Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline
- ISBN-10
- 0771050887
- ISBN-13
- 9780771050886
- Series
- Empty Planet
- Category
- Population
- Pages
- 304
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2018-09-06
- Publisher
- Signal
- Authors
- John Ibbitson, Darrell Bricker
Description
From the authors of the bestselling The Big Shift, a provocative argument that the global population will soon begin to decline, dramatically reshaping the social, political, and economic landscape. For half a century, statisticians, pundits, and politicians have warned that a burgeoning planetary population will soon overwhelm the earth's resources. But a growing number of experts are sounding a different kind of alarm. Rather than growing exponentially, they argue, the global population is headed for a steep decline. Throughout history, depopulation was the product of catastrophe: ice ages, plagues, the collapse of civilizations. This time, however, we're thinning ourselves deliberately, by choosing to have fewer babies than we need to replace ourselves. In much of the developed and developing world, that decline is already underway, as urbanization, women's empowerment, and waning religiosity lead to smaller and smaller families. In Empty Planet, Ibbitson and Bricker travel from South Florida to Sao Paulo, Seoul to Nairobi, Brussels to Delhi to Beijing, drawing on a wealth of research and firsthand reporting to illustrate the dramatic consequences of this population decline--and to show us why the rest of the developing world will soon join in. They find that a smaller global population will bring with it a number of benefits: fewer workers will command higher wages; good jobs will prompt innovation; the environment will improve; the risk of famine will wane; and falling birthrates in the developing world will bring greater affluence and autonomy for women. But enormous disruption lies ahead, too. We can already see the effects in Europe and parts of Asia, as aging populations and worker shortages weaken the economy and impose crippling demands on healthcare and social security. The United States is well-positioned to successfully navigate these coming demographic shifts--that is, unless growing isolationism and anti-immigrant backlash lead us to close ourselves off just as openness becomes more critical to our survival than ever before. Rigorously researched and deeply compelling, Empty Planet offers a vision of a future that we can no longer prevent--but one that we can shape, if we choose.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2020-04-06
- 319 pages
- Paperback
- Independently Published
-
- 2020-02-04
- - pages
- Paperback
- National Geographic Books
Similar books
-
Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline
By John Ibbitson, Darrell Bricker**A SUNDAY TIMES MUST-READ** 'Riveting and vitally important' - Steven Pinker 'A gripping narrative of a world on the cusp of profound change' - Anjana Ahuja, New Statesman Empty Planet...
-
Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity
By Lester R. BrownThe author discusses the geopolitics of food security in the face of scarcity caused by falling water tables, soil erosion and global warming and supports his position that “food is the new oil” through an examination of decades of ...
-
Empty Harvest: Understanding the Link Between Our Food, Our Immunity, and Our Planet
By Dr. Bernard JensenWhile exposing the dire consequences of thinking we can grow healthy food with poisons, this excellent book defines positive alternatives, and demonstrates their power to restore us to true health.
-
The Big Shift: The Seismic Change in Canadian Politics, Business, and Culture and What It Means for Our Future
By John Ibbitson, Darrell BrickerIn The Big Shift, Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson argue that one of the world’s most consensual countries is becoming polarized, exhibiting stark differences between East and West, cities and suburbs, Canadianborn citizens and ...
-
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet: Wayfarers 1
By Becky ChambersLONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 'A quietly profound, humane tour de force' Guardian The beloved debut novel that will restore your faith in humanity #SmallAngryPlanet When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer ...
-
The Human Tide: How Population Shaped the Modern World
By Paul Morland... Troy R. E., Creating the Russian Peril: Education, the Public Sphere and National Identity in Imperial Germany 1890–1914, Rochester, NY, Camden House, 2010 Passell, Jeffrey S., and Cohn, D'vera, US Population Projections: 2005–2010, ...
-
The Forgotten Planet
By Murray LeinsterBeneath dense gray clouds through which no sun shone lay a forgotten planet.
-
On the Origin of Mind: Life's Need to Re-represent Itself
By Martin Wurzinger"'On the origin of Mind' is a detailed description of how the mind works. It explains the dynamics from the neuronal level upwards to the scale of group behaviour, society...
-
Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life
By Edward O. Wilson"An audacious and concrete proposal…Half-Earth completes the 86-year-old Wilson’s valedictory trilogy on the human animal and our place on the planet." —Jedediah Purdy, New Republic In his most urgent book to date, Pulitzer ...
-
Hello from Planet Earth! Earth Class Planets - Space Science for Kids - Children's Astronomy Books
By Professor GustoWhy should you buy this book for your child? Well, it contains carefully picked information and then presents that in a way that attracts a child. The inclusion of cool photos increase the efficiency of this book as a tool for learning.