by Gary Kline

About the author: Gary Kline is a professor of political science at Georgia Southwestern State University.

Occupying a position at the top of the trophic pyramid, human beings necessarily impact the environment. Greater numbers mean a more significant impact. Human beings take up space, food, and other resources. The twentieth century has witnessed a population explosion—from approximately a billion people in 1900 to a projected six billion in the year 2000 and ten billion by the first quarter of the Twenty-first Century. Against natural ecosystems, humans may win the struggle for space, but only temporarily. The base of the trophic pyramid must remain broad enough to support the top, so population growth cannot be indefinitely sustained. Edward Wilson has written:

Human demographic success has brought the world to this crisis...