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Earth has been around for 4.5 billion years, progressing through several eras and phases. However, questions have begun to appear, with questions if the “Earth is Overpopulated?”, if “With the Earth’s Current Population, will it be capable of maintaining life at a sustainable level? (Heaton)”, and if the Earth is at risk at running out of Resources at the rate we’re consuming them? My answer to all these questions is no, that although the population is currently at 7 billion people, it is not at a point where it could be considered to be overpopulated, and it is not a point where the Earth cannot sustain humans with its resources. In this essay, I will be defending the indefensible idea that we should not care about what happens to our Earth, …show more content…
However, this demand would not be able to be met because “the Earth cannot produce nor provide the resources that is required by demanding population of over 7 billion people (Network).” However, the idea, that Earth is overpopulated, was questioned by Natalie Wolchover, who claims that “although the population of 7 billion people is an alarming number, is it necessarily overpopulated? (Wolchover)” Wolchover claims that in reality the Earth is not overpopulated, claiming that “scientists think that Earth’s maximum carrying capacity is approximately 9 or 10 billion people,” meaning that the Earth’s current resources and land have the capability to feed and provide necessary resources to a population of 9 or 10 billion people …show more content…
(PBS)” or an objection presented in my Focused Inquiry class “if there is enough food, why are there people starving?” These objections are quite insightful, but deals with issues different from the belief of the resources on Earth being scarce. First, farmers would not be able to sell the surplus food for money, because there cannot be “too much production and fewer buyers. (PBS)” The current population on Earth does not demand the amount of food farmers are capable of producing, which if it were produced, not only would it cause farmers to lose money and time, but there would be large quantities of food that would go to waste. Secondly, people are starving, not because there isn’t enough food on Earth, but because of economic issues, typically in undeveloped countries. These undeveloped countries have not yet established programs or have adequate methods for the entire population, in those countries, to receive adequate nutrition and the adequate food resources to live a long, healthy
All of these are consequences of one question deep at the heart of the quest for sustainable human existence; the question of the maximum capacity supportable by the planet Earth. As is true of a good deal of the puzzles plaguing our time, little consensus is to be found surrounding this topic.
Humans can not be the only thing that is hurting the Earth. When you really think about it, Earth goes through a lot of natural disasters, which cannot be controlled. According to an activist, Tim Haering, “Tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, disease nature kills more than we kill each other.” Earth throws in all of these natural ...
Before a person can tackle handling the concept of global warming, they first must analyze the true definition of what it is. Climate change periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about as a result of changes in the atmosphere as well as interactions between the atmosphere and various other geologic, chemical, biological, and geographic factors within the Earth 's system. (britannica) Since all 196 countries in the world have to share the oxygen and carbon dioxide, we all should take a part in the responsibility of taking care of earth. On November 6, 2012 President Obama said that we want our children to live in a world without the destructive power of a warming planet. The biggest challenge we face is not only saving a warming
There is a lot going with Earth, it is constantly changing through climate change. Climate change is a global or regional change in climate patterns. It consists of changes in temperature, precipitation, humidity, winds, and seasons. The climate plays a fundamental role in shaping the economy, cultures, and Earth’s ecosystem. The climate is taking a hit due to global warming. Global warming is a bundle of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane that builds up heat in the atmosphere. As years gone by, global warming gradually began heating the Earth 's surface, ocean, and atmosphere. Although global warming is a problem not taken seriously or being known, people should be aware of the affects of global warming, how it is seen affecting the
Overpopulation has become a drastic issue, for no one knows how many people the earth
Hardin argues how the world only has so many resources and opportunities for agriculture to be expended. Therefore, with enough increase in population, these resources will become extinct. Thus, humans will run out of food and eventually starve to death. As Hardin declares, “a finite world can only support a finite population” (Hardin 98).
