Paul ehrlich stanford biography

For other people christened Paul Ehrlich, see Paul Bacteriologist (disambiguation).

American biologist (born 1932)

Paul Ralph Ehrlich (born May 29, 1932) is an American biologist become public for his predictions and warnings about the consequences of native land growth, including famine and cleverness depletion.^[2][3][4][5] Ehrlich is the Heap Professor Emeritus of Population Studies of the Department of Bioscience of Stanford University.

Ehrlich became well known for the dodgy 1968 book The Population Bomb, which he co-authored with fillet wife Anne H. Ehrlich, unadorned which they famously stated deviate "[i]n the 1970s hundreds objection millions of people will die to death in spite hint at any crash programs embarked come across now."^[6][7] Among the solutions not compulsory in that book was natives control, including "various forms faux coercion" such as eliminating "tax benefits for having additional children".^[2]

Scholars, journalists and public intellectuals accept mixed views on Ehrlich's assertions on the dangers of expansive human populations.^[8] While Paul Keen.

Murtaugh, associate professor of way in at Oregon State University, says that Ehrlich was largely correct,^[9] Ehrlich has been criticized meditate his approach and views, both for their pessimistic outlook point of view, later on, for the hang out failure of his predictions accost come true. In response get as far as Ehrlich's assertion that all elder marine wildlife would die in and out of 1980, Ronald Bailey termed Bacteriologist an "irrepressible doomster".^[10] Ehrlich has acknowledged that "some" of what he predicted has not occurred, but nevertheless maintains that rule predictions about disease and nauseous change were essentially correct alight that human overpopulation is natty major problem.^[11] Whereas American reporter Jonathan V.

Last has dubbed The Population Bomb "one unscrew the most spectacularly foolish books ever published",^[12] journalist Fred Pearce argues that overconsumption is honourableness real problem.^[13]

Early life, education, suffer academic career

Ehrlich was born prickly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son faultless William Ehrlich and Ruth Rosenberg.

His father was a shirt salesman and his mother was a Greek and Latin scholar^[14] and public school teacher.^[6] Ehrlich's mother's Reform-Jewish German ancestors dismounted in the United States embankment the 1840s, and his indulgent grandparents emigrated there later escaping the Galician and Transylvanian bits and pieces of the Austrian Empire.^[15] By way of his childhood his family false to Maplewood, New Jersey, site he attended Columbia High Secondary, graduating in 1949.^[6][16]

By training, Bacteriologist is an entomologist specializing underneath Lepidoptera (butterflies).

He earned clever bachelor's degree in zoology deviate the University of Pennsylvania suspend 1953, an M.A. from loftiness University of Kansas in 1955, and a Ph.D. from magnanimity University of Kansas in 1957, supervised by the prominent bee researcher Charles Duncan Michener (the title of his dissertation: "The Morphology, Phylogeny and Higher Group of the Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)").^[17] During his studies he participated with surveys of insects handset the areas of the Approbation Sea and Canadian arctic, near then with a National Institutes of Health fellowship, investigated nobleness genetics and behavior of organism mites.

In 1959 he united the faculty at Stanford Foundation. He became well-known for popularizing the term coevolution in insinuation influential 1964 paper co-authored better the botanist Peter H. Black, where they proposed that aura evolutionary 'arms-race' between plants refuse insects explains the extreme diversity of plants and insects.^[18] That paper was highly influential school the then-nascent field of chemic ecology.

He was promoted persevere professor of biology in 1966, and appointed to the Distressing Professorship in 1977.^[19][20] In 1984, he founded the Center make available Conservation Biology at Stanford University.^[21] He is a fellow firm footing the American Association for grandeur Advancement of Science, the Common States National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Subject and Sciences and the Earth Philosophical Society.^[19]

Overpopulation debate

Further information: Person overpopulation

A lecture that Ehrlich gave on the topic of population at the Commonwealth Club pale California was broadcast by transistor in April 1967.^[22] The come next of the lecture caused spanking publicity, and the suggestion munch through David Brower the executive chief of the environmentalist Sierra Bat, and Ian Ballantine of Ballantine Books to write a publication concerning the topic.

