Population explosion crisis (documentaries)
Some noteworthy documentary films about human overpopulation:
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- StarsStanley Burke
- StarsStanley Burke
- StarsBill BurrudAlan GuttmacherThe documentary, adapted from Paul Ehrlich's book The Population Bomb, explores the tragic consequences that await humanity due to overpopulation, emphasizing mass starvation and social disruption. Additionally, it addresses the critical issue of halting population growth.
- DirectorDirk Wayne SummersStarsRaymond BurrHugh DownsMaurice StrongEarth's environmental crisis--brought about by uncontrolled technological progress--is endangering life on a global scale. At the core of the threats to the planet - wars, overpopulation, pollution, and the depletion of natural resources - is the inadequacy of the nation state to come to terms with the surmounting problems of twentieth century living. What is urgently needed is the kind of international cooperation where nation states relinquish part of their sovereignty to a world body entrusted with the management of mankind's future.
- DirectorBert HaanstraStarsBert HaanstraAnton KoolhaasStephen MurrayDocumentary that explores the differences and similarities between human behavior and that of animals.
- DirectorNancy PearlmanStarsGarrett HardinNancy Pearlman
- DirectorDeepa DhanrajStarsChota BaiGora BaiGyarsi BaiDiscusses Malthus's theories of population and the causes of poverty. As film contrasts the 19th century poor in Scotland with today's poor in India, it takes on the international population "establishment", challenging the entrenched view that overpopulation alone is responsible for poverty and environmental destruction.
- DirectorMichael TobiasStarsMichael TobiasA study of the human population explosion and its impact on biodiversity and global ecosystems.
- DirectorMichael TobiasStarsAlexandra PaulYoung people and the environment.
- DirectorRon DexterDouglas GilliesStarsTed TurnerMikhail GorbachevOren Lyons"On the Edge" is reminder that Western civilization can't continue with business as usual. Every 12 hours, the world population increases by 100,000 people. There is no more land to grow food; all the arable land is already in production and the amount of seafood per capita is shrinking. Everywhere people are running out of freshwater, which means that the wars in the latter part of this century will be fought over food shortages.
- DirectorJonathan SilversIn Fall 1999, the Earth's human population was six billion -- for an instant. With 10,000 children born every hour, the landmark was over in less time than it takes to say the words "population explosion." This landmark documentary from Saybrook Productions examines the consequences of population growth -- as well as initiatives to promote reproductive health and gender equality in the world's most impoverished countries.
- DirectorR. Scott VanceA short visualization of the increase in the number of inhabitants on the planet since the beginning of our era.
- StarsAlbert BartlettA recording of professor Al Bartlett conference about population growth in a planet with finite resources.
- DirectorNina PaleyStarsLes U. KnightWarren HernPaul EhrlichThis short film discusses the topic of population growth and its impact on life on our planet. Through humor and some interesting clips of Les Knight from the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT) and Chris Korda from the Church of Euthanasia (CoE), Paley ignited a firestorm of opinions in the media.
- DirectorMichael TobiasStarsMohammad Jalal Abbasi-ShavaziKalpana ApteRofina AsuruGlobal responses to the Human Population Explosion; impact on the environment and biodiversity.
- DirectorChristophe FauchereAs global population and our appetite for energy rise drastically, fossils fuels depletion and global climate change have now become the most pressing issues facing humanity today.
- DirectorTimothy S. BennettStarsHannah BennettThomas BerryWilliam R. CattonA middle-class white guy comes to grips with Peak Oil, Climate Change, Mass Extinction, Population Overshoot and the demise of the American culture.
