Paul R. Ehrlich facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Paul R. Ehrlich
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Ehrlich in 1974
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| Born |
Paul Ralph Ehrlich
May 29, 1932 |
| Education | |
| Known for | The Population Bomb (1968) Simon–Ehrlich wager |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields |
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| Institutions | Stanford University |
| Thesis | The Morphology, Phylogeny and Higher Classification of the Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) (1957) |
| Doctoral advisor | C. D. Michener |
Paul Ralph Ehrlich (born May 29, 1932) is an American scientist. He is famous for his warnings about the effects of too many people on Earth. These effects include famine (not enough food) and using up too many natural resources. Ehrlich is a professor at Stanford University who studies how populations grow.
He became well known for his 1968 book, The Population Bomb. He wrote it with his wife, Anne H. Ehrlich. In the book, they said that many people would starve in the 1970s. They suggested ways to control population, like reducing tax benefits for families with many children.
People have different opinions about Ehrlich's ideas. Some say he was mostly right about the problems. Others criticize him because many of his predictions did not come true. Ehrlich admits some things he predicted did not happen. But he still believes that too many people on Earth is a big problem.
Contents
Paul Ehrlich's Early Life and Studies
Paul Ehrlich was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father sold shirts, and his mother was a teacher who studied Greek and Latin. His family moved to Maplewood, New Jersey, where he finished high school in 1949.
Ehrlich went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied zoology (the study of animals). He then earned his master's and PhD degrees from the University of Kansas. His PhD research was about butterflies.
During his studies, he helped survey insects in the Bering Sea and the Canadian arctic. He also studied the genes and behavior of tiny bugs called mites. In 1959, he started teaching at Stanford University. He became a full professor of biology in 1966.
Ehrlich is an entomologist, which means he specializes in insects, especially butterflies. He helped make the term "coevolution" popular. This idea explains how plants and insects change and develop together over time.
He leads the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. He is also a member of important science groups like the National Academy of Sciences.
Understanding Overpopulation
In 1967, Ehrlich gave a speech about overpopulation that was broadcast on the radio. This made him very famous. An environmental group, the Sierra Club, suggested he write a book about it. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne, wrote The Population Bomb together. However, only Paul's name was put on the book.
Ehrlich was not the first to worry about population growth. But his energetic way of speaking and appearing on TV shows like The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson helped make the topic widely known.
Key Ideas from His Books
The Population Bomb (1968)
The book The Population Bomb started with a strong statement. It said that "The battle to feed all of humanity is over." It predicted that hundreds of millions of people would starve in the 1970s. Ehrlich argued that there were too many people on Earth. He believed this would lead to severe famines, the spread of diseases, and social problems.
However, these predictions did not come true. There was no widespread famine, and the world's population and food supply continued to grow. Despite this, Ehrlich still believes that societies must act to slow population growth. He thinks this will prevent future disasters for the environment and society.
Ehrlich has said that the scenarios in his book were not exact predictions. He admits they were "way off," especially in their timing. But he still believes the main message of the book is important today.
In The Population Bomb, Ehrlich suggested ways to control population. He wrote that countries should have "population control at home." This could be through rewards and penalties, or even by force if needed. He even suggested that countries like India should be allowed to starve if they were considered "hopeless."
Decades later, many people criticized the book because its predictions were wrong. Famines that happened after the book was released were mostly due to wars or political problems, not a lack of food. For example, India became a democracy and has not had a famine since, even though its population tripled.
The Population Explosion (1990)
In 1990, the Ehrlichs wrote another book called The Population Explosion. They wrote about how the growing world population was too big for Earth to support everyone's current way of life. They said an area is overpopulated "When its population can't be maintained without rapidly depleting nonrenewable resources."
Optimum Human Population Size (1994)
In this paper, the Ehrlichs discussed what they thought was the "best size" for the human population. They talked about creating "social policies to influence fertility rates" (how many children people have).
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Ehrlich's Views After 2000
In a 2004 interview, Ehrlich talked about his predictions from The Population Bomb. He admitted that "some" of what he wrote did not happen. But he said he felt "little embarrassment." He still believes that overpopulation is a major problem. He pointed out that many science groups agree with his general view.
Ehrlich also said that many people were hungry or undernourished. He insisted that his predictions about disease and climate change were mostly correct. He even said that The Population Bomb was "way too optimistic."
In 2008, Ehrlich suggested that the United States should control its population and how much it consumes. He thought this would set an example for other countries. He still believed governments should encourage people to have no more than two children. For example, he suggested higher taxes for larger families.
In 2011, when the world population reached seven billion, Ehrlich argued that the next two billion people would cause more harm. This is because humans would have to use more difficult and environmentally damaging resources. As of 2013, he continued to research population and resource issues. He focused on endangered species, how cultures change, and protecting genetic resources.
The big disaster Ehrlich predicted has not happened. Population growth rates have slowed, and new food technologies have increased food supply. Still, Ehrlich believes the human population is too large. He thinks it threatens human survival and the planet's environment. In 2018, he said the best population size is between 1.5 and 2 billion people. In 2022, he contributed to a "Scientists' warning on population." This warning suggested a sustainable population would be between 2 and 4 billion people.
In 2023, Ehrlich was interviewed on 60 Minutes. Some people were concerned because he still holds views that led to his incorrect predictions. However, Ehrlich defended himself. He said his work is reviewed by other scientists, and he has received many science honors. He admitted making some mistakes but said they were not "basic ones."
How People Reacted to Ehrlich's Ideas
In the 1960s and 70s, many experts believed population growth was a serious threat. But they disagreed on how bad it was and what to do.
Over the years, critics have argued against Ehrlich's main idea about overpopulation. They also questioned his solutions and his specific predictions.
