How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth?

The last few centuries have given rise to a world in which child mortality has ceased to be the expected norm and one in which the age at which we consider ourselves old has doubled. Although there is plenty of work left to be done to improve living conditions, primarily in developing countries, no other generation has seen the kind of global prosperity that we get to experience today. Food, clean water and medicine are more abundant now than ever before. We are right to celebrate these achievements.

For all our scientific and technological ingenuity, however, our planet's natural resources are finite, and there is a physical limit beyond which our way of life simply cannot be sustained any longer. Whether we have hit this physical limit already is debatable, but the principle is a sound one and certainly worth our attention, for the implications are dire.

In this sobering documentary, Sir David Attenborough explores the question of our planet's carrying capacity. How many of us can our environment sustain? What can we do to help? Have we reached the point of no return?

And if you are worried about your own future, and want to contribute to the efforts to reduce overpopulation, here is one fun(ny) solution :)

And if that's not your cup of tea, maybe boys can wait :)