Because the world is ever changing, people do not really stop and look at the things happening around them. People do not usually think about how population is interrelated with consumption and how both affect the world in different ways. A population has the ability to expand infinitely so long as there are enough resources in the environment to sustain it. As long as resources are available, populations can grow to large numbers; however, when resources become scarce, populations can also decrease to small groups. If a population is small, consumption is at a low rate. If a population is large, consumption rates are high. When consumption rates are high resources tend to be depleted faster. Many factors go into determining population size and the consumption rate of a population. Some of the factors include fertility rates, age expectancy, technological advances, immigration, and environmental conditions. Whether this is favorable to the planet or not, consumption is influenced dramatically by population.
The rate of resource production must exceed the rate of population growth, in order for it to continue growing. The question is how do you make that happen when the population is skyrocketing and getting out of control? Our resources cannot naturally keep up with that kind of population growth, which is why advances in technology have modified crops to grow faster in order to keep up with a population’s consumption. Scientists are able to genetically modify food sources such as maize (“Genetically Modified Maize”). Because of this technology, resources can keep up with growing populations and people’s demands are satisfied for the time being (Cantrell). With the increase in production of resources the population can keep inc...
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The worldwide population is approaching 7 billion and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 (Baird). This projected population number is down from a once predicted 16 billion (Baird) and while some are not concerned, others are worried about any increase in population. Population growth is discussed in the articles “Too Many People?” by Vanessa Baird; “Population Control: How Can There Possibly Be Too Many of Us?” by Frank Furedi; and “The Population Bomb Revisited,” by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich. Baird and Furedi concur that a concern for population growth has been around since mathematician Thomas Malthus, in 1798, warned that overpopulation could lead to “the collapse of society” (Furedi). Furedi claims that too much human life is being used as an excuse, by population control supporters, for the world’s current and future problems. Baird tries to discover if “the current panic over population growth is reasonable.” For Ehrlich and Ehrlich the concern over population growth is very real, and they reinforce and support their book “calling attention to the demographic element in the human predicament” (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 63). While taking different approaches to their articles, the authors offer their perspectives on population growth, population control and the environmental impacts of a growing population.
Among world regions, the number of unauthorized immigrants from Asia, Central America and sub-Saharan Africa rose between 2009 and 2014. The number of immigrants from Mexico has steadily declined since 2007, the first year of the Great Recession, but Mexicans remain more than half (52%) of U.S. unauthorized immigrants. ”(Jeffrey Passel). “Population growth is influenced by three factors: mortality (the death rate, which has been steadily decreasing in the U.S.), birth rates or fertility (children per woman) and net immigration (immigration minus emigration). “ (USPS).
Owens, James (nd). Is Limiting the Population Growth a key Factor in Protecting the Global Environment.
There are three main factors that fuel rapid population growth in the world. Firstly, the increased production and distribution of food has now enabled more people to live longer lives. Initially, starvation caused high death rates, therefore inhibiting population growth. In our modern society, there is an abundance of food to feed the population. Improved distribution channels have enabled food to reach into dry places, thereby eliminating the risk of starvation. Secondly, there is an overall improvement of public health care. Poor sanitation and lack of clean water were the main causes of deadly diseases like malaria. These diseases often wiped
In, The Population Bomb by, Paul R Ehrlich, he explains the problem of population increase, and how there are people everywhere! The feeling of feeling over populated. He talks about how if there are more people then there is more food that needs to be produced then ate. He explains on the rich people becoming wealthier and the poor are going to be even poorer and there is going to be a starvation. Population is doubling every year and how our energy is turning into
“An Essay on the Principle of Population” is written by Thomas Malthus where he outlines his theory on population growth. He thought that if population continued to grow, food production wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand and he believed that many people would die due to famine. Either people would have to use more contraception to drop the birth rate, or the death rate would increase due to wars, disease or
Growth is important in a society. If all the people meeting specific needs get too old to work or dies, there would be no one to take over that particular function. However, extreme growth could be a major problem and would be considered a latent dysfunction. The same could be said for environmental effects – some are to be expected and cannot be avoided, but too much would cause problems in the functioning of the population. Social conflict theory would view the problem with population growth as lying in the distribution of goods and unequal consumption. If everyone were using energy, water, food, and the like with the same careful consumption, there would be no problem with a larger population. However, some people, particularly those living in poverty, consume less and will still face the environmental issues that can arise, while the rich and powerful use too much and cause more problems. If the people that use more would act more socially responsible, there would be enough to sustain a population growth. Symbolic interaction theory would focus on the perception of the people in society and their views on things that affect the population growth and environmental changes. One example would be the contribution of having a large family to population growth, which could be prevented by birth control. However,
It is a known fact that the world population is increasing without bound; however, there is a debate if this increase is a good thing or if it will prove catastrophic. The article “The Tragedy of the Commons” by Garrett Hardin discusses how the ever-increasing world population will exhaust the world of its natural resources, and eliminate human’s capability of survival. On the other side of the argument is Julian L. Simon who wrote “More People, Greater Wealth, More Resources, Healthier Environment.” This article proposes the theory that with an increase in population, human’s quality of life is amplified. One particular issue that they both mention and have drastically different views on is the future of agriculture and human’s ability to sustain it.
