Industrialization, Economics, and the Environment Essay

As opposed to Malthus and Ehrlich's time, today's population is not increasing at a geometrical rate. In fact, the rate at which the world population increases is on the decline (See Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2). The UN predicts that by the year 2050 the rate of population increase will near zero and our total population will be somewhere between 7.3 billion and 10.7 billion people, with the most likely population being 8.9 billion (Lederer).

Dr. Forsyth implements plenty of evidence as well as proven statistics to back up his outlook on these issues. The growth of human population is happening at an exponential rate, implying that in a short period of time population growth will double. “We find it difficult to comprehend exponential growth, but it may prove to be our fatal blind spot” [3]. When analysing the world’s population over a long period of time, it took roughly 19,000 years for the world’s population to go from 5million people to 500 million people in 1500 A.D. [4] With an estimated population of 7.5 billion people [5], for a period less than 1000 years, population increased more than 1500 times its size than it was in the 1500’s. In addition, on a more minute scale of time, in 1950 the world’s population was roughly 2.5 billion people [6] in merely 50 years the world’s population has tripled. With these statics, it is evident that the world’s population is increasing at an incomprehensive rate. With populations at their peak, overconsumption is another problem this world faces, as Dr. Forsyth affirms “humans consume far more than their fair share of the Earth’s natural productivity.”[7] Due to this over consumption of resources, there is a vast demand for cheap food which results in the clear cutting of large forest to generate room for new plantations of food. When doing so, humans destroy habitats that

After Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, his view of classical economics flourished. One of his successors Thomas Malthus continued with a more pessimist view of society, while still keeping to Smith’s fundamentals. Out of this pessimistic viewpoint comes the Malthusian Doctrine, which states that as the population rate grows greater than the rate of produce to feed it, and, if unchecked, the world 's population will double every 25 years. At the same time land cannot keep up with the population growth, because land cannot breed. This will lead to a population growth problem. This paper will explore the effects of the Malthusian catastrophe throughout the past few centuries. Reviewing the implications of population growth and the need for implementations to limit population growth and natural resource depletion, providing questions challenging this point of view, and interacting with arguments of opposition can provide a well-formed argument for the implementations of new policies regarding this topic.

Former American particle physicist and former Nobel Prize winner Henry Way Kendall once said, “If we do not voluntarily bring population growth under control in the next one or two decades, nature will do it for us in the most brutal way, whether we like it or not” (“Population Quotes”). This is especially evident in the previous two units of study on population and climate change where I have learned about a variety of global population trends and how climate change has had a notable effect on the planet.

Merely dismissing Malthus’s argument as doomsday nonsense overlooks the reality that indeed, the global population strains natural resources and furthers environmental degradation. This green version of Malthusianism more aptly addresses the consequences that exponential population growth has on our society. Water is often seen in a Malthusian light as scarcity, in areas like Yemen, are exacerbated by high population growth. Although the absolute amount of water on the globe is enough to sustain the world’s population, it is not distributed equally, resulting in scarcity for certain populations. Moreover, with increases in populations, our pollution destroys lands and GHG emissions continue to exacerbate climate change. These effects are most greatly suffered by the poorest as they are often dependent upon the land and are the most vulnerable in the case of a natural disaster. Currently, industrial nations consume a disproportionately large amount of the world’s resources and already strain ecological limits. As the global south continues to develop, so will their consumption. This model of high consumption seen in the first world cannot be sustained and impossible for developing nations to reproduce given the ecological limits of the earth. As the middle class in countries like India and China rapidly grow, it is important that governments—particularly in developed nations—face the

Have you realized that we are currently living through the sixth mass extinction? Perhaps not. Have you even stopped to look around and notice the ever growing amount of people that are beginning to surround you? According to Yourdictionary.com, overpopulation is excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration. As Thomas Malthus coined the term “carrying capacity,” he concluded with a theory that the human population is growing much faster than the production of food. At one point the population of the world is going to surpass the availability of natural resources that would sustain us. The carrying capacity can be seen as the human population “perpetually pushing the limits of the resource base that supports us” (Scheer and Moss, “Oh the Humanity: Is the Threat of Overpopulation Still a Big Deal?”).

