Publications in peer-reviewed journals

Hern, W.M.  Why are there so many of us?  Description and diagnosis of a planetary ecopathological process.  Population and Environment 12:9-39, 1990.   PDF

Hern, W.M.  Is human culture carcinogenic for uncontrolled growth and ecological destruction?  BioScience 43(11):768-773, 1993.

Hern, W.M. Has the human species become a cancer on the planet?: A theoretical view of population growth as a sign of pathology.  Current World Leaders 36(6):1089-1124, 1993.

Hern, W.M.  Has the human species become a cancer on the Planet?: A theoretical view of population growth as a sign of pathology.  Current World Leaders 36(6):1089-1124, 1993. (

Hern, W.M.  Is human culture oncogenic for uncontrolled population growth and ecological destruction?  Human Evolution 12(1-2):97-105, 1997.

Hern, W.M.  How many times has the human population doubled?  Comparisons with cancer.  Population and Environment 21(1):59-80, 1999. 

Urban Malignancy - Similarity in the fractal dimensions of urban morphology and malignant neoplasms.  International Journal of Anthropology 23(1-2):1-19, 2008

News Articles, Editorial Comment, Short Articles About Population, Environment, Ecology

Hern, W.M.  Water sets the limits on exponential growth.  The Denver Post, January 10, 1982. 

Ogle, A.  Humankind is like a global cancer - doctor.  The Edmonton Journal, Sunday, October 14, 1990 A9

Holden, C. Planetary malignancy.  Science 251:1311, 1991.

A case of malignant maladaptation: Human occupation of global ecosystems.  Presented at the symposium: Why Adaptation Becomes Maladaptive: The Dynamics of Population Growth and Resources.  161st Annual Meeting of the American Association for th Advancement of Science, February 21, 1994. San Francisco, California.

Hern. W.M.  Population and Peace.  Colorado Peace Mission 6(5):1-2, 1995.

Brown, M.W.  Will humans overwhelm the Earth?  The debate continues.  The New York Times, December 8, 1998. 

Hern, W.M.  Latin American Immigration and Trade: Some Preliminary Observations.  Prepared for Hon. John Salazar, 3rd Congressional District, Colorado.  31 March 2006    PDF

Malignant Land Use/Cover Expansion in Human Communities.  Presented at the Fifteenth Annual International Symposium on Urban Form, Artimino, Italy, November 21-23; 2008