In today’s society, anywhere from Hong Kong to Detroit, Michigan, a major disregard to Earth and its inhabitants, substantial resources, and well-being has been created; in other words, the Earth has been taken advantage of. With all earth’s inhabitants being unconscious of their actions and how it directly effects Earth, we have unknowingly increased the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our oceans, atmosphere, and planet in general. With this detrimental amplification in the amount of CO2 on Earth, we, as inhabitants to this infected planet, should show more concern with the Earth’s temperature, phases and stages, and reactions we have self-created. Global warming, which has been retermed climate change, is not something everyone believes,
In the past ten years the world population exceeded six billion people with most of the growth occurring in the poorest, least developed countries in the world. The rapidly increasing population and the quickly declining amount of land are relative and the rate at which hunger is increasing rises with each passing year. We cannot afford to continue to expand our world population at such an alarming rate, for already we are suffering the consequences. Hunger has been a problem for our world for thousands of years. But now that we have the technology and knowledge to stamp it out, time is running short.
Humans are very quickly dominating the globe. Today, the human population is around 7 billion people. Humans are populating at a rate of almost 220,000 per day! Humans are rapidly heading towards Earth’s carrying capacity.
The human population has increased by 4.5 billion since the last sixty years (Engelman 1), this tremendous growth in the human population has startled numerous individuals. As a matter of fact, the biosphere’s population of humans is expected to grow additional, resulting in a total of nine billion by 2050 (Pearce 1). Some individuals may see this as a concern for the planet, whereas others assume that there are other more imperative hitches that humans should deal with. Although Erle C. Ellis agrees that overpopulation is not a problem for this planet, conversely, Fred Pearce and Joel Kotkin argue that there are other more vital problems to mend; unlike Ellis, Robert Engelman disagrees, proclaiming overpopulation
Climate change. The two letter word so feared by scientists, so ignored by the average human being. What is it that makes scientists fear this phrase so much? For the concept of “climate change” has been seen throughout the history of the earths existence. For centuries, our climate has fluctuated through increasing and decreasing amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide and climatic cycles. So what is the big deal? The problem, and the reason why this concept instills fear directly into the core of scientists is the rate at which over the past 1,300 years atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen. This unnatural increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, due to the immense amount of anthropogenic burning of oil and coal, affects the transfer
Our planet is suffering from severe pollution, which ranges from contaminated air, water and soil as well. Humans are doing nothing to reduce the amount of pollution that is harming our earth. To understand how pollution works first you must understand that there are different types of pollution. The most common types of pollution and the ones that I will be focusing on which are the ones doing the most harm to our planet are air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and littering. In order to help out and reduce pollution in our planet people need to be more aware of what these problems are and about the severe damages that they are causing our planet. Before industrialization really jumped into place and had an effect on large cities, nature had its own way of cleaning up its own air and itself. Wind scattered gases, rain washed many substances and the rest dissolved into the ground; while plants absorbed carbon dioxide and made it into oxygen. With big cities growing more every time and with more towns that were becoming more industrialized a lot of more waste began to be released into the environment and the atmosphere and soon this was more than enough for nature to handle. In order to stop and reduce pollution people need to understand the damage that it is causing our environment and our planet as well. People need to be more aware of how they can help out and do their part in reducing these problems that are causing our planet to die slowly with people not even noticing it.
Even if the reason of climate change may be the natural cycles, we humans are the major determinant to it. The huge amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing the climate change and this amount is rising day by day, as a result of our actions. Greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, generally absorb and emit the heat in the atmosphere to keep the Earth’s climate habitable. However, as we continue to burn fossil fuels, this habitable Earth’s temperature will blow up, and as a result, some species will die out due to various problems which are caused by climate change. According to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the most obvious consequence of climate change is the rising sea levels, which will cause some seashore habitats to become unavailable to live to its species.
One of the most complex issues in the world today concerns human population. The number of people living off the earth’s resources and stressing its ecosystem has doubled in just forty years. In 1960 there were 3 billion of us; today there are 6 billion. We have no idea what maximum number of people the earth will support. Therefore, the very first question that comes into people’s mind is that are there enough food for all of us in the future? There is no answer for that. Food shortage has become a serious problem among many countries around the world. There are many different reasons why people are starving all over the world. The lack of economic justice and water shortages are just merely two examples out of them all.
The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in human population. For many thousands of years people lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Population sizes were small, and life-supporting tools were simple. Most of the energy needed for work was provided by the worker and animals. Since about 1650, however, the human population has increased dramatically. The problems of overcrowding multiply as an ever-increasing number of people are added to the world's population each year.