The “Too Many People” Problem: Why Are We All Ignoring It?

kristyEarth Systems Science

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The “Too Many People” Problem: Why Are We All Ignoring It?

Free Public Lecture by Dr. Norman Myers at Seattle’s Town Hall May 18.

BELLEVUE, WA, May 11, 2011 — Renowned British environmentalist and population-pressures expert Norman Myers will be at Seattles Town Hall May 18 to present a lecture entitled “Time of Breakdown or Breakthrough?” The lecture is free of charge to the public.

Rapidly growing population is rarely mentioned in the list of issues facing humanity, but it has an impact on virtually all of them. The clash between population pressures and the environment is especially far-reaching. Dr. Myers believes that it need not continue to be a profound problem, especially when there might be ways to turn it into “a fine opportunity.”

“The statistics are astounding,” said Sesh Velamoor, Foundation For the Future Director of Programs. “World population is on course to reach 9 billion by 2044. Everyone thinks of India, which, indeed, is increasing in population by between 17.5 million and 20 million humans every year. At the same time, declines in citizen populations of many advanced economies are being offset by legal and illegal immigration so that their net populations are increasing; other long-established nation-states are providing incentives to procreate because they are seeing net declines. These significant changes are creating a complex set of issues around global population that need to be properly understood. Norman Myers is the perfect interdisciplinary scientist to address the impact of these issues on the world.”

Dr. Myers is currently Visiting Professor at Oxford University’s Centre for the Environment, the University of Vermont, and the University of Cape Town; Visiting Fellow at Oxford’s Green College; and Adjunct Professor at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. He has lectured at 42 of the world’s 50 top universities (as listed by the US National Academy of Sciences) and has directly advised prime ministers or presidents of seven nations. In 1997 Queen Elizabeth appointed him to be a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) for “services to the global environment.”

The May 18 lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall (8th and Seneca). Directions and parking suggestions are at Town Hall’s website, townhallseattle.org. The lecture is presented by Foundation For the Future as part of its Walter P. Kistler Lecture Series, established in 2009 to bring to the public, free-of-charge, direct access to expert information on topics that impact humanity. The Lecture Series was named for the Foundation’s founder and President.

Besides the Lecture Series, Foundation For the Future awards the annual Kistler Prize as well as periodic Walter P. Kistler awards for books, science documentary films, and science teachers. The Foundation convenes seminars, workshops, and symposia that focus on the long-term future of humanity, and also funds research programs, publishes scholarly works, and undertakes public awareness and education programs concerning the long-term future of humanity. Details on its activities are available at http://www.futurefoundation.org

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Contacts:

Sesh Velamoor, Trustee & Director of Programs
[email protected]
425-451-1333

Jean Gilbertson, Mgr., Public Relations
[email protected]
425-451-1333