I published this in 1972. The updated graphs shows the accuracy of its predictions.

The population of the world is growing at such a fantastic rate that most scientists describe our situation as a crisis. If the present rate continues - in other words, if we do nothing to slow it, the population of the world will double during the next 35 years. This means that, even to keep up our present standard of living we will need twice as many houses, schools, hospitals, roads and cars and twice as much food, fuel, power and space which will create twice as much pollution of the land, sea and air while using up the world's natural resources twice as fast.

It is a commonly held view among the richer industrialised countries that population control is only needed in the poorer countries of the world. It is certainly true that the richer countries have slower rates of growth. But they are growing. Look at this graph showing the population of England and Wales for the past thousand years.

At the time of Domesday Book, which must have been the world's first proper census, the population of England was just over a million. By 1825, after it had been rising slowly for 700 years, it was 10 million. Since then it has been rising faster and by 2011 has reached 62 million (not including Scotland). At the present rate of growth the population of Britain will double again in the next 140 years. This may seem a long time but there are two points to remember: firstly, Britain's land area and natural resources cannot themselves be extended. Every year there are 300,000 more Britons but there is not one single extra square yard of land. Secondly, every new Briton uses about 20 times as much of the world's resources as, for example, every new Indian. In these terms, Britain's yearly growth is equal to a yearly growth in India of 6 million. The U.S.A., with 6% of the world's population, uses 50% of the world's resources and every new American uses about 40 times as much as every new Indian so the U.S.A.'s yearly growth of 2 million is equal to a growth of 80 million in Indian terms. And remember that these are highly industrialised countries with what are thought of as 'slow' growth rates.

Optimists will also point at open fields and hills and say, “Look at all that empty space! No people in sight!” They forget that every single human being, optimists included, has to be supported by 'empty' space. It must be remembered that every time someone eats a steak, he or she eats the meat of an animal that had been feeding on grass for months before it grew big enough to be eaten. No grass, no cow. No cow, no steak. This is true of everything we eat. It is not only that the countryside is beautiful to look at - it is necessary for our very existence.