Humans: A Harmful species?

Everyone has their own idea about what they consider the most harmful species on Earth. How about you, what's your choice? Forget rats, mosquitoes or spiders: to find the most harmful species on the planet all you have to do is look in a mirror!

Since the late 1950s the human population has more than doubled, bringing it to about 6.7 billion individuals at present (2008). The birth rate is over 4 babies a second! Hand in hand with such growth come an insatiable appetite for resources and an excessive need for space. The human footprint is everywhere and on everything. The problem is that the ravages caused to the environment are not from the satisfaction of our basic needs alone...because the human species has developed a taste for luxury and over-consumption! Without the tight management of natural resources, we may very well pave the way for our own extinction...