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Endless growth on a finite planet is unsustainable
Imagine a world with abundant clean water.
Where everyone shares adequate energy from the sun and wind.
A world where forests, rivers, oceans, and wildlife thrive.
A tomorrow more beautiful than today.
This is the world we want to create.
Population Matters Patreon, Sir David Attenborough once said:
All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people.
Christmas Island ~ Island paradise lost
Christmas Island’s Greta Beach should be one of Australia’s most prized stretches of sand and a haven for nesting green sea turtles.
Instead, it is silently choking on a tsunami of plastic waste.
For several months of the year, Greta Beach, 350 kilometres south of Indonesia, could be mistaken for a remote holiday paradise. But during the dry season, and especially from the beginning of June to the end of August, Indian Ocean currents bury the beach under tonnes of plastic. Much of it is rubbish carelessly discarded by consumers who live thousands of kilometres away.
Greta Beach is a vital nesting ground for green sea turtles –
It is one of the few locations where they can lay eggs year-round.
Increasingly, however, the waste smothering this beach makes nesting difficult, according to Lin Gaff, who has been volunteering with Island Care for 25 years.
The female turtles struggle over an obstacle course of sharp plastic, nylon ropes, discarded shoes, bottles, and styrofoam remnants.
It is a desperate effort to find sand deep enough to incubate their eggs. Most of the time, they hit plastic debris.
“It’s a constant battle for them. It’s heartbreaking to see all of their attempts fail,” Ms Gaff says.
If the eggs survive, tiny hatchlings struggle to reach the sea beyond the mountains of rubbish surrounding them. Many do not survive the climb over the unnatural objects trapping them.
Ms Gaff says community beach clean-ups are “never-ending” because the tides never cease.
“You can remove thousands of kilos of plastic and the next day it’s back. It’s just insidious,” she says.
Christmas Island sits south of Indonesia
In 2025, environmental group the Tangaroa Blue Foundation gathered 2.8 tonnes of rubbish from Greta Beach during clean-ups — more than double the amount collected in 2023.
The foundation, which focuses on removing marine litter and finding solutions to prevent it, then transports the waste to the island’s inland rubbish tip.
[MORE]
Science not profits
Tell the government to Save the Maugean skate.
The Australian Government promised ‘no new extinctions’.
Yet, the Australian Government is at risk of prioritizing foreign-owned salmon farming companies’ profits over our nature laws and saving the Maugean skate from extinction.
Email your local MP to save the skate – HERE
Tasmania is facing an extinction emergency of a globally unique Gondwana relic – the Maugean Skate – that could be the world’s first extinction of a shark or ray species due to industrial aquaculture.
It’s estimated that between 40 and 120 adult skates are left in Macquarie Harbour, their only home.
Australia’s peak scientific body, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, has identified salmon farming as “catastrophic” to the skate’s survival due to driving down oxygen in the harbour to dangerously low levels – suffocating the skate and their eggs.
According to the Australian Government’s Conservation Advice, the fastest way to improve oxygen levels is to remove salmon farming from the harbour. This is yet to happen.
Thousands upon thousands of Fish Farm Rope Bits breaking down into Microplastic
Fish Farm Trash Another Threat
Tasmania is world renown for our natural beauty, unique wilderness, and unusual wildlife. Macquarie Harbour is virtually a landlocked waterway with only one narrow exit, Hell’s Gate. Escaping fish farm trash inevitably ends on it’s World heritage shores. The farm’s black poly from breakaway cages and pipes destroy the shore vegatation, but the ruaway ropes are the bigger problem. They breakdown by sun and surf into micro-particles that infested the Swan Grass or become part of the mud.
Western Australia’s new South Coast Marine Park is here!
On 5 November 2024, the WA State Government announced the creation of the marine park and final zoning. The announcement follows more than three years of consultation and tens of thousands of letters calling for strong sanctuary protection.
This is an incredibly important marine park, covering a critical stretch of Australia’s Great Southern Reef. The main point is that about 20% of state waters along 1000 km of WA’s south coast from just east of Bremer to the South Australian border will now be fully protected in marine sanctuaries.
