ABSTRACT
Population is an integral part of environmental security studies. As part of the environment, humans have a powerful ability to shape nature and in turn be shaped by it. Ironically, it was man’s ability to remove himself from nature that led to greater understanding of co-dependence. In December 1972, astronaut Harrison Schmitt aboard Apollo 17 took what has now become one of the most recognizable images in human history. This photo, nicknamed the ‘Blue Marble,’ showed the Earth’s fully illuminated face for the first time. This view of the planet, and subsequent missions from further away that show the Earth as nothing but a ‘pale blue dot,’ jolted many into realizing that rather than a planet of limitless resources, Earth was like a spaceship hurtling through space on a long-term mission with no hope of resupply.1 So was born the concept of Spaceship Earth—the notion of ecological limits based in part on both consumption and population growth.
