Phosphorus and mankind's problems today

The unprecedented increase in the worldwide population of humans--a growth which has been underway for two centuries and has been continuously accelerating--seems to be a root cause of many of the problems of today, including including those treated in this symposium. Current events once more arouse fears that the probable conclusion of our present growth era will unfortunately consist of widespread death from famine, pestilence, and social disruption of various kinds (perhaps involving nuclear devices). Non-local efforts to avoid famine induced by rapid population growth seem only to delay an eventuality that will thereby finally lead to many more people starving. In this paper, phosphate pollution and soil erosion are treated as indirect results of the population boom; and some radical changes in soil and water management are suggested for lessening these problems for large populations.