• World Population Short: The capacity of our environment to provide space, to produce food, and to supply energy are all limited. Our population is expected to grow to 10 billion by the end of this century, yet the Earth’s size remains the same. Explore population growth from 1 C.E. to 2050. Watch population growth appear on the map as dots representing concentrations of one million people. Learn about important milestones in human history and view other key data including land use, fertility rates, CO2 emissions, life expectancy, and urbanization.
• Mother: Caring for 7 Billion: Over the past 200 years humanity has increased 7 fold and yet talking about population growth has become a taboo. Has society gone too far by silencing the conversation? Mother: Caring for 7 Billion is a groundbreaking film that asks the right questions and doesn’t shy away from the controversy. It exposes what it means to live in a world of 7 billion and how our growing numbers affect not only our own future, but also life, as we know it, on this planet. In the film, we meet Beth and Zinet. Both come from very large families. Beth comes from a large Catholic American family of 12, and Zinet is a young Ethiopian woman who comes from a family of 14. When they meet Beth is transformed by Zinet’s courage to break free from the thousand-year-old-cultural barriers by refusing to get married young and by attending school. Mother, produced by Tiroir a Films, is an award-winning film that features world-renowned experts to help explore how population growth intersects with gender equity, religion, reproductive health, economic inequality and the environment. It is fundamentally a film of hope and shows the strength of the human spirit to make a better world.
Room Change: Due to an increased interest in this topic, this week’s showing will take place on Thursday 4/6 between 7-9 pm in Science Room 131 and is open and free to anybody. This faculty-led program and any related discussion is for educational benefit only.
