Rates of species extinction are so high that some scientists have categorized the current era as Earth’s sixth mass extinction event. In last month’s most popular post, Kathleen Mogelgaard explains that a new study indicates, of all the human factors related to this biodiversity loss, population growth and density may be the strongest. Popular new additions also include a review of former Wilson Center Fellow Jeff Colgan’s Petro-Aggression; the launch of research on urbanization, demography, and climate change adaptation; the UN Foundation’s Alaka Basu on Friday Podcasts talking about re-thinking women’s empowerment; and a brief from the China Environment Forum on China’s distant water fishing fleets.

1. Crowded Out: New Evidence Points to Population Growth as Key Driver of Biodiversity Loss, Kathleen Mogelgaard

2. Why Has the Demographic Transition Stalled in Sub-Saharan Africa? Elizabeth Leahy Madsen

3. Linking Oil and War: Review of ‘Petro-Aggression’ Rosemary A. Kelanic

4. Flooding in Uttarakhand Shows Why India Needs to Take Environmental Security More Seriously, Dhanasree Jayaram

5. Climate Change in a Growing, Urbanizing World: Understanding the Demography of Adaptation (Book Launch), Jacob Glass

6. Curbing China’s Massive – and Destructive – Distant Water Fishing Fleet, Katie Lebling

7. How Effective Are International Efforts to Empower Women? Alaka Basu on Challenging the Patriarchy, Donald Borenstein

8. To Build Peace, Confront Afghanistan’s Natural Resource Paradox, Shamim Niazi

9. Ethiopia Set to Achieve Millennium Development Goals in Child Mortality, Sarah Crowe (UNICEF)

10. New UN Population Projections Released: Pockets of High Fertility Drive Overall Increase, Elizabeth Leahy Madsen

Photo Credit: “Black Rhino Dawn?” courtesy of flickr user Ray Morris.