Moral restraint

Pollution of rivers and oceans, destruction of rainforests, desertification, loss of wild life and habitats - the bottom line is human overpopulation

I was delighted to hear an IMechE report on human overpopulation mentioned on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme. I wonder why there is such a deafening silence on the subject from our politicians?

However laudable the comments and proposals from our institution, they will not solve the problem. Pollution of rivers, lakes and oceans, destruction of rainforests, dwindling water supplies, desertification, declining fish stocks, loss of wild life and habitats – the bottom line is human overpopulation, which will not be addressed by engineering solutions.

Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) warned that without the practice of “moral restraint” the population tends to increase at a greater rate than its means of subsistence, resulting in the population checks of war, famine and epidemic. His predictions are staring us in the face.

M Keighley, Yatton, Somerset

• Read the "One planet, too many people?" report in full