# Humanity Is a Plague on Earth by David Attenborough > “We are a plague on the Earth. It's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It's not just climate change; it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now.” > **— David Attenborough**, *Radio Times interview, January 2013, as reproduced in contemporaneous reporting* ## Sources and Context - **Interview report and passage:** [Louise Gray, “Humans are plague on Earth,” The Telegraph, January 22, 2013](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/9815862/Humans-are-plague-on-Earth-Attenborough.html) attributes the statement to a *Radio Times* interview; [The Guardian’s December 2013 science quiz](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/22/observer-science-quiz-2013-part-2) reproduces the continuous passage. The original *Radio Times* interview was not recovered online. His “plague” metaphor concerns population growth, climate and resources; it is an attributed judgment, not an independently measured classification or a call to harm people. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We are a plague on the Earth. It's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It's not just climate change; it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now.” — David Attenborough, Radio Times interview, January 2013, as reproduced in contemporaneous reporting https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-attenborough-humanity-plague-earth ```