Depicting a Bleak Future in Paul Ehrlichs Book,...

â€Å"Why Isn’t Everyone as Scared as We Are?† is a chapter within a book written by Paul Ehrlich back in 1990 called the ‘Population Explosion’. It follows on from a previous book written by Ehrlich in 1968 called the ‘Population Bomb’ and depicts the bleak future for the earth created by overpopulation. The chapter points out links between overpopulation and problems of today including; pollution, poverty, resource depletion and environmental damage including habitat destruction and land clearing. I believe that at this point in time the fact that we have a major problem regarding population and environmental sustainability is well known. However, the â€Å"facts† in this chapter arent conveyed in a manner that reaches out to the general population in an effective way. To make a real difference, the facts (and the real facts at that, not predictions) need to be shown in a way that is not just overwhelming and will demonstrate how the issue at hand pertains to individuals, not just the world as a whole. This will make people care and in return contemplate the population issue, the cause and effects and possibly solutions. The doomsday language that was used by Ehrlich throughout the chapter along with the portrayal of death, â€Å"might result in the premature deaths of a billion or more people in the next few decades, and the AIDS epidemic could slaughter hundreds of millions† creates great fear and a sense of the inevitable. Although he succeeded in creating a c onversation that was