As James Lovelock explains in his last book, The Vanishing Face of Gaia (2009), just as individuals sometimes suffer a disease called polycythaemia, an overpopulation of red blood cells, Gaia now suffers from polyanthroponemia, or human overpopulation. The many censuses recently compiled around the world show that the human population will reach seven billion this year, a bit earlier than expected, and demographic projections suggest that it will flatten to ten billion by 2100 (“… isn’t Destiny, One Hopes,” May 14, 2011). The figure is long known, and it must bring a smile to Lovelock’s face. Demography is not destiny, for sure, but the earth’s capacity to sustain the human population certainly is. Climate change will change things in the meanwhile. No matter what is done about it, it cannot be stopped. The number of humans will plummet to less than a billion. And the title of your article will come to haunt you. One can only hope that demography actually is destiny, that is.