Alan Weisman's 'Countdown' examines dangers of future overpopulation

Journalist and author, Alan Weisman, Worldview’s Jerome McDonnell says, “I can tell you from experience that Alan Weisman does work that public radio listeners love. Listeners called us for eons after hearing about the sustainable village he described in the book Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World.”

Weisman’s thought-experiment book imagining The World Without Us became a huge best-seller. And many public radio fans might recall his feature work with Homelands Productions, mostly dealing with sustainability issues and Latin America. Weisman’s Gaviotas book began as a radio feature.

Weisman’s latest book is now out on paperback and it goes to the heart of the sustainability theme that’s been in his work for decades. Countdown: Our Last Best Hope for a Future on Earth considers how many people the planet can sustainably hold.

The U.N. estimates that the Earth’s population will approach 11 billion by the end of the century. He’ll talk with us about the stress on our resources and ecosystems.

PHOTO: Niger (Photograph by Roberto Neumiller) courtesy of Alan Weisman