Until now, there has been no sanctuary protection in state waters for this richly diverse marine environment – home to spectacular creatures, some of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Fishermen, Don’t worry. While this new Marine Park covers a vast area, embedded within it are large protions designated “General Use” that allow fishing. These are surround by protected areas that guarantee wildlife can regenerate.
Within this new park are spectacular anchorages.
Archipelago of the Recherche is an amazingly beautiful group of 105 uninhabited islands, with over 1200 obstacles to shipping, stretching 125 NM (230 km) from Esperance to Israelite Bay in the West, and extending up to 40 NM (50 km) offshore. During the French expedition of 1792, the area was named by Bruni d’Entrecasteaux to honour the Rear Admiral’s ship, Le Recherche. And the town of Esperance was named for the other ship of the expedition. Matthew Flinders first explored and charted the islands in 1802 aboard the Investigator.
Cruising Guide online:
WA Israelite Bay to Esperance
The 2024 Living Planet Report reveals wildlife populations have dropped 73% since 1970.
Food Production is the largest cause of gobal enviromental change
Every two years WWF, in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), publishes an updated Living Planet Report. This is compiled from the Living Planet Index which monitors the size of wildlife populations and how they have changed since 1970.
The 2024 Living Planet Report 2024 that wildlife populations have dropped 73% on average since 1970. It warns that national governments are failing to meet biodiversity targets and calls for an urgent need to transform our current economic and food systems, but it only skirts around the issue of continued global population growth.
Failing biodiversity targets pushes the world toward dangerous ‘tipping points’ as ecosystems reach their natural limits.
For example, the Amazon Rainforest is considered one of the most important areas for biodiversity in the world. But the Amazon is under threat from climate change and increasing deforestation causing reduced rainfall, destabilising the wet conditions needed for a tropical rainforest.
A tipping point looms if humans clear just 20–25% of the Amazon rainforest – dangerously close, with an estimated 14–17% already deforested. Crossing the Amazon’s tipping point would be disastrous for the millions of people and species dependent upon the rainforest.
What about population?
Frustratingly, the Living Planet Report only includes a fleeting reference to population growth as an underlying cause of continued nature decline.
…the root causes of nature degradation. These include consumption and production patterns, human population dynamics and trends, trade, technological innovations, and inadequate or failed local to global governance. Living Planet Report 2024
‘Fertility Crisis’ – That’s nonsense, experts say. There’s a desperate need for population shrinkage
18 August 2024
Slow the growth, save the world? Why declining birth rates need not mean an end to prosperity.
We’re taking things from the people of the future now,” Mary Heath says from the kitchen where she’s drying seeds to plant. The climate activist is talking about Earth Overshoot Day, the ominous annual milestone that marks when humanity has consumed more from the Earth than the Earth can replenish in a year.
Globally, the deficit started on 1 August, and means we are “using Nature 1.7 times faster than our planet’s ecosystems can regenerate”.
Australia’s own overshoot day was 5 April.
In the face of the climate crisis, resource exhaustion and biodiversity calamities, corporations and governments remain wedded to the notion of eternal growth.
But there’s a growing movement trying to slow or stop the rate of increase. Or even to shrink the economy to save the world. And they’re not talking about reducing the quality of life anywhere, let alone in developing economies. They’re talking about sustainability, valuing resources other than money and recognising that infinite growth is impossible, and the pursuit of it catastrophic to the planet.
With fertility rates plunging, the pool of young taxpayers will shrink and become incapable of supporting the swelling ranks of the old, the argument goes. And a growing population means a growing economy, which means … what, exactly?
While economic growth has lifted millions out of poverty, it has hardly delivered equality. Statistics show the largesse overwhelmingly ends up in the pockets of the already-rich. And endless economic growth is inextricably tied to consumption, which in turn is disrupting the parallel push for sustainability.
There’s a lot more iformation on this here.
Hottest Coral Sea temperatures in 400 years threaten Great Barrier Reef
8 August 2024
A long-term study of the last 400 years found the four hottest summers in the Coral Sea all occurred in the past decade.
