The decline and fall of the human empire : why our species is on the edge of extinction / Henry Gee.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-269) and index.

For the first time since the dawn of agriculture, the rate
of human population growth is slowing down. The global
population is forecast to begin declining in the second
half of this century, and in 10,000 years' time our
species will likely be extinct. In The Decline and Fall of
the Human Empire, Henry Gee shows how we arrived at this
crucial moment in our history, beginning his story deep in
the palaeolithic past and charting our dramatic rise from
one species of human among many - teetering on the edge of
extinction for more than a hundred millennia - to the most
dominant animal to ever live on Earth. But rapid climate
change, a stagnating global economy, falling birth rates
and an unexplainable decline in average human sperm count
are combining to make our chances for longevity
increasingly slim. Drawing on a dazzling array of the
latest scientific research, Gee tells the extraordinary
story of humanity with characteristic warmth and wit, and
suggests how our exceptional species might avoid its
tragic fate.