Researchers from the Beijing-based Chinese National Research Institute for Family Planning have reported a method for male contraception that they say is effective, reversible and without serious short-term side effects.

In the testing conducted with nine other research centers around China, 1,045 healthy fertile males were injected monthly with 500 milligrams of a formulation of testosterone undecanoate in tea seed oil during a course of 30 months. During the 24-month study period, only 1.1 men per 100 experienced contraceptive failure.

After the hormone treatment, the participants’ sperm count returned to normal levels. The tested men experienced mild side effects including weight gain and acne.

"For couples who cannot or prefer not to use only female-oriented contraception, options have been limited to vasectomy, condoms, and withdrawal," said Yi-Qun Gu, a professor with the National Research Institute for Family Planning’s research department. "Our study shows a male hormonal contraceptive regimen may be a potential, novel, and workable alternative."
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Sir David Attenborough has become a patron of an organisation that campaigns to limit the number of people in the world.

The television presenter and naturalist said that he joined Optimum Population Trust (OPT) because the increase in population was having devastating effects on ecology, pollution and food production.

“I’ve seen wildlife under mounting human pressure all over the world and it’s not just from human economy or technology - behind every threat is the frightening explosion in human numbers,” Sir David said.  “I’ve never seen a problem that wouldn’t be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder, and ultimately impossible, with more."

OPT’s goal is to use education and policy to lower the world’s population.

OPT supports family-planning worldwide, education and equal rights for women, and a program that would encourage families to have no more than two children for the sake of the environment.  The group believes that, with the right policies, the global population could level out at 8 billion by 2050, rather than the predicted 9.1 billion.but that a population of just 5.1 billion would be sustainable.

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A recent article published by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies has debunked a number of myths about population growth.

Myth: Population growth rates only decline as countries become wealthy and women become educated.

While it is well true that population growth rates have declined most, often below replacement levels, in the wealthy countries of Europe, it is not always realised that they have also declined in many poorer countries. One such country is Bangladesh - one of the poorest countries in the world. Most Bangladeshi girls have little education and marry in their mid-teens, yet the birth rate has fallen from about six children per woman to about three in a generation.

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Before the modern era, life expectancy was no more than 35 years and as low as 20 years in some places. By 1900, life expectancy in the United States had increased to 47 years (which is the current life expectancy in Nigeria). By 2000, it was about 77 years in the United States and more than 80 years in several countries, including Australia..

Life expectancy has increased because of better sanitation and nutrition and through medical advances. If these continue to improve, presumably life expectancy will continue to increase. As people live longer, more advances will occur in their lifetime - and they will live longer still.

World population is predicted to stabilize at around 9 billion by about 2070. But to keep the population stable, the number of births must equal the number of deaths. If we keep increasing our lifespan, we must keep reducing the birth rate.

If we ever reach the stage at which the age of death is being advanced by more than one year per year (It’s now advancing at about one year every three years), the birthrate will have to be zero to keep the size of the population stable.

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In 1950 the total world population was 2.5 billion. It is now 6.5 billion. It is expected to reach 8.9 billion by 2050 but may then decline to 5.5 billion by the end of the century.

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