The more people the Earth supports, the lower the standard of living they are likely
to enjoy, and the more conflict and environmental damage are probable. However, there
may be situations where human population increase does not exacerbate environmental
degradation or lower standards of living (see discussion of Boserüp in Chapter 2). With
foreseeable technology, sustaining adequate standards of living and satisfactory environmental
quality probably demand that human population on the Earth be less than today’s
6,500 million plus.