Are you worried about overpopulation?

Even though the planet’s population is passing 7 billion, it’s surprising how much elbow room we have. Seventy percent of the surface is water; most of the rest is mountain, desert, tundra or open farmland. By some estimates, we humans really use only about five percent of the land on this planet. Robert Kunzig of National Geographic pointed out this year that if you took all 7 billion of us and had us stand shoulder-to shoulder, we would all fit in an area the size of the city of Los Angeles.