- DirectorChristophe FauchereStarsSteve AndrewsJames HansenDavid StuartMost experts agree that global peak oil production, when demand exceeds supply, will occur within the next 15 years and will drastically change the very fabric of our industrialized world. As fossil fuels power every facet of the American economy, how can we avoid an energy crisis and a possible collapse of our economy? Today, China and India have aspirations to attain our western quality of life; but at the rate and the way we use the world's energy resources, their ambition will be physically impossible. In addition to increasing geopolitical conflicts, the process of extracting and using these crucial resources is endangering the very own habitat that we depend on to prosper as a species - pushing the earth's climate and ecosystem to a point of no-return. It is clear that in order for us to survive our modern self-destructive societies, we will have to change course drastically and as fast as possible. Scientists and experts agree that the use of renewable energy such as solar and wind power, coupled with higher efficiency and conservation, will be key factors in preserving our quality of life and paving the way to a sustainable world for our children. Will America be up to the task as it consumes 25% of the world's energy, 85% of which comes from non-renewable fossil fuels?
- DirectorRobert MacAskill
- DirectorRobert StoneStarsStewart BrandRachel L. CarsonBill ClintonThe story of our growing awareness and understanding of the environmental crisis and emergence, during the 1960's and '70's, of popular movement to confront it.
- DirectorRudy BednarStarsJameel AhmadJanine BenyusMalcolm BowmanFollows the account of Lucy, who is born into a society where people are desperate for natural resources, while the global temperature and population are highly increasing.
- DirectorHelen ShariatmadariStarsDavid AttenboroughNorman BorlaugMolly BrownIn a Horizon special, naturalist Sir David Attenborough investigates whether the world is heading for a population crisis. In his lengthy career, Sir David has watched the human population more than double from 2.5 billion in 1950 to nearly seven billion. He reflects on the profound effects of this rapid growth, both on humans and the environment. While much of the projected growth in human population is likely to come from the developing world, it is the lifestyle enjoyed by many in the West that has the most impact on the planet. Some experts claim that in the UK consumers use as much as two and a half times their fair share of Earth's resources. Sir David examines whether it is the duty of individuals to commit not only to smaller families, but to change the way they live for the sake of humanity and planet Earth.
- DirectorJon CookseyStarsJon CookseyMark AnielskiDylan ArchambaultHow to Boil a Frog is an eco-comedy that gives an overview of the Big Mess We're In - environment, energy, economic - and lays out a set of personal solutions that will make your life better and save civilization as a by-product. HTBAF chronicles Jon Cooksey's personal, three-year adventure as a filmmaker, activist and, above all, a father driven to make sure his daughter would have a future beyond living on a raft with the last polar bear. HTBAF mixes humor, facts and a sprinkling of experts (in tiny doses) to show how climate change is just one symptom of an even messier problem: overshoot. "Overshoot means too many people using up too little planet," says Cooksey, "so in the end, we either need fewer people, more planets, or we're going to have use less stuff. Or all three. I dib Mars." With its Everyman approach in the style of "Supersize Me", interviews with scientists, journalists and energy experts across North America, HTBAF takes the kind of information that makes most people want to jump off a bridge and makes it into entertainment that just might save your life, and everybody else's too.
- DirectorPierre BarougierOlivier BourgeoisStarsMikhail GorbachevJames LovelockWangari MaathaiUrban sprawl, extinct species, depletion of natural resources and global warming are all causes of deep anxiety. "Here to Stay" takes an uncompromising look at Planet Earth today.
- DirectorJoe JenkinsDrawing a fascinating parallel between the lifespan of Earth and that of a 45-year-old woman reveals a captivating journey from our origins to the present-the last seconds of biological time, witnessing our atmospheric rise to supremacy. Yet, one must ponder: at what cost?
- DirectorChristophe FauchereStarsTravisE.O. WilsonRichard HeinbergAlthough our actions for the past 150 years have lifted our civilization to new heights, it has come at a tremendous price. We are now at a point where humanity's demands for natural resources far exceed the earth's capacity to sustain us. The extraction and the consumption of these resources in the past two centuries have changed our climate and ecosystems so significantly, that a new geological era had to be created. For some decades now people have been talking about saving the planet, but we are realizing that this is not really the issue. The central issue is civilization itself and whether we can save it. The stresses that we have put on the earth are not only threatening our habitat, but our way of life, our prosperity and even our existence on the planet. Our current paradigm must change. We will have to accept the new reality; the human economy is part of nature and not the other way around. We are faced with great challenges, but unlike the rest of the living world, we have the unique ability to adapt and decide our fate and the fate of most of the biosphere, for better or worse, in order to survive the human project.