A common criticism is that Ehrlich's predictions often failed. For example, Ronald Bailey called him an "irrepressible doomster" who was "never been right in any of his forecasts of imminent catastrophe." On the first Earth Day in 1970, Ehrlich warned that "all important animal life in the sea will be extinct" in ten years. He also predicted that the United Kingdom would be "a small group of impoverished islands" by the year 2000. These predictions did not come true.
Ehrlich wrote in The Population Bomb that "India couldn't possibly feed two hundred million more people by 1980." He even suggested cutting off food aid to India. However, India's food production greatly increased through the Green Revolution in India. Its people also had more food per person, even as its population doubled.
Some critics say Ehrlich has not been honest about his mistakes. They say he claims credit for things he got "right," like predicting AIDS or global warming. But he avoids taking responsibility for his wrong predictions, like mass starvation. They believe he is showing cognitive dissonance, which means he holds onto his beliefs even when faced with evidence that they are wrong.
Critics from the Political Left
Another group of critics, often from the political left, argue that Ehrlich focuses too much on overpopulation itself. They believe the real problem is how resources are shared. Barry Commoner argued that Ehrlich's solutions were unfair because they might hurt poor people more. He believed that technology and social progress would naturally slow population growth and reduce environmental damage. Ehrlich denies being racist and says his ideas would not be unfair if done correctly.
In a 2018 interview, Ehrlich said he was proud of The Population Bomb for starting a global discussion. But he admitted the book did not focus enough on overconsumption (using too many resources) and inequality. He argued that "too many rich people in the world is a major threat." He suggested a "redistribution of wealth" to solve the problem of rich people using too many resources.
In 2022, Ehrlich and his colleague Rodolfo Dirzo wrote that rich and middle-class people need to have fewer children. They also said that wasteful consumption needs to be reduced. Their goal is to lessen the "scale of the human enterprise" to help stop the current extinction crisis.
The Simon–Ehrlich Wager
The economist Julian Simon disagreed with Ehrlich. In 1980, Simon argued that human creativity would solve resource problems. He said that over hundreds of years, the prices of most goods had gone down. Ehrlich called Simon's ideas a "space-age cargo cult." He insisted that population growth was using up Earth's food, water, and minerals too fast.
This led to the Simon–Ehrlich wager. It was a bet about the prices of resources over ten years, made in 1980. Ehrlich chose ten resources, mostly metals, that he thought would become scarce and increase in price. Ehrlich lost the bet because their average price actually went down by about 30%. Simon and Ehrlich could not agree on the terms for a second bet.
Other Activities and Interests
Ehrlich helped start a group called Population Connection (originally Zero Population Growth) in 1968. He and his wife, Anne, were also advisors for the Federation for American Immigration Reform for a time. He is currently a supporter of Population Matters, a group that promotes sustainable population sizes.
Ehrlich has also spoken about desertification (when land becomes desert) in Israel. He has said that "true Zionists should have small families."
Personal Life
Paul Ehrlich married Anne H. Howland in December 1954. They have one daughter, Lisa Marie.
Awards and Honors
Paul Ehrlich has received many awards for his work, including:
- The John Muir Award from the Sierra Club
- The Gold Medal Award from the World Wildlife Fund International
- A MacArthur Prize Fellowship
- The Crafoord Prize, which is considered a very high award in ecology
- The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
- The Blue Planet Prize
- Fellow of the Royal Society of London
Books by Paul Ehrlich
- How to Know the Butterflies (1960)
- Process of Evolution (1963)
- Butterflies and Plants: A Study in Coevolution (1964)
- The Population Bomb (1968)
- Population, Resources, Environments: Issues in Human Ecology (1970)
- How to Be a Survivor (1971)
- The End of Affluence (1975)
- Extinction (1981)
- The Cold and the Dark: The World after Nuclear War (1984, with Carl Sagan and others)
- The Machinery of Nature: The Living World Around Us and How it Works (1986)
- Earth (1987, with Anne Ehrlich)
- The Population Explosion (1990, with Anne Ehrlich)
- Healing the Planet: Strategies for Resolving the Environmental Crisis (1991, with Anne Ehrlich)
- The Stork and the Plow : The Equity Answer to the Human Dilemma (1995, with Anne Ehrlich and Gretchen C. Daily)
- A World of Wounds: Ecologists and the Human Dilemma (1997)
- Betrayal of Science and Reason: How Anti-Environment Rhetoric Threatens Our Future (1998, with Anne Ehrlich)
- Wild Solutions: How Biodiversity is Money in the Bank (2001, with Andrew Beattie)
- Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect (2002)
- One With Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future (2004, with Anne Ehrlich)
- The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment (2008, with Anne Ehrlich)
- Humanity on a Tightrope: Thoughts on Empathy, Family, and Big Changes for a Viable Future (2010, with Robert E. Ornstein)
- Hope on Earth: A Conversation (2014, with Michael Charles Tobias)
- Killing the Koala and Poisoning the Prairie: Australia, America and the Environment (2015, with Corey J. A. Bradshaw)
- The Annihilation of Nature: Human Extinction of Birds and Mammals (2015, with Anne Ehrlich and Gerardo Ceballos)
- Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic (2018, with Sandra Kahn)
Images for kids
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Ehrlich in 1974
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Ehrlich around 2010
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A graph showing how the world's human population has changed since 10,000 BC
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The evidence against a population bomb: Since the 1950s population growth rate has decreased, and is projected to decline further.
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Ehrlich speaking in 2008
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Wheat yields grew rapidly in Least Developed Countries since 1961.
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A large increase in global food production since the 1960s and a slowing of population growth have, within the current context of continued depletion of non-renewable resources, averted the scale of food shortage, famine and catastrophe foretold by the Ehrlichs.
