Two hundred years ago one of the pioneers of modern economics, Thomas Malthus, was warning that population was growing faster than food production and the only remedy, if you are willing to accept a lot of dead people as a remedy, would be that population would eventually be held in check by famine.

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Keith Clarkson, regional reserves manager for the RSPB, said the puffin population was the hardest hit with more than 200 dead birds found.

BBC: Hundreds of dead seabirds washed up on East Yorkshire coast

The conflict has left more than 70, 000 people dead and two million internally displaced, of a pre-conflict population of 20.7 million.

BBC: Syria conflict: Refugees number a million, says UN