- DirectorDawn Sinclair ShapiroThe Edge of Joy follows an ensemble cast of Nigerian doctors, midwives and religious leaders as they battle the world's highest maternal mortality rate. The documentary is a character driven, cinematic expedition ranging from deep within Nigeria's semi-arid lands of the isolated Islamic north to the lush savannahs of the volatile Christian south. Inside a maternity ward, the film chronicles distressed labors and miraculous survival. Outside, a lack of blood supply, transportation and family planning are examined as causes of the cycle that kills more than 36,000 Nigerian women a year. Through unprecedented access to antenatal visits, labor and delivery, family planning counseling, rural health seminars and reproductive health training, this unique film captures the dramatic story of pregnancy and childbirth in Nigeria.
- DirectorJack AlpertStarsJack AlpertJack Alpert explains why he believes a sustainable world, without war and with increasing levels of health and well-being, requires a human population of no more than 100 million people.
- StarsGuillermo López BarreraThe short documentary explains why today's most significant environmental issues-such as air and water pollution, lack of drinking water, deforestation, and waste accumulation-are primarily attributed to the rapidly growing human population. Guillermo López Barrera discusses the environmental impact of the expanding consumer civilization prevalent today.
- DirectorMichael P. NashStarsLester BrownMariano Florentino 'Tino' CuéllarYvo de BoerFilmmaker Michael Nash investigates mass migration caused by our changing climate.
- StarsShannon Gayle Hurd
- DirectorHal WeinerStarsLester BrownMatt DamonNarrated by Matt Damon, Plan B is a 90 minute documentary based on the book by environmental visionary Lester Brown. Shot on location around the world, the film's message is clear and unflinching -- either confront the realities of climate change or suffer the consequences of lost civilizations and failed states. Ultimately Plan B provides audiences with a glimpse into a new and emerging economy based upon renewable resources as well as strategies to avoid the growing threat of global warming. Appearing with Lester Brown are Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman, former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, along with other scholars and scientists. Locations include: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Italy, Turkey, Bangladesh, Zambia, Haiti, and the U.S.
- DirectorMonte ThompsonStarsSteven BeissingerSally BinghamIgnacio ChapelaThe first feature-length documentary film to fully investigate the growing threat to Earth's life-support systems from the loss of biodiversity. If current trends continue, scientists warn that half or more of all plant and animal species on Earth will become extinct within the next few decades. Call of Life investigates the scope, the causes, and the predicted effects of this unprecedented loss of life, but also looks deeper, at the ways in which both culture and psychology have helped to create and perpetuate the situation. The film not only tells the story of a crisis in nature, but also in human nature, a crisis more complex and threatening than anything human beings have ever faced before.
- DirectorSimon NashtStarsDick SmithTony AbbottMike ArcherThe film follows Dick Smith's public campaign against rapid population growth. It tests the propositions put forward in favour of a Big Australia. Can this popular entrepreneur persuade the nation to change its mind?
- DirectorRixt SingelsmaRixt Singelsma highlights the problem of overpopulation through an animation supported by statistical facts. The story begins in 1950 when her parents were born, and there were 2.5 billion people in the world. When she was born 35 years later, there were twice as many people. Rixt talks about the ecological disasters caused by the population explosion.
- DirectorMathieu RoyHarold CrooksStarsRonald WrightMark LevineRobert WrightTheorists consider the evolution of human society and question the sustainability of the current paradigm.
- DirectorChristophe FauchereStarsEsraa BaniAlbert BartlettLester BrownThe film delves into the heart of the growing environmental, humanitarian, and social crisis-overpopulation and the excessive consumption linked to it.
- DirectorJack AlpertStarsJack AlpertJack Alpert explains why he believes it is necessary to reduce the global human population to less than 100 million for the peaceful and sustainable survival of art, science and development.
