This book provides a fascinating look at a controversial topic that receives little attention in the public eye: zero population growth. The author advocates reaching the ideal population of one billion by the voluntary reduction of the birth rate to a level below the death rate, a status already reached by several countries. Strategies convey how time is of the essence in reducing human growth rates in order to prevent further damage to the earth’s resources.

Seven scientific indicators of climate change (deforestation, ice and snow masses, species extinctions, greenhouse gas emissions, ocean acidification, sea level changes, and warming temperatures) are explained. Twenty-one proposals are submitted that address many of the issues that impede a sustainable population, including asking governments to put forth incentives for low birth rates and petitioning organized religions to change their attitudes towards reproduction.

Additional proposals call for examining the increasing early onset of puberty; mandating sex education in schools, providing broad access to family planning and contraceptives; and accepting alternative sexual acts that don’t result in human reproduction, including same-gender partnerships.