We can no longer afford to ignore overpopulation - letter by Robert Lashaway

Found here. My comments in bold.

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The author doesn't seem to be aware that the birth rate of the developed world is less than replacement level. The population boom is occurring in third world countries, where they don't give a rip about the environment or population.

It also appears that the author doesn't understand what "increasing exponentially" means. I suppose he means the world population is exploding, but "exponentially" actually means that the rate of change requires the use of components, which would be represented in a graph as a curve upward rather than a straight line.

This is the world's actual rate of population change:

You'll note the growth rate has dropped precipitously since 1960, and the population curve is beginning to exponentially decrease.

And here is the US graph:

The US growth rate is nearly linear, not exponential at all.

And might we inquire of the author as to what he thinks "we" should do? Pass out contraceptives to third worlders who are barely surviving day-to-day? Impose fertility restrictions? Forced sterility? Or how about the logical extension of the author's desires, the complete removal of the human species. That is the only real choice if environmental damage is to be completely stopped, isn't it? 

You might think I'm being extreme. I'm not. Take a look at these guys.

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Climate change and the spiraling deterioration of our global environment have become part of everyday conversations on an international level. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but belief in the false hopes and fuzzy math of climate-focused conservation strategies completely ignores the irrefutable connection to overpopulation.

Continued focus on trying to address the symptoms of climate change can only lead to eventual disappointment as the desired long-term success of virtually every conservation measure is doomed to be completely negated by the ever-increasing number of people on our planet. As 2016 draws to a close, please take a moment to understand that there are approximately 75 million more people on earth today than existed a scant 12 months ago. All of those additional people will compete for ever more limited resources and a depressing number of those people will not succeed in garnering the resources required to avoid perpetual poverty and the attendant nutrition, health and human welfare problems.

We began this decade with a world population of about 6.9 billion people; by the end of 2016, world population is projected to be almost 7.5 billion people. One could debate the absolute numbers, but the fact that earth’s human population continues to increase exponentially is indisputable. It is imperative that conservation-minded people and the organizations they support become aware of and understand the severely negative implications of continued population growth – and then act to reduce the rate of growth before it is too late.