- DirectorDave GardnerStarsSaleem AliKelly BakerAlbert BartlettThis film asks the most critical question of our time: How do we become a sustainable civilization? It takes a unique approach among modern environmental documentaries: Rather than dispensing facts about climate change; peak energy, food and water; and biodiversity loss, it examines the cultural barriers that prevent us from acting rationally. It asks why population conversations are so difficult to have, and why a roaring economy is more important to us than a survivable planet. It looks into the psychology of denial and crowd behavior. It explores our obsession with community growth and economic growth. Hooked on Growth holds up a mirror, encouraging us to examine the beliefs and behaviors we must leave behind, and the values we need to embrace, in order that our children can survive and thrive.
- DirectorDermot O'ConnorStarsAmy PenstonPeak oil has been reached; alternative fuels only a short-term patch; current growth is unsustainable - we have to scale back.
- In the last 50 years, the world's population has more than doubled. More than 7 billion people live on Earth today, and the number is growing at an exponential rate. What would happen if their number doubled again? In the documentary, we can see some of the devastating consequences, such as the shortage of water and food, the outbreak of new civilizational diseases, and the emergence of new mega-cities. However, we can already observe these phenomena today.
- DirectorJack AlpertStarsJack Alpert
- DirectorMike FreedmanStarsMike FreedmanRobert RapierJoseph TainterThings aren't looking good for the world's population; as we multiply at an alarming rate there is not enough food, space... or sense. This intelligent film interweaves a fascinating 1960s rat experiment by Dr. John B. Calhoun with a slick snapshot of today's urban jungle.
- DirectorJörg Daniel HissenStarsBinot BihariLester BrownDuff GillespieThe documentary traces the history of family planning since the 1950s and offers insight into the current family planning project in India, with an emphasis on the definition, emergence, and growth of the role of women.
- DirectorJack AlpertStarsJack AlpertPaul EhrlichMost people see crowding, pollution, and decreasing purchasing power. Some put the blame on immigration, the success of competing economies, peak oil, soil loss, and water scarcity. In this talk Jack Alpert suggest these problems are but the tip of an iceberg. We are underestimating how these problems will affect us and overestimating our ability to manage them.
- StarsAlbert BartlettPaul EhrlichDave GardnerThe ecological footprint, environmental carrying capacity, population explosion and the resulting ecological, economic, and socio-political crises are subjects discussed by prominent philosophers.
- DirectorMark DevriesStarsSteven BestRichard DawkinsGary FrancioneA young man begins investigating the underworld of "factory farming" and soon discovers a growing political and intellectual movement that considers animals as important as humans.
- DirectorJack AlpertStarsJack Alpert
- DirectorPeter Charles DowneyStarsVincent BurkeStephen BygraveJulian CribbMass suicide prevention from resource depletion, overpopulation and climate change.
- DirectorPatsy NorthcuttStarsMathis Wackernagel
- DirectorEnrico CerasuoloStarsBill BehrensGeorge BushJimmy Carter'Last Call' tells the story of the rise and fall, and today's rebirth of one of the most controversial and inspiring environmental book of all times: 'The Limits to Growth'. Its message is today more relevant than ever: unlimited growth in a limited planet will bring our society and environment into overshoot and on the edge of collapse. Supported by extraordinary archive materials, 'The Limits to Growth' authors provide a provocative insight on the reasons of the global crisis and share their visions of our common future. Is there still time for a last call?
- DirectorMichael ConnollyStarsEdwin BarryLaura CarrollAmanda ConnollyIn the feature-length documentary film Sense and Sustainability we ask the question, "Is a species set on endless growth sustainable?" In answering this question we explore the scale of the human endeavor and its impact on the environment.
- DirectorClive MaltbyStarsElizabeth Vargas
- DirectorMichael ConnollyStarsE.O. WilsonSarah Blaffer-HrdyDonald Carl JohansonExplore the evolution of humanity from our humble beginnings to becoming a dominant species; which has come at a high cost for the natural world. Witness the triumphs, trials and adaptations that define our species' unparalleled journey.
- DirectorNick WattsStarsCatherine CollinsOliver CurryGeorge MonbiotDocumentray examining the amount of products consumed in a lifetime and the impact it has on the environment.
