Environmental impacts, human population size, and related ecological issues. Pp. 116

Despite the fact that ecosystems underwrite human existence, we are now changing and degrading them at local and global scales; neither Earth nor Australia is ecologically sustainable. This situation is largely caused by the rapid economic and population growth of the last century. Despite this there are universal pressures for more economic growth and, in Australia, calls for faster population growth from business leaders but not from scientists. Such outcomes will intensify pressures on biodiversity and ecosystems. This paper discusses some key ecological issues and their nexus with environmental impacts and human population size. If the societal goal of sustained wellbeing for all people is to be attained, primacy in policy setting and management must shift to the ecological sphere and, ultimately, fewer and/or smaller human ecological footprints will be required. Failure to achieve these paradigm shifts will further degrade life-support systems and increase the likelihood of a future collapse in human numbers