The article, “Limits to Growth was Right” by the Guardian evaluates the predictions put forth in the book, Limits to Growth, according to recent studies from the University of Melbourne. Published in 1972, Limits to Growth presents the results of a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in which researchers created a complex mathematical program to estimate the future of population,

In the year 1 A.D., the Earth’s population was 300 million. In 1850, after many decades of consistent population growth, it eventually surpassed one billion. From that point on in history, the world population began to climb rapidly (Haub). Each year, the world population surpasses what any scientist has ever thought possible. Some would consider this expansion as a sign of success considering the causes of a rapidly growing population include improved health care, new technology, progressive eras such as the Industrial Revolution, and an overall developing human race (Kinder). However, the current world population no longer signifies progression; it signifies regression. Today, the Earth’s human population is approaching overpopulation. Overpopulation is more than just a crowded planet. The definition of overpopulation is, “…too many people for the amount of food, materials, and space available…” (Cambridge Dictionaries). This means that overpopulation will impact crucial aspects of the planet and not just increase city sizes. Robert Kolb suggested in the Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society that the Industrial Revolution is one of the main causes of the spark of rapid population growth. When industry developed, family sizes expanded, economic health boomed, and populations spiked all over the world. Since the Industrial Revolution, the Earth’s number of inhabitants has been consistently growing, which could lead to overpopulation. Overpopulation will affect every

Most ecologists consider human population growth to be one of the most pressing problems contributing to environmental degradation. Human population growth works in conjunction

Human culture now has the potential to inflict irreversible damage on the environment and on its life sustaining systems and resources. Already, critical stress suffered by our environment is clearly manifest in the air, water, and soil, our climate, and plant and animal species. Should this deterioration be allowed to continue, we can expect to alter the living world to the extent that it will be unable to sustain life as we know it. Though there isn’t only one main cause to the environment’s destruction, many scientists, economists, and people in general claim that overpopulation is our problem.

A few centuries ago, the earth had a lot less inhabitants than it does today. This progression is attributed to advancements in technology and health care. However, as time passed this explosive growth began to work against us, and is now associated as a destructive force, which is currently plaguing the planet. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the fact that, overpopulation is not the primary cause of our modern day predicaments, but is merely a tributary to the actual source. Environmental, economic, agricultural and political factors are some of the main incipient issues, which have thus been ignored, and have resulted in the myth called overpopulation. The negative repercussions of these aspects will be examined, along with a comprehensive study into future populace.

Advancements in science such as medications and vaccines have caused birth rates to surpass mortality rates resulting in overpopulation. According to Population Paradox, an academic article by Mairi Macleod, an evolutionary biologist,“It took until 1800 for our numbers to reach 1 billion. Now the human population exceeds 7 billion and is set to reach 10 billion by 2085” (Macleod). Overpopulation is having detrimental effects on the planet 's ecosystems, which was discussed in the provided stimulus, The Struggle To Govern The Commons by Thomas Dietz. It stated that “In the absence of effective governance...the environment is in peril from increasing human population, consumption, and deployment of advanced technologies…” (Dietz). After

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 race because of our technological advances and such, but we need to solve this issue before we do find out our carrying capacity in a catastrophic way. There are many different aspects that contribute to overpopulation and a heavily populated Earth causes a lot of problems. I believe that this issue is solvable along with many other people, but it will take a lot of effort to tackle this problem. According to an article titled “Scientists more worried than public about world’s growing population”, a Pew Research Center survey revealed that 38% of American’s do not think that population growth is a problem. More awareness for overpopulation needs to be put out there to decrease that percentage. There are multiple strategies that need to be put into effect to halt population growth. The problem that arises from overpopulation can be solved and needs to be solved for the future of this planet.

Overpopulation is arguably the world’s most serious environmental problem, because it exacerbates all of the others. The global population grew from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion in 1999, an increase of 100 percent in just 40 years. According to current projections, the world population will expand to 9 billion by 2040,

As George Donelson Moss, author of America in the twentieth century states it; modern America emerged during the last thirty years of the nineteenth century. With most of the century consisting of farmers and smaller towns and country-like living, the later parts of the century brought industrialization and businesses. This changes forced Americans to view and live life differently. Of the important elements that influenced America in the nineteenth century, industrialization and immigration are the most significant.