Vanouver Sun: The most frightening — and fascinating — thing I know is a graph of human population growth over the past millennium. Starting in about 1800, the curve suddenly spikes almost straight upward, and this incredible growth in human numbers continues today. In my lifetime alone, population has increased by over four billion people. And thanks to technological innovations and cheap oil, the impact of each person on the globe has increased even faster. Under this onslaught, Earth’s vast …