Humans have greatly impacted the global environment. Throughout the course of history, human populations have rapidly increased. Especially in Africa, these numbers have reached extraordinary proportions. Out of all the continents in the world, Africa’s population is increasing the most. The type of growth here is exponential. “Overpopulation is a condition when an organisms numbers exceeds the carrying of its ecological niche.” The growth rate of a population is equal to the birth rate minus the death rate. Therefore, for overpopulation to occur, the birth rate must surpass the death rate (Wiley). The current population of Nigeria is estimated to be 155,215,573. Most of the population consists of the younger generation. More specifically, 41% of the population is between the ages of 0-14. 56% of the population is between the ages of 15-64. However, only 3.1% of the population is 65 and over. This age group represents a very small part of the population. (CIA)
This problem of population growth leads to a number of solutions that could have significant implications on the quality of life. Taking no action and allowing population to grow unchecked could possibly risk the entire human species if food or clean water were to become unavailable worldwide. Aiming for zero population growth would in theory maintain the existing quality of life since a stable population would not increase their use of resources. However not all resources are renewable, so scarcities could still occur with a fixed population size. In an extreme case permanent resource depletion under zero population growth could have the same extinction effect that unchecked growth can lead to. Despite the escalating risk of unchecked population growth, technological advances necessitated by the increase in population will at least maintain the quality of life and could possibly improve conditions.
One of the major effects of the huge population increase has been the depletion of natural resources and the destruction of ecosystems. In the 1960's, theorist Paul Ehrlich predicted that, given the skyrocketing figures of human population, the amount of food produced would not grow at a fast enough rate for human survival (Professor Carr Everbach, personal communication). He predicted mass starvation and death by the year 2000 as the result of uncontrolled population growth. Clearly, this did not occur. Ehrlich did not foresee the advancements ma...
Jacques-Yves Cousteau once said, “Overconsumption and overpopulation underlie every environmental problem we face today” (“Population,” Internet). With the current statistics, Jacques could not be more accurate. Every second, 4.2 people are born and 1.8 people die, which would be a net gain of 2.4 people per second (“Population,” Internet). At this steady rate, the environmental health is spiraling downwards, and it is safe to assume humans are responsible for this. As the population increases, harmful effects on the land, water, and air also do.
The greatest threat feared is simply the devastating result of overpopulation. With a consistently growing
Overpopulation is a growing problem all over the world. This is a very important environmental issue and needs to be dealt with. This environmental problem is affecting many countries around the world, but mostly the poor and impoverished countries that don’t have the resources to help deal with these issues. It also affects the environment like plants, animal life and air quality. When the population of people expands we need more natural resources from the environment, so we consume more than we can produce.
Though several people see large rapidly growing populations in developing regions as the primary culprit in environmental decline, we need to focus on the costly environmental outcomes of overconsumption among the gradually increasing populations of the developed nations. These differing emphases naturally point to fundamentally different solutions: slow population increase in less-developed nations or change destructive consumption and production patterns in the more-developed nations. This debate, however, assumes a one-step answer to the complex problems created by population pressures on the environment. Both population size and consumption ...