Overpopulation and the Carrying Capacity of the Earth...

Overpopulation and the Carrying Capacity of the Earth As humans start a new millennium, we have close to 4 billion more than we had at the beginning of the last millennium. In the next 50 years we are looking at adding another 3 billion people. Such a rapid increase has placed great strains on the Earth and leads us to ask – how many people can the earth support? The answer is rather obscure, however it seems like we are approaching our limit rather soon. With decreasing aquifers, shortages in food, and increasing pollution, the Earth has reached its limit. Carrying capacity is defined as the maximum population that can be supported by the available resources while still leaving resources for future generations. All living†¦show more content†¦Many countries have seen this rapid growth and see that it is quite detrimental. Most countries that are considered industrialized have curbed their population growths. Most of Europe has either a growth of 0% or it is in the negative numbers. America is also trying to curb i t population growth of 2%. Developing nations are where the population controls are needed. Even among the developing nations there is a divide. One group, exemplified by the Eastern Asian countries have made efforts to keep families small and in return see increased quality of life and falling fertility. The other group of developing nations, mostly comprised of the continent of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, have not addressed the issue of population control. It is these countries that will and in some cases are seeing the effects of overpopulation directly. The indirect effect of these countries, such as migration and social problems will become the problems of countries in Europe and the United States. The main determinant of the Earth’s carrying capacity can be packaged under the term of sustainable resources. Sustainable resources are resources need for life that are being replenished at the same rate or at a higher rate than it is being used. Resources such a freshwater, cropland and grain, air, habitable land, and forests are resources vital for life. Once abundant and seemingly endless, they have become valuable commodities and are no longerShow MoreRelatedOverpopulation Is A Major Challenge That Humans Face Today1199 Words   |  5 Pages Overpopulation is a major challenge that humans face today. The human population is close to 8 billion, and at our current birthrate, we are adding nearly one billion more people every 12 years. Issues such as dependence of natural resources, degradation of the environment, poverty, and unemployment, are root causes of overpopulation. Though opponents of this theory, such as Erle C. Ellis uses archeological records, and the history of human evolution to argue against overpopulation. Robert WalkerRead MoreOverpopulation Is A Foremost Challenge That Humans Face Today1431 Words   |  6 PagesA Debate over Overpopulation Overpopulation is a foremost challenge that humans face today. According to www.Worldometeres.info, the human population is heading to 7.5 billion, and at our current birthrate, we are adding nearly one billion more people every twelve years. Issues such as dependence on natural resources, degradation of the environment, poverty, and unemployment, are root issues caused by overpopulation. Though opponents of this theory, such as Erle C. Ellis, use archaeological recordsRead MoreOverpopulation : We Must Figure It Out For Save The World Essay1645 Words   |  7 Pages Overpopulation: We Must Figure It Out to Save the World It may not be something you think about often, but human population growth is a big issue in our world today and this problem needs to be solved in the future to save our planet. Overpopulation is a condition that will be in effect if the population exceeds the carrying capacity on Earth. The carrying capacity is the peak population that can sustain human life on Earth. It is uncertain what Earth’s carrying capacity is for the human raceRead MoreOverpopulation Is Not The Problem1395 Words   |  6 Pages Overpopulation Overpopulation is a prominent controversial topic among society, in which some believe the exponential growth of humanity is detrimental to its future, whereas others conclude this theory is a myth due to human nature and resources. In Isaac Asimov’s, â€Å"The Case Against Man†, he elucidated the verity of overpopulation, emphasizing that the disproportion of earth’s carrying capacity and its resources will inevitably lead to humanity’s demise. Introducing the notion thatRead MoreThe Problem Of Space Research1329 Words   |  6 Pages The government must continue to fund space research in order to colonize and contain the current overpopulation as well as other global issues on Earth. Space research involves scientific studies launched with specific equipment to outer space, and provides a broad category of research disciplines such as: Earth science, Materials science, Biology, Medicine etc. Many complain of how costly space research is, with missions that have a total cost of up to 1.6 billion dollars, many feel that it’s notRead MoreWhy Overpopulation Is A Major Issue1653 Words   |  7 PagesEveryone knows that overpopulation is a major issue; an issue is only going to increase over the next few decades. Every person should have a general understanding of this problem because it is going to affect everyone on the planet if it has not done so already. Many countries on our planet now are already overpopulated. In many third world countries, parents do not have enough money to feed themselves, let alone food for their own children. It is estimated that over one billion people wake upRead MoreCauses And Effects Of Overpopulation1073 Words   |  5 PagesWhat are the effects of overpopulation? Overpopulation is an undesirable condition where the number of existing people on earth exceeds the carrying capacity of the earth. However, overpopulation has not always been a problem. At the dawn of agriculture, 8000 B.C., the population was approximately 5 million. 8000 years later, 1 A.D., the number of people existing on earth was between 200-300 million. That’s a growth rate under 0,05% per year. A tremendous change occurred with the industrial revolutionRead MoreThe Problem Of Overpopulation And Overpopulation872 Words   |  4 PagesHuman overpopulation. Human population can be defined as the condition whereby, the total count of the human inhabiting a certain area exceeds the carrying capacity of the area Bongaarts, (2011). This brings out an issue of the carrying capacity of the region which alludes to the number of individuals who can inhabit a certain area for a given period. It may also be looked at as the situation whereby the available renewable resources in a certain area can satisfactorily support the current populationRead MoreOverpopulation Essay906 Words   |  4 Pagesrate of population growth remains the same, then earth will run out of the land and resources we consume to maintain our lifestyles. The term overpopulation is normally associated with a specific number that represents a large number of people. However, overpopulation is the phenomenon that occurs whenever the environment can no longer sustain the demands of the species that inhabit it and the carrying capacity is exceeded. The carrying capacity is the amount of species that an environment canRead MoreThe Earth s Inadequate Supply Of Natural Resources1274 Words   |  6 PagesMallory York Environmental Science September 10, 2015 The Earth s inadequate supply of natural resources will only be able to tolerate 2 billion humans by 2100, the bad thing about that is, is that the world already feeds and supports 5.9 billion. The ideal human population, or carrying capacity, for the U.S. is projected to be 200 million, which is way fewer than the current population of the United States. This is a growing problem in not only the United States but also around our world today