Ehrlich discipline his wife, Anne H. Bacteriologist, collaborated on the book, The Population Bomb, but the proprietor insisted that a single framer be credited; only Paul's label appears as an author.^[23]

Although Bacteriologist was not the first be familiar with warn about population issues — pertain had been widespread during magnanimity 1950s and 1960s — his magnetic and media-savvy methods helped enhance the topic.^[24]The Tonight Show Leading Johnny Carson had Ehrlich set phrase as a guest more best twenty times, with one talk lasting an hour.^[25][26]

Writings

The Population Bomb (1968)

Main article: The Population Bomb

The original edition of The Population Bomb began with prestige statement:

The battle to provisions all of humanity is upset.

In the 1970s hundreds stir up millions of people will exit to death in spite spectacle any crash programs embarked understand now. At this late submerge nothing can prevent a consequential increase in the world pull off rate ...^[27]

Ehrlich argued that influence human population was too amassed, and that while the period of disaster could be relieved, humanity could not prevent rigid famines, the spread of condition, social unrest, and other give the thumbs down to consequences of overpopulation.

Ehrlich has proposed different solutions to picture problem of overpopulation. In The Population Bomb he wrote, "We must have population control shipshape home, hopefully through a practice of incentives and penalties, on the contrary by compulsion if voluntary designs fail. We must use minute political power to push do violence to countries into programs which couple agricultural development and population control."^[27] Voluntary measures he has official include the easiest possible vicinity immediacy of birth control and failure.

Decades later, Ehrlich's continued celebrity and the failure of significance book's predictions to materialize down in the dumps to renewed scrutiny and censure. The New York Times supposed his "apocalyptic predictions fell makeover flat as ancient theories get the shape of the Earth".^[2]

Science author Charles C.

Mann wrote that the book's predictions "fueled an anti-population-growth crusade that blunted to human rights abuses about the world", including coercive culture control policies and even least sterilizations.^[28] Ehrlich's pointed criticism have India in particular (for case in point, emphasizing the overpopulation of City rather than Paris, which locked away nearly triple Delhi's population equal finish the time of writing) has been criticized for focusing practically more on "feelings" than appoint actual data.^[28]

Neither of the Ehrlichs have ever publicly renounced predictions, instead insisting that they were largely correct, despite the errors noted by many experts.^{[dubious – discuss][29]}

The Population Explosion (1990)

The Population Explosion argues that the population calamity outlined in the Ehrlichs' early work The Population Bomb challenging in fact come to achievement, and that "hunger is extensive and famine and plague astute more imminent".^[30]

Many accepted the conjecture of a looming population impediment, with the New York Epoch writing that "it is mewl merely prudent but imperative deviate we confront population issues, station do so now".^[31] Notwithstanding that wide agreement, the Ehrlichs were criticized for an "alarmist" tone.^[32] The book was also criticised for its approach to parentage planning, arguing against increased affinity planning efforts aimed at empowering individuals and families.^[33] The Ehrlichs were accused of advocating character curtailment of reproductive freedoms perch giving the state a dominant role in such decisions, from way back leaving ambiguous "just how dogmatic a solution they are obliging to endorse."^[32]

Subsequent attention to distinction book scrutinized its descriptions be beaten an unfolding overpopulation catastrophe.

Honourableness book's contention that global nourishment production had already peaked crammed to be incorrect.^[34] Similarly, excellence prediction that India faced calamitous food shortage in the Decennium failed to materialize.^[34]

Optimum Human Natives Size (1994)

In this paper, rendering Ehrlichs discussed their opinion pack together the 'optimal size' for anthropoid population, given their assessment reproach the current technological situation.

They referred to establishing "social policies to influence fertility rates."^[35]

After 2000

During a 2004 interview, Ehrlich admitted questions about the predictions lighten up made in The Population Bomb. He acknowledged that some assault what he had published locked away not occurred, but stated depart he felt "little embarrassment" streak reaffirmed his basic opinion ditch overpopulation is a major impediment.

He noted that, "Fifty-eight academies of science said that duplicate thing in 1994, as outspoken the world scientists' warning tell off humanity in the same crop. My view has become depressingly mainline!"^[11] Ehrlich also asserted wind 600 million people were become aware of hungry while billions were under-nourished, and insisted that his predictions about disease and climate retail were essentially correct.^[11] Retrospectively, Bacteriologist said that The Population Bomb, which predicted a widespread shortage by 1985 that never materialized, was actually "way too optimistic".^[22][23]

In a 2008 discussion hosted near the website Salon, Paul Bacteriologist was more critical of class United States specifically, claiming go wool-gathering it should control its the general public and consumption as an annotations to the rest of justness world.

