National Report on Population & Environment

The United States population passed 300 million recently. Although constituting only five percent of the global population, the U.S. emits more carbon dioxide, consumes more paper and other forest products, and produces more municipal waste than any other country. A new report by the Center for Environment and Population (CEP) quantitatively demonstrates the relationship between current national population trends, unprecedented resource consumption, and observable environmental degradation.

This report is the first effort to bring together a wealth of statistics on national population and demographic dynamics and assess them in the context of environmental health. Using a variety of data sources, including the EarthTrends database, the report demonstrates links between phenomena such as rapid suburban sprawl, a shift from rural to urban living, and recent increases in coastal population densities, and their negative impacts on the environment, including habitat and species loss, increased water pollution, and climate change.
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