“The use values, coat, linen, &c., i.e., the bodies of commodities, are combinations of two elements – matter and labour. If we take away the useful labour expended upon them, a material substratum is always left, which is furnished by Nature without the help of man. The latter can work only as Nature does, that is by changing the form of matter.13 Nay more, in this work of changing the form he is constantly helped by natural forces. We see, then, that labour is not the only source of material wealth, of use values produced by labour. As William Petty puts it, labour is its father and the earth its mother.”  -Karl Marx from Capital Ch. 1.2

The over-exploitation of labor will lead to massive declines in the population, as seen in Japan, which has lost nearly 3 million people due to declining birth rates.  Rather than an aging population, there exists a high degree of exploitation due to automation and globalization.  This deprives Japanese workers’ families of the resources they need to grow.  This decline of 3 million people represents a 2% decline in the population.  Yet, according to projections by Hiroya Masuda, this decline will lead to a 16% population loss in 20 years and a 24% loss in 30 years.  Japan’s high GDP-per-capita in comparison to world averages creates a contradiction with the normal pattern of greater wealth equating to larger family size.  According to the chart below, Japan’s families should grow larger to match their wealth.

The same over-exploitation, encouraged endlessly by the capitalist system of private wealth accumulation, destroys the planets natural resources.  “The material substratum” that underlies all commodities produced under capitalism, remains the same natural earth that pre-existed capitalist production.  Proving this argument, we see the same destruction of nature as we do of the laboring class.  A 1995 article in Nature magazine wrote:

“The first spatially continuous map of forest tree density at a global scale. This map reveals that the global number of trees is approximately 3.04 trillion, an order of magnitude higher than the previous estimate…  Based on our projected tree densities, we estimate that over 15 billion trees are cut down each year, and the global number of trees has fallen by approximately 46% since the start of human civilization.”

(https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14967.epdf?referrer_access_token=nkuDxbQ-DIjefqthS1bHp9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PVqBqhRh-xvvJTzHFUU9TMfiseqc7XBtw3yJeJCBwHMEd325JNCYv-3DvRroRPJJJkTX95golfBeN0XF1aaW8P59jvn5Sk0G_AU4O4V7AYAm5mOs3rWaxWrsHFRlurXF8xNmDi7wtOVdd93PA3YUUwntR-fHlSzYHyZYulyx41tw%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.nationalgeographic.com)

The article also provides this global map of forest cover, which reveals large areas cleared of forest cover;

Deforestation has mainly appeared in the media as a cause of climate change, increasing the concentration of CO₂ in the air.  Yet deforestation now has another very dangerous outcome seen in the pandemic of the coronavirus Covid-19.  The destruction of habitats have forced animal populations to share smaller areas and reduced resources.  This increases malnourishment, which helps increase the population of parasites.  Various infected or infested hungry animals stuck in closer quarters, fighting over reduced food supplies lead to the growth and mixing of parasites, germs, and viruses.  After enough mixing among these threatened populations, more virulent strains of viruses or evolved parasites or bacterial contagions will spread into healthy populations of various species.

Such an outcome could have agents within host populations, which may have evolved in a way so as to spread infections onto competitors in their environment.  This will have its equivalent in the human population, as its exploiters and predators set upon their human prey.  Infections will likely spread until the forest cover around the world restores itself to pre-civilization levels. Such a process can occur, without wiping out civlization, only through the reorganization of civilization according to sustainable plans.  Cities, agriculture, and ranching require a complete restructuring, and forests must replace much of the human occupied land through massive reforestation efforts.  Humanity can acheive this goal while increasing its population, through such efforts as urban planning or urban farming, but most of all through the elimination of the private-profit motive and private ownership of capital from economic relations in general.