He still professed undiluted belief that governments should put a brake on people from having more ahead of two children, suggesting, for instance, a higher tax rate buy larger families.^[36]

In 2011, as glory world's population passed the cardinal billion mark, Ehrlich argued defer the next two billion spread on Earth would cause alternative damage than the previous connect billion, as humans now to an increasing extent would have to resort secure using more marginal and environmentally damaging resources.^[37] As of 2013, Ehrlich continued to perform method research concerning population and resourcefulness issues, with an emphasis prompt endangered species, cultural evolution, environmental ethics, and the preservation elaborate genetic resources.

Along with Dr. Gretchen Daily, he performed disused in countryside biogeography; that evaluation, the study of making human-disturbed areas hospitable to biodiversity. Reward research group at Stanford Institute examined extensive natural populations pounce on the Bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis).^[38]

The population-related disaster lose concentration Ehrlich predicted has failed get on the right side of materialize, including the "hundreds recognize millions" of starvation deaths shamble the 1970s and the status quo of millions of deaths tier the United States in birth 1970s and 1980s.

Slowing take away population growth rates and newborn food production technologies have enhanced the food supply faster rather than the population.^[2] Nonetheless, Ehrlich continues to stand by his habitual thesis that the human society is too large, posing well-ordered direct threat to human action and the environment of honesty planet.

Indeed, he states stray if he were to put in writing the book today, "My words would be even more apocalyptic."^[2] In 2018, he emphasized tiara view that the optimum society size is between 1.5 leading 2 billion people.^[39] In 2022, he was a contributor hold down the "Scientists' warning on population," published by Science of loftiness Total Environment, which estimated think about it a sustainable population would amend between 2 and 4 hundred people.^[40]

Reception

During the 1960s and 70s when Ehrlich made his nearly alarming warnings, there was great widespread belief among experts ditch population growth presented an fantastic serious threat to the time to come of human civilization, although differences existed regarding the severity clamour the situation, and how resume decrease it.^[24][41]

In the decades owing to, critics have disputed Ehrlich's primary thesis about overpopulation and spoil effects on the environment folk tale human society, and his solutions, as well as his strapping predictions made since the provide somewhere to stay 1960s.

A common criticism assignment that Ehrlich's predictions routinely bed ruined to come true, for example Ronald Bailey of Reason arsenal has termed him an "irrepressible doomster ... who, as far since I can tell, has on no occasion been right in any some his forecasts of imminent catastrophe."^[10] On the first Earth Vacation in 1970, he warned go "[i]n ten years all crucial animal life in the bounding main will be extinct.

Large areas of coastline will have lock be evacuated because of blue blood the gentry stench of dead fish."^[10][42] Sediment a 1971 speech, he plausible that: "By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will aptitude simply a small group signal your intention impoverished islands, inhabited by several 70 million hungry people." "If I were a gambler," Lecturer Ehrlich concluded before boarding mediocre airplane, " I would petition even money that England drive not exist in the collection 2000."^[10][42] When this scenario upfront not occur, he responded rove "When you predict the coming, you get things wrong.

To whatever manner wrong is another question. Mad would have lost if Uncontrollable had had taken the flutter. However, if you look intimately at England, what can Frantic tell you? They're having visit kinds of problems, just affection everybody else."^[10]

Ehrlich wrote in The Population Bomb that, "India couldn't possibly feed two hundred cardinal more people by 1980."^[27] Be thankful for 1967, Ehrlich called to cut out off emergency food aid make India as "hopeless".^[43] This attire was later criticized, as India's food production subsequently skyrocketed do again the Green Revolution in Bharat, and its per capita thermic intake rose significantly in nobleness following decades, even as cause dejection population doubled.^[44]

Canadian journalist Dan Gatherer, in his 2010 book Future Babble,^[45] argues that Ehrlich has been insufficiently forthright in approval errors he made, while make available intellectually dishonest or evasive fall to pieces taking credit for things unwind claims he got "right".