The study looked at the structure of corals themselves to ascertain sea surface temperature data dating back to the year 1618.
Researchers say coral analysis shows recent extreme temperatures would not have happened without greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.
Sea surface temperatures in waters surrounding the Great Barrier Reef this year reached their warmest levels in more than 400 years, new research has found.
The findings of the long-term study suggest human-caused climate change is the driving factor behind increasingly high summer temperatures in the Coral Sea, which puts corals under stress and can spur mass bleaching.
Researchers warn the findings show the Great Barrier Reef is being pushed closer to a tipping point from which it may not recover, and that urgent action is needed to limit the global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
That data was obtained by drilling into the cores of coral colonies and analysing their structure. “They form bands, they change in density, and they’re a bit like tree rings that we can count,” said Professor Helen McGregor, a geologist and climate change researcher at the University of Wollongong.
Researchers drilled into coral skeletal cores on the reef to obtain historic temperature data. (Supplied: Anne Hoggett, Lizard Island Research Station)
DRIED UP FUTURES: DROUGHT AND DESERTIFICATION
17 June 2024
Drought and desertification are the worst environmental crises facing the world today. A new report from Population Matters, Dried Up Futures examines how these interconnected disasters are driven by population growth, and the urgent need to act now to save our future.
“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved.”
Dame Jane Goodall, Population Matters Patron
Imagining a world with abundant clean water, where sustainable energy sources power our lives, and the environment flourishes with thriving forests, rivers, oceans, and wildlife is a vision of a tomorrow more beautiful than today. It embodies the collective aspiration to create a harmonious coexistence between humanity and the planet. Such a world envisions responsible stewardship, where the choices we make today positively impact future generations. It’s a vision that reflects a shared commitment to environmental sustainability, and each individual’s role in contributing to a better, more sustainable future. What do you think about this vision?
Unfortunately, the history of mankind (especially in the last few hundred years) has clearly shown that human beings, in general, will not change their ways until faced with cataclisms.
To compound this, as someone else has stated on this forum, most “modern city dwellers” exist in an artificial and encapsulated environment and thus are either oblivious to mother nature’s subtle and not-so-subtle warnings! Others just do not care as they are ignorant of their dependence on nature’s goodwill.
Now combine this sad attitude with greed (surely the worst human attribute of all) and we have a serious problem indeed.
I hate to say it and I am being realistic: it will take impending human extinction and/or a worldwide cataclism to change things (for the better). This will be initiated by dimishing (thus affordable) reserves of oil, water and food. It will then descend into total chaos and anarchy.
When I see how some humans treat defenceless animals and the disdain they hold towards any attempt by those who wish to defend and protect our global environment it saddens me and causes me great concerns about our (human) future.
I am not typically pessimistic but I am a realist! I act upon my beliefs and am active in several environmental organisations BUT this is a very large and multi-dimensional problem.
We need to be much more effective and vociferous.
And yes, I am a sailor, diver, explorer, scientist, professional engineer, parent and a (very) concerned human being! How do we make a quantum leap here?
BTW – great site.
Cheers,
Rick.
Rick, while we agree with your assessment, it is imperative that concerned citizens highlight the good and call-out the tragedies to encourage the youth that there is hope if we do not give up. The youth need to unite to end the destruction of Earth and creatures.
I know that we have all these problems but i mean yes we do think of stuff on how to prevent all this but why do people dont do anything to prevent it i mean only some do …. I’ve been going around peoples houses and some people dont care about whats going
thank u!
Hey Jack and Jude,
Great site!
Why is it mostly people living on a boat/loving sailing that really see the problems of the world/environment/sea? In 1976 I stated in an assessment for my new job that the biggest problem was the growth of the population. 36 years later unfortunately I am still right.
I only can hope that more and more people will see this and start thinking the other way.
Thank you Pieter. One answer lies in the fact that sailors live surrounded by Nature and notice subtle changes. We use, and are affected by, Nature’s forces. Most of the first world live behind doors and look out windows as if the world was a painting. Alas, the trend in the youth is to isolate themselves further through headphones and devices. Let’s bring Nature’s wonder and adventure back into our lives.