- DirectorSarah HoltJackie MowChris SchmidtStarsOliver PlattExamining the "demographic divide" between developed and underdeveloped nations. Visits to India, Japan and Kenya explore problems caused by too many people in the underdeveloped world and too few in many industrialized nations.
- 1994–TV EpisodeDirectorStephan BrülhartStarsYves BossartGraeme Maxton
- DirectorMichael ConnollyStarsAmanda Connolly
- Human population is growing at an alarming rate which cannot be sustained by current systems. We are running out of fossil fuels, food supplies and space while seeking to create more power to energize our modern world - but to what end?
- DirectorPauline P. SchneiderPauline Schneider has spent decades being an environmental activist. Alongside friends she has fought to make the world a better place and to save the planet for future generations. But when she discovers Dr McPherson, an evolutionary biologist and ecologist, his cataclysmic warnings of impending Near Term Human Extinction change the way that she and others think, feel and act. Learning that extinction for humans and perhaps most other species is coming in our lifetime, and not in some vague future thousands of years from now, leads to an awakening, an opening of heart, a growing compassion for all living creatures and a quest to 'Do what you love' now.
- DirectorJacob Freydont-AttieStarsDonald BrownleeRoger CarassoRobin HansonA deep-green, deep-time discussion of the environmental crisis, The Cross of the Moment is a feature length documentary that attempts to connect the dots between Fermi's Paradox, climate change, capitalism, and collapse. Interviews with top scientists and public intellectuals are woven together into a narrative that is challenging, exhausting, and unflinching. The film is essentially an 80 minute constructed conversation among a group of highly informed experts on the most important topic in human history; will our species survive catastrophic climate change?
- DirectorVictor VelleStarsJason Hall-SpencerKatsuo InabaVimlendu JhaDo we want a world of more people with less or less people with more? Today, humanity's demand for resources vastly exceeds nature's ability to supply them.
- DirectorCharlie RussellStarsDavid AttenboroughChris Packham
- DirectorSofia Pineda OchoaStarsSofia Pineda OchoaMobyPaul EhrlichHumanity has backed itself into an ecological endgame as we approach the year 2050. Featuring Moby and prominent scientists, ENDGAME 2050 lays out the reality that, unless we act urgently now, we are hastening our own destruction.
- DirectorPierre Smith KhannaStarsLaDonna Brave Bull AllardJacinda ArdernStafford BeerThe tale of how capitalism and consumerism has affected the earth we live on.
- StarsReg E. CatheyEver wondered what the world would be like without any humans?
- DirectorPeter KralovicStarsPeter KralovicWhat consequences overpopulation brings? What is ecological footprint, carrying capacity and population momentum? What are the results of green technology, futuristic architecture projects, recycling, veganism, social ecology? Is sustainable development even plausible? This video tries to provide you with some answers.
- DirectorJay AntzakasStarsMarilyn RingoThis documentary explores the methods that ten Asian and African nations are using to deal with population and development. Each country tries to cope with their rapid population growth in a unique way. Filmed on location in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Egypt, and Tunisia.
- DirectorKlaus PasStarsPaul BandeyPaul BarrettAngélique AhierWith 1 billion of the world's population going to bed hungry at night, documentary film, "Last Supper For Malthus" sheds light on one of the most prevalent and alarming issues of our time, the global food crisis. Director, Klaus Pas, brings to life Political-Economists Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo, intertwining their theories with captivating images and interviews from some of the world's leading experts on the topic from all corners of the globe, including figures such as U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Dr. Jacques Diouf, Jean Ziegler, Olivier de Schutter and Donal Coxe. The film goes beyond focusing on some of the most controversial issues today including changing diets, climate change and the use food for fuel, and considers the effects of the worst global economic crisis seen in over 80 years.
- DirectorPeter WebberStarsStephen EmmottThe Earth's population is expected to reach 10 billion people by 2050. The consequences will be catastrophic. Based on Stephen Emmott's hit theater show, Ten Billion is a wake up call to an unprecedented planetary emergency.