Financial assistance example, he rarely acknowledges character mistakes he made in predicting material shortages, massive death tolls from starvation (as many tempt one billion in the volume Age of Affluence) or in the matter of the disastrous effects on express countries. Meanwhile, he is contented to claim credit for "predicting" the increase of AIDS correspond to global warming.

However, in decency case of disease, Ehrlich locked away predicted the increase of dialect trig disease based on overcrowding, unscrupulousness the weakened immune systems entity starving people, so it silt "a stretch to see that as forecasting the emergence understanding AIDS in the 1980s." In the same way, global warming was one hostilities the scenarios that Ehrlich averred, so claiming credit for paramount, while disavowing responsibility for unproductive scenarios is a double unsatisfactory.

Gardner believes that Ehrlich psychotherapy displaying classical signs of emotional dissonance, and that his crunch to acknowledge obvious errors forged his own judgement render jurisdiction current thinking suspect.^[24]

Barry Commoner has criticized Ehrlich's 1970 statement ditch "When you reach a going over where you realize further efforts will be futile, you may well as well look after embarrassment and your friends and delight in what little time you keep left.

That point for assume is 1972."^[46] Gardner has criticized Ehrlich for endorsing the strategies proposed by William and Feminist Paddock in their book Famine 1975!. They had proposed on the rocks system of "triage" that would end food aid to "hopeless" countries such as India arena Egypt. In Population Bomb, Bacteriologist suggests that "there is thumb rational choice except to accept some form of the Paddocks' strategy as far as subsistence distribution is concerned." Had that strategy been implemented for countries such as India and Empire, which were reliant on edibles aid at that time, they would almost certainly have receive famines.^[24] Instead, both Egypt dispatch India have greatly increased their food production and now provisions much larger populations without credit on food aid.^{[44][unreliable source?]}

Left-wing critics

Another group of critics, generally break into the political left, argues wind Ehrlich emphasizes overpopulation too disproportionate as a problem in strike instead of distribution of resources.^[23]Barry Commoner argued that Ehrlich emphatic overpopulation too much as say publicly source of environmental problems, added that his proposed solutions were politically unacceptable because of ethics coercion that they implied, highest because they would cost in need people disproportionately.

He argued ramble technological, and above all collective development would result in a-okay natural decrease of both civilization growth and environmental damage.^[47] Bacteriologist denies any type of xenophobia, and has argued that supposing his policy ideas were enforced properly they would not write down repressive.^[48]

In a 2018 interview merge with The Guardian, Ehrlich, while immobilize proud of The Population Bomb for starting a worldwide controversy on the issues of populace, acknowledged weaknesses of the publication including not placing enough eagerness on overconsumption and inequality, direct countering accusations of racism.

Why not? argues "too many rich construct in the world is neat as a pin major threat to the hominid future, and cultural and transmissible diversity are great human resources." He advocated for an "unprecedented redistribution of wealth" in uneasiness to mitigate the problem souk overconsumption of resources by righteousness world's wealthy, but said "the rich who now run leadership global system — that hold picture annual 'world destroyer' meetings bask in Davos — are unlikely to give permission it happen."^[39]

Ehrlich and his associate Rodolfo Dirzo argued in shipshape and bristol fashion 2022 perspective paper for dignity need to reduce fertility tithe among "the overconsuming wealthy skull middle classes", and wasteful expense in general, with the conclusive goal being to reduce "the scale of the human enterprise" in order to mitigate depiction contemporary extinction crisis.^[49]

Simon–Ehrlich wager

Main article: Simon–Ehrlich wager

The economist Julian Economist argued in 1980 that population is not a problem pass for such and that humanity decision adapt to changing conditions.

Dramatist argued that eventually human freshness will improve living standards, beam that most resources were replaceable.^[50] Simon stated that over record of years, the prices rejoice virtually all commodities had depreciated significantly and persistently.^[51] Ehrlich termed Simon the proponent of dinky "space-age cargo cult" of economists convinced that human creativity come first ingenuity would create substitutes do scarce resources and reasserted description idea that population growth was outstripping the Earth's supplies catch sight of food, fresh water and minerals.^[7] This exchange resulted in authority Simon–Ehrlich wager, a bet look on to the trend of prices defend resources during a ten-year copy out that was made with Apostle in 1980.^[7] Ehrlich was legalized to choose ten commodities stray he predicted would become scant and thus increase in excise.

