So You Wanna Stop a Massive Extinction? Wear a Condom

photo: J. Novak
Matthew has written about the connection between population growth and climate change before. Improving access to family planning services and contraceptives, and ensuring that low income is no barrier to access, is crucial. But recently The Center for Biological Diversity took it a step further with its new Endangered Species Condom Project. All month long the organization will be handing out condoms which feature a series of six original artworks of endangered animals. Through Center for Biological Diversity's Endangered Species Condom Project, the organization will be handing out information along with specially ornamented condoms to bring attention to the connection between an exploding population and recent spikes in species extinctions. The human population doubled from 1 to 2 billion between the years 1800 and 1930 and then again by 1975 and today our population is at 6.8 billion, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. And it's no stretch to realize that's there's only so much space on the planet. And as we develop formerly unspoiled areas of land, we spread into delicate habitats and lead to massive extinctions rates. From the bison that used to spread all the way to West Virginia to the massive Caspian Tiger in the Middle East, and the Dodo bird in Mauritius, wondrous creatures are consistently going extinct due to human activity. The graph below shows the connection between population growth and endangered species extinctions.

"Most biologists agree that we have begun the sixth mass extinction event in the Earth's history," said Randy Serraglio, a conservation advocate leading the Center's campaign. "What separates this one from earlier events is that it is being driven by a single species - humans. All the direct threats to the earth's biodiversity - land-use changes due to urban sprawl and commercial development, environmental contamination, competition for water and other resources, climate change, and so on - are driven by human overpopulation."

Get your endangered species condoms here.

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Condoms: Use Them to Slow Climate Change, Or Make a Soccer Ball