SEATTLE -- Planners project another one million people in the Puget Sound area of Washington state by the year 2020. Each year since 1990, the Pacific Northwest's population has increased more than two percent, nearly double the rate of the rest of North America.

Can anything be done to slow this surge?

Yes, a new report from a Seattle-based environmental think tank concludes. But its recommendations might surprise you:

First, end poverty among children. Then stop sexually abusing them.

Child poverty and sexual abuse are among the hidden causes of the region's population growth, said Alan Durning, executive director of Northwest Environment Watch and co-author of the report, "Misplaced Blame: The Real Roots of Population Growth." They didn't expect their research to point to poverty and abuse, Durning said.

"Neglect of children, it turns out, leads to more children," he said.