordinarily rich biodiversity has the ability to sequester vast amounts of carbon. But this is only possible if these landscapes remain truly intact and are protected as functioning ecosystems.”

Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of billionaire Bill Gates, has devoted hundreds of millions of dollars promoting abortion and contraception in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

“If the population growth in Africa continues as now, the African population will double from 1.2 billion people to 2.5 billion people by 2050,” Danish politician Ulla Tornaes said, arguing that reducing Africa’s population growth is a foreign policy and security priority for the Danish government. “Part of the solution to reducing migratory pressures on Europe is to reduce the very high population growth in many African countries.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, European nations promised to send medical aid to African nations, but the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) sent $2 million worth of abortion kits instead of sending ventilators and PPE. Other nations, like Canada, used millions of dollars worth of COVID-19 funding to promote abortion in Africa. Many of these efforts occur with the goal of combating overpopulation, a problem that does not actually exist.

Instead, the world is experiencing a “baby bust,” in which there are not enough children born to replace elderly and dying populations.

Desperate governments, like those in Denmark, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Norway, are now implementing family-friendly policies in the hopes that would-be parents will have more children. The reason is because, with fertility rates far below replacement levels, there will not be enough workers to support the elderly population as they retire.

The United States is having similar problems, with the fertility rate at its lowest in 30 years.

The Bottom Line:

Tragically, Ehrlich's overpopulation predictions have been at the heart of some of the most dangerous and lethal policies put into place around the world.