{"id":115141,"date":"2023-10-15T12:06:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T16:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=115141"},"modified":"2023-10-17T12:40:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T16:40:40","slug":"population-correction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is Earth on course for a population correction? How would a population drop affect the economy? What is the world&#8217;s carrying capacity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Population ecologist William Rees thinks the human population has overshot what Earth can support. As a result, the world\u2019s population could course-correct, decreasing by more than a billion by the end of the century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue reading to learn about this ecologist&#8217;s prediction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-renowned-ecologist-says-a-population-correction-is-looming\"><strong>Renowned Ecologist Says a \u201cPopulation Correction\u201d Is Looming<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The human population has skyrocketed over the past 200 years\u2014we\u2019ve gone from roughly one billion people on Earth in the early 1800s to <a href=\"https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/population-growth?insight=the-world-population-has-increased-rapidly-over-the-last-few-centuries#key-insights:~:text=The%20one%2Dbillion,to%20eight%20billion.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over eight billion today<\/a>. However, some experts now warn that <strong>humanity has grown <em>too <\/em>quickly, and sometime this century the population is going to plummet.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/experts.news.ubc.ca\/expert\/william-rees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">William E. Rees<\/a>\u2014a prolific population ecologist\u2014recently published a study warning that humanity\u2019s growth and resource consumption <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iflscience.com\/a-big-population-crash-is-inevitable-and-it-could-get-messy-scientist-predicts-70315\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">are unsustainable<\/a> and a \u201cpopulation correction\u201d is imminent. The ecological term for this is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.overshootday.org\/newsroom\/media-backgrounder\/#:~:text=Ecological%20overshoot%20occurs%20when%20human%20demand%20exceeds%20the%20regenerative%20capacity%20of%20a%20natural%20ecosystem.%20Global%20overshoot%20occurs%20when%20humanity%20demands%20more%20than%20what%20the%20biosphere%20can%20renew.%20In%20other%20words%2C%20humanity%E2%80%99s%20Ecological%20Footprint%20exceeds%20what%20the%20planet%20can%20regenerate.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">overshoot<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, Rees contends we\u2019re already seeing the impacts of humanity\u2019s overshoot. The most notable of these effects is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/article\/millions-will-lose-homes-to-climate-change-heres-how-to-prepare-shortform-explainers-shortform#how-did-we-get-here\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">climate change<\/a>, which is happening because of human activity. In other words, <strong>overshoot includes the waste we produce as a species, as well as the resources we consume<\/strong>\u2014both are currently at higher levels than the Earth can sustain.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-is-this-happening\">Why Is This Happening?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Rees, humanity is near the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-a-tipping-point\/\">tipping point<\/a> of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2673-4060\/4\/3\/32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">boom-bust cycle<\/a>; in other words, our population has been growing too quickly for too long, and soon it\u2019ll start shrinking instead. In brief, Rees\u2019s argument is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The human population grows exponentially. Each generation is larger than the one before it, and the more people there are, the more quickly the population increases.<\/li><li>Our technology protects us from natural limits to our population, such as disease, predators, and food shortages.<\/li><li>However, we sustain our population growth by overexploiting the world\u2019s resources and generating large amounts of pollution. Therefore, we\u2019ll soon reach a point where the planet can no longer sustain all of us.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In ecological terms, Rees is saying that humanity has exceeded the world\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/library.fiveable.me\/ap-enviro\/unit-3\/carrying-capacity\/study-guide\/v2LtCnBGi4ceCTmPao24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carrying capacity<\/a> and so a population crash is inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-much-will-the-population-drop\"><strong>How Much Will the Population Drop?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Exactly how big of a population crash do researchers expect? Estimates vary, but all of them are attention-grabbing. For instance, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(20)30677-2\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one study<\/a> estimates that the population will rise to just under 10 billion in the 2060s, and then plummet to 8.79 billion by the end of the century. Note that this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean billions of people will starve to death over the next century. <strong>Much of the population decrease could simply be the result of people having fewer children as resources become scarce.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-economic-impacts-of-a-population-crash\">Economic Impacts of a Population Crash<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter how it happens, losing more than a billion people over the course of a few decades could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/finance-and-economics\/2021\/03\/27\/the-economics-of-falling-populations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">severely disrupt the global economy<\/a>. Perhaps the most obvious effect will be a labor shortage. Fewer people in the world would also mean fewer people paying taxes, possibly leading to increased government debts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore\u2014assuming the population crash is the result of lower birth rates\u2014there will be a shrinking workforce trying to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/leaders\/2023\/06\/01\/global-fertility-has-collapsed-with-profound-economic-consequences\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">support a growing body of retirees<\/a>. That could mean increased taxes to support government programs for seniors, as well as delayed retirement for people who don\u2019t have anyone to take care of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-counterpoint-innovation-can-overcome-population-limits\"><strong>Counterpoint: Innovation Can Overcome Population Limits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The threat of a population crash is based on the idea that humanity will reach a point where there are too many people to support. However, <strong>some scientists believe that human ingenuity will continue to overcome barriers to population growth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, biologist David Sinclair points out that estimates about the maximum population are generally based on the technology that exists when those predictions are made. By the time the population reaches the predicted number, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/lifespan\/1-page-summary#causes-for-optimism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the actual maximum could be much higher<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, Sinclair questions the idea that there even <em>is <\/em>a maximum human population. He argues that there\u2019s no telling what new advancements we\u2019ll see in science and technology, or how many people those advancements will allow us to support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is Earth on course for a population correction? How would a population drop affect the economy? What is the world&#8217;s carrying capacity? Population ecologist William Rees thinks the human population has overshot what Earth can support. As a result, the world\u2019s population could course-correct, decreasing by more than a billion by the end of the century. Continue reading to learn about this ecologist&#8217;s prediction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":115142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,24],"tags":[727],"class_list":["post-115141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-society","tag-articles","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is a Population Correction on the Horizon? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Population ecologist William Rees thinks humanity is on course for a population correction. Here are his reasonings and the potential impact.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Population ecologist William Rees thinks humanity is on course for a population correction. Here are his reasonings and the potential impact.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-15T16:06:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-17T16:40:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1154\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"652\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-15T16:06:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-17T16:40:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/\"},\"wordCount\":698,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Articles\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/\",\"name\":\"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon? - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-15T16:06:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-17T16:40:40+00:00\",\"description\":\"Population ecologist William Rees thinks humanity is on course for a population correction. Here are his reasonings and the potential impact.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg\",\"width\":1154,\"height\":652},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\",\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hannah Aster\"},\"description\":\"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"SEO Team Lead\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon? - Shortform Books","description":"Population ecologist William Rees thinks humanity is on course for a population correction. Here are his reasonings and the potential impact.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?","og_description":"Population ecologist William Rees thinks humanity is on course for a population correction. Here are his reasonings and the potential impact.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2023-10-15T16:06:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-17T16:40:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1154,"height":652,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hannah Aster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Aster","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Aster","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f"},"headline":"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?","datePublished":"2023-10-15T16:06:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-17T16:40:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/"},"wordCount":698,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg","keywords":["Articles"],"articleSection":["Science","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/","name":"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon? - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-15T16:06:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-17T16:40:40+00:00","description":"Population ecologist William Rees thinks humanity is on course for a population correction. Here are his reasonings and the potential impact.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg","width":1154,"height":652},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/population-correction\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is a Population Correction on the Horizon?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f","name":"Hannah Aster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Aster"},"description":"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.","knowsAbout":["Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing"],"jobTitle":"SEO Team Lead","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/empty-city.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115143,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115141\/revisions\/115143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}