Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb

This New York Times article discusses the ideas of Paul Ehrlich on population and the environment. Although Ehrlich often resorted to dramatizations and apocalypse-type imagery in his writings, they often had some very poignant objective. Ehrlich discussed the “Population Bomb”, the idea that population was rising so rapidly, that widespread famine would soon be an issue for millions of people. As we saw, no such event occurred, but Ehrlich still firmly believes measures should be taken to limit population growth such as “tax benefits for having additional children” and taxes on childcare items such as diapers and strollers. These proposals and ideas remain highly controversial, as they were in the 1970’s and continue to create a stir even

Population Growth is an issue that exists in today’s world that needs to be confronted before it becomes out of hand. The population itself has reached overwhelming numbers making it a problem that could turn to be dangerous. The amount of humans that the earth can support or the carrying capacity is slowly rising but at a much slower rate than the population growth rate. The increasing growth rate has its negative effects environmentally, agriculturally, socially, and economically and also has its positive effects nationally, and economically. The government is brainstorming and trying to come up with ways to decrease

Over population is an extremely serious problem facing the world today. According to an article from Newsweek in Oct. 2009 called “Where do babies come from?”, today’s world population has reached over 6.6 billion people. Also the article mentioned that in 2009 57.4% of all new born babies who were born this year came from Asia alone. This is an issue because over population can lead to hasty consumption of resources. China who has one of the largest population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, has taken a stance against over population.

Human population growth is becoming a huge issue in our world today. The population is increasing rapidly. The reason that it is becoming a concern is because it has affected the economic, environmental, and social aspects of our world. In the film Frontline: Heat, we can see how there might not be a future for our planet unless we are able to reduce the emissions and make our world a safe place. Not only for the present but also for future generations so that they are able to live long and healthy lives.

The Ehrlichs made a number of specific predictions that did not come to pass, for which they have received criticism. They have acknowledged that some predictions were incorrect. However, they maintain that their general argument remains intact, that their predictions were merely illustrative, that their and others' warnings caused preventive action, or that many of their predictions may yet come true (see Ehrlich's response below). Still other commentators have criticized the Ehrlichs' perceived inability to acknowledge mistakes, evasiveness, and refusal to alter their arguments in the face of contrary evidence.[16] Ehrlich recently told Retro Report, "I do not think my language was too apocalyptic in "The Population Bomb." My language would

After reading Paul Ehrlich’s Population Bomb, I can understand that people were scared about the news that there will be famine and people are going to die. That type of subject would scare anyone and definitely cause the public to be in panic about what will happen. It's a serious concern and the idea makes sense that if food supply is not increasing, but the population is there will be a higher need for food which could lead to famine(Ehrlich, 1968). I believe at the time they thought that population was very high and people were concerned about how many people our planet could support.

“Why Isn’t Everyone as Scared as We Are?” is a chapter within a book written by Paul Ehrlich back in 1990 called the ‘Population Explosion’. It follows on from a previous book written by Ehrlich in 1968 called the ‘Population Bomb’ and depicts the bleak future for the earth created by overpopulation. The chapter points out links between overpopulation and problems of today including; pollution, poverty, resource depletion and environmental damage including habitat destruction and land clearing.

after year five the population of productive professors decreases rapidly and is down to essentially

The Green Revolution is a reason that their prediction have not fully come true, however Africa was not significantly affected by it.

The author of the videos, takes the side of overpopulation is a myth and that it is a big cover to make humans more conscious of what they are doing. The author of the

The main message of The Population Bomb is to create a realistic conversation on our overgrowing population and their everlasting effects on a global basis. You can criticize the causes and effects that lead up to this problem but focusing entirely on them will only cause us to stray away from the actual problem of overpopulation. When The Population Bomb was written in 1968, there were roughly 3.5 billion people in world. In their revisit of their book in 2009, there were 6.7 billion. Currently in 2017, there are 7.6 million people living in this world. In the last 50 years, the world’s population has more than doubled from the original release of the book. The population has grown exponentially in recent decades and we know that in the modern era, overpopulation is a massive global problem. Hindsight is 20/20 which is why we must fix the problem rather than discussing the why’s and how’s. When the author first released this message, there were a lot of push back due to the predictive nature of this argument. We can never be certain of the future which is why it can be very easy to dispute information that seem unfavorable to us but we must logically look at the message ahead of us. In current U.S. society, the message in The Population Bomb is similar to the global warming findings that divide our political structures. The global population growth and rising overconsumption have led to devastating effects on our environment. According to James Hansen, a top NASA scientist

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, “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 that humanity “is one enormous intricately interrelated and interdependent system” (Asimov 431) and using science, mathematics, statistics, and analogies, Asimov declared the sole solution of overