No standing

room by Dr. Aubrey Manning Reader in Zoology at the University of Edinburgh

Of all the pollution problems facing mankind, over-population is undoubtedly the most serious. Britain, with heavy dependence on food from abroad is as vulnerable, i f not more so, than any of the developing countries and in the near future it is likely to find itself in a grave plight, facing severe shortages of food, space and the general amenities of modern living.

Britain faces an immediate popula­ tion problem and unless we do some­ thing rapidly to curb our growth the quality of life will plummet. We all recognize the situation in the "develop­ ing world"; we wring our hands at the tragic plight of India whose future is clouded by the desperate pressure of 12 million extra people every year, of Mauritius, now cleared of malaria, with nearly a million people crammed on to an island of 710 square miles which exports nothing but sugar. The urgent necessity to halt population in­ crease in such situations is universally accepted yet we assume that our small islands can go on for ever keeping us, not just in the manner to which we are accustomed, but with an ever-rising standard of living.

Britain already suffers from all the

pollution of affluence. Everyone expects a vast range of material things includ­ ing a heated house, access to lucrative work, a hospital service, 30 gallons of clean water each day and the use of a car. These requirements make each Briton equivalent in consumer terms to at least 20 Indians living in their own country on the bare essentials of sub­ sistence. But already we in Britain average 226 people for each square kilometre of land—1^ times more than India and 10 times more than the USA. I t is only because most of us live in towns that there is any open country left and in any case we lose 50,000 acres every year to urban development.

At present our population is about 55 million and, although our birth-rate is currently falling, there is still a daily surplus of births over deaths of more

than 800. Every day 800 extra Britons join us with their rights and expecta­ tions of the good life. I f we are to meet these it means the equivalent of 400 new houses and a new school every day, a new hospital every month or a new city the size of Leeds every year.

There are no signs that these require­ ments can be met. At the present moment we have an enormous backlog of house, school and hospital building and clearly we cannot hope to catch up so long as our population continues to increase. No matter how well we try to plan development there can be no end to waiting lists for houses, over­ crowded classrooms, congested roads and all the other drawbacks of continual growth. Further, we shall inevitably fall behind in the battle for full employ­ ment; 800 new jobs a day scarcely looks

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