As long as the world human population was relatively small and the earth relatively large, man´s ecologic ignorance was minimal and virtually inconsequential. But now that the earth has become relatively small and the human population extremely voluminous, the unconscious and blind-watchmaker-like subversion of nature´s “life begets life” powerful thrust may soon reach fatal proportions. Aplague is defined as an unusually large number of insects or animals in this case humans) infesting a place (in this case the world) and causing considerable damage. Well, the truth of the matter is that humans have currently achieved plague status.

The former statement is based on the following world population data. The estimated world population in the year 3000 b.C. was 14 and 45 million; in the year 0 it was approximately 200 million; in the year 1000 it was between 250 and 310 million; in 1500 it was between 425 and 540 million; in 1804 it was 1 billion; in 1927 it was 2 billion; in 1960 it was 3 billion; in 1974 it was 4 billion; in 1987 it was 5 billion; in 1999 it was 6 billion; in 2011 it was 7 billion; in 2022 it was 8 billion. 

In August 2025 (at the time this article was written) the world population stands at approximately 8.2 billion ... and growing … the planet is progressively getting heavier and heavier with humans. The above mentioned human plague is well underway.

The term “pollution” or “polluted” points to the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects. Almost all forms of pollution have their origin and stem from the population explosion of modern man. Such explosion was, and is, currently made possible by the exponential development and growth of technologic innovation. In view of such, it becomes clear that the ultimate cause of environmental contamination is none other than high-volume human pollution.  

There are just too many people existing at this very moment in time, and we could say that the planet has become overly loaded or heavy with people. No currently imaginable technological invention and/or development can sustain the present exponential rate of population growth. Because of such, it must be progressively yet immediately controlled via the implementation of proper adjustments and adaptations.

Paul Bigelow Sears (1891-1990) was an eminent American ecologist and writer who had a B.Sc. in zoology and a Ph.D. in botany. Sears related to ecology (the relationship of an organism to its environment) as a subversive science. By “subversive” we understand tending or intending to subvert or overthrow, destroy, or undermine an established or existing system. In this case an ecological system ... he was not far from the truth.

Sears utilized the term "subversive science" to define ecology because the interaction and interdependence of humans and nature directly challenges fundamental assumptions and practices of modern societies, such as the right to pollute or exploit the environment, thus threatening the basis of existing social structures and their system´s delicate and interactive dynamics. 

This suggests that a much deeper and more complete ecological understanding should be able to challenge the status quo condition of current policies, institutions, and beliefs that often lead to high-speed environmental erosion and eventual degradation. However, we must keep firmly in mind that when ecology or any other human action is considered, there are no greater censors than economics and geopolitics. Because of such, world-wide economic and geopolitical interests will always overpower universal ecologic interests.

The basic principles of ecology, a relatively novel series of scientific concepts, could well bring about the total eclipse of man as well as his potential extinction. Because of such. the current ecologic crisis must be brought to an end soon or we will soon end up in an ecologic dead-end that can only culminate in the intrinsic pollution and self-destruction of our species and civilization as we know it. 

In fact, Peter Farb (1929-1980), a well-known author in natural and human sciences, described man´s present ecological over-population predicament as: “being a king over the planet without knowing the basic rules that govern it.” That is as ridiculous as attempting to study medicine, physics, or mathematics without knowing the basic concepts of each discipline.

In the past, the term “conservation” applied to the economic development and utilization of nature for practical purposes, in other words for the judicious and scientific conservation and development of forests and fields. It is well known that modern man´s relationship with Earth´s landscape has been strictly economic and eminently pragmatic in nature. Nevertheless, that very peculiar relationship now tends to include slightly more than the purely economic values of natural habitats. 

Key concepts and developments in the science of ecology emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries from eminent naturalists such as the Swedish scientist and explorer Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) and the British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). Both of them studied organismal relationships and the process of evolution on a large scale. 

However, it was the German zoologist and philosopher Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) formally coined the term “ecology” in the year 1869, defining it as "the study of the household of nature." Now it is more specifically defined as: “the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.” On another line, Haeckel´s theory of "recapitulation," expressed as "ontogeny repeats phylogeny," which means that the successive embronic stages represent past stages in the organism´s biological evolution, has been superseeded, but it stimulated avid research in embriology.

Appreciation and protection of the Earth´s dwindling wildlife is currently on the rise. Since the science of ecology is still relatively young (156 years), there is a very practical reason for preserving the undisturbed natural settings for further study. Much still remains to be learned about stable ecosystems and their basic principles. All in hopes of preventing the permanently deteriorating environment of modern man. 

In a tight synthesis, the six basic principles of ecology are as follows:  1.- interdependence (where organisms and their environment are mutually reactive); 2.- energy flow and nutrient cycling (involving the transfer and recycling of resources through ecosystems); 3.- adaptation (by which organisms evolve to their surroundings); 4.- species diversity (which promotes ecosystem stability and resilience); 5.- limiting factors (like water and temperature, that restrict organism populations); and 6.- succession (the process of ecological communities changing over time).

Man, surely cannot return to the original state of nature, but he has the moral obligation to return to what is known as an "ecological steady state." Such a state typically describes a dynamic equilibrium in an ecosystem where the rates of input and output (of matter and energy) are balanced and in dynamic equilibrium, leading to a stable species composition and constant population densities over time, even as there are minor fluctuations within the system.

Although man does not live in natural surroundings, he cannot escape the natural consequences of his downright unnatural behavior. In the cold and objective final analysis, man was never able to fully escaped from the grasp of nature. Not even man can violate natural laws for long without paying serious, and often dire,consequences. In fact, it was the English statesman and philosopher Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) who wisely stated: “man cannot command nature, except by obeying her basic principles.” 

If most of life should be destroyed in nuclear war, it is not unlikely that the few surviving living forms, appropriately the simplest, would begin that vast evolutionary path through time again, changing form and function, one ecosystem consistently surviving and succeeding another ecosystem, until the zenith or climax of higher communities is attained. If so be it, and in all likelihood, mankind as we know it, would fail to reappear.

In order to understand this key biological concept, I strongly recommend the reader to view the 1971 award-winning film “The Hellstrom Chronicle.” The film depicts a pseudo-satirical yet scientifically based post-ecological collapse struggle for survival between humans and insects. In the film, the fictional scientist Dr. Nils Hellstrom states that the first organisms to appear on Earth will be the last to remain alive, and that insects will ultimately triumph in the battle for survival on planet Earth. 

The film also makes clear that in view of their greater adaptability and ability to rapidly reproduce, insects will ultimately overpower humans in the struggle for survival in an overpopulated, aggressive, dangerous, and uncertain world. A struggle created intrinsically by and within the human species due to excessive individualism, technology development, fierce and often cruel economic and geopolitical competition, and the most immoral and disgraceful forms of power mongering and greed. 

The bottom line is, survival oriented and ecologically speaking, very heavy indeed. Either we learn to live wisely, with mutual tolerance and respect, and in genuine harmony with our fellow man - as well as with nature and its fundamental ecological laws - or we must accept the near-future possibility of completely perishing as a species. 

The final decision is heavy, very heavy … and it rests with you.