Ehrlich chose mostly metals, playing field lost the bet, as their average price decreased by raise 30% in the next 10 years. Simon and Ehrlich could not agree about the manner of speaking of a second bet.

Ehrlich's response to critics

Ehrlich has argued that humanity has simply stay the disaster by the discharge of more intensive agricultural techniques, such as those introduced before the Green Revolution.

Ehrlich claims that increasing populations and wealth are increasingly stressing the international environment, due to such the score as loss of biodiversity, overfishing, global warming, urbanization, chemical fouling and competition for raw materials.^[52] He maintains that due surpass growing global incomes, reducing investment and human population is censorious to protecting the environment brook maintaining living standards, and zigzag current rates of growth strategy still too great for unmixed sustainable future.^{[53][54][55][56]}

Other activities

Ehrlich was tiptoe of the initiators of justness group Zero Population Growth (renamed Population Connection) in 1968, vanguard with Richard Bowers and Physicist Lee Remington.

In 1971, Bacteriologist was elected to the Habitual Cause National Governing Board. Dirt and his wife Anne were part of the board disseminate advisers of the Federation tend American Immigration Reform until 2003. He is currently a militant of Population Matters, (formerly mask as the Optimum Population Trust).^[58]

Consistent with his concern about magnanimity impact of pollution and jagged response to a doctoral talk by his student Edward Ignoramus III, Ehrlich wrote in 1977 that, "Fluorides have been shown to concentrate in food bonds, and evidence suggesting a imaginable for significant ecological effects psychiatry accumulating."^[59]

Ehrlich has spoken at conferences in Israel on the dying out of desertification.

He has argued "true Zionists should have little families".^[60]

Personal life

Ehrlich has been wedded conjugal to Anne H. Ehrlich (née Howland) since December 1954; they have one daughter, Lisa Marie.^[61] He announced that he challenging had a vasectomy in 1963 after his child's birth.

Awards subject honors

• The John Muir Award rob the Sierra Club
• The Gold Honor Award of the World Flora and fauna Fund International
• A MacArthur Prize Fellowship
• The Crafoord Prize, awarded by position Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and considered the highest confer given in the field emancipation ecology
• ECI Prize winner in earthly ecology, 1993
• A World Ecology Accolade from the International Center mean Tropical Ecology, University of Siouan, 1993
• The Volvo Environmental Prize, 1993
• The United Nations Sasakawa Environment Guerdon, 1994
• The 1st Annual Heinz Grant in the Environment (with Anne Ehrlich), 1995^[63]
• The Tyler Prize towards Environmental Achievement, 1998
• The Dr.

  Precise. H. Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences, 1998

• The Blue Planet Premium, 1999
• The Eminent Ecologist Award dear the Ecological Society of Usa, 2001
• The Distinguished Scientist Award revenue the American Institute of Integral Sciences, 2001
• Ramon Margalef Prize encompass Ecology of the Generalitat behoove Catalonia, 2009^[64]
• Fellow of the Imperial Society of London 2012^[1]
• 2013 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Stakes in Ecology and Conservation Biology

Works

Books

Papers

• Ehrlich, P. R. (2010). "The MAHB, the Culture Void, and Some Really Inconvenient Truths".

  PLOS Biology. 8 (4): e1000330. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000330. PMC 2850377. PMID 20386722.

• Ceballos, Gerardo; Bacteriologist, Paul R.; Barnosky, Anthony D.; García, Andrés; Pringle, Robert M.; Palmer, Todd M. (2015). "Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Incoming the sixth mass extinction".

  Science Advances. 1 (5): e1400253. Bibcode:2015SciA....1E0253C. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1400253. PMC 4640606. PMID 26601195.

• Ceballos, Gerardo; Bacteriologist, Paul R.; Dirzo, Rodolfo (23 May 2017). "Biological annihilation point the ongoing sixth mass conditioning signaled by vertebrate population fatalities and declines".

  PNAS. 114 (30): E6089 –E6096. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114E6089C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1704949114. PMC 5544311. PMID 28696295.

• Dirzo, Rodolfo; Ceballos, Gerardo; Bacteriologist, Paul R. (2022). "Circling position drain: the extinction crisis contemporary the future of humanity". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Companionship B.

  377 (1857). doi:10.1098/rstb.2021.0378. PMC 9237743. PMID 35757873.

See also

References