'60 Minutes' uses failed doomsday biologist to predict 'mass extinction' of humanity

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'Population Bomb' author continues to warn threat of extinction is 'extraordinary high'

Debunked biologist Paul Ehrlich appeared as an expert on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday night to warn that the Earth can no longer sustain humanity due to its massive population.

CBS rang in the new year Sunday night with "The Population Bomb" author and biologist Paul Ehrlich continuing to warn Americans about the threat of "mass extinction" on "60 Minutes."

Journalist Scott Pelley spoke with Ehrlich on the subject of sustainability as Ehrlich repeated his claims that humanity is no longer sustainable as a species due to our increasingly high population. 

"The rate of extinction is extraordinarily high now and getting higher all the time," Ehrlich said.

He explained, "Humanity is not sustainable. To maintain our lifestyle (yours and mine, basically) for the entire planet, you'd need five more Earths. Not clear where they're gonna come from."

Paul Ehrlich, author of "The Population bomb" appeared on "60 Minutes." (CBS)

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In Ehrlich’s 1968 book, he originally predicted widespread famine and the overall end of civilization within the next decade. Although Ehrlich was wrong on several accounts, the program continued to present him as a reputable source.

"The alarm Ehrlich sounded in '68 warned that overpopulation would trigger widespread famine. He was wrong about that. The green revolution fed the world. But he also wrote in '68 that heat from greenhouse gases would melt polar ice and humanity would overwhelm the wild. Today, humans have taken over 70% of the planet's land and 70% of the freshwater," Pelley remarked.

The segment also included a comment from Ehrlich’s colleague Tony Barnosky claiming that there isn’t a scientist who would state that "we're not in an extinction crisis."

"I was alarmed. I am still alarmed. All of my colleagues are alarmed," Ehrlich said.

Ehrlich predicted widespread famine due to population growth back in 1968. (Aaron Chown/Pool via REUTERS)

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Ehrlich’s comments and "60 Minutes" itself were ridiculed well into Monday for continuing to push the same incorrect predictions after several decades.

Pluribus editor Jeryl Bier tweeted, "even spelled "Ehrlich" wrong..."

"Is this archive footage from the 70s or is Ehrlich still around?  Is CBS really this stupid???" American Commitment president Phil Kerpen remarked.

Club for Growth senior analyst Andrew Follett wrote, "’Biologist’ Paul Erlich has been consistently wrong about every prediction he has ever made...And yet media outlets keep having him on..."

Media strategist Gabriella Hoffman commented, "Preservationist environmentalism like this poses a grave threat to people and nature. This thinking undergirds most climate alarmism too. Giving credence to Paul Erlich should instill doubt in one's credibility."

"90 years old and still crazy (60 Minutes spelled his last name incorrectly, of course, their usual attention to detail). Ehrlich said humanity was done in the 1970s. We were not done. We will not be done anytime soon, either," Washington Examiner columnist Nathan Wurtzel tweeted.

"When a 90-year-old man tells you there are too many people, you're allowed to ask why he's still sticking around," Substack writer Jim Treacher joked.

A growing number of climate change activists have called for the extinction of humanity to combat global warming. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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Ehrlich continued to lament the lack of political action to act on the extinction crisis.

"I know there's no political will to do any of the things that I'm concerned with, which is exactly why I and the vast majority of my colleagues think we've had it; that the next few decades will be the end of the kind of civilization we're used to," Ehrlich said.