Viewpoint: ‘The battle to feed humanity is over”: Eco-pessimist Paul Ehrlich leaves a legacy of misinformation about the mortal threat of overpopulation Matt Ridley | Rational Optimist Society | March 20, 2026

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/03/20/viewpoint-the-battle-to-feed-humanity-is-over-eco-pessimist-paul-ehrlich-leaves-a-legacy-of-misinformation-about-the-mortal-threat-of-over-population/ The butterfly biologist turned rock-star eco-pessimist, Paul Ehrlich has died at the age of 93. That in itself is remarkable because in 1970 he forecast that within the coming decade “100-200 million people per year will be starving to death” and “by 1985 enough millions will have died to reduce the earth’s population to some acceptable level, like 1.5 billion people”. Furthermore, by 1980 the life expectancy of the average American would have fallen 42 years as a result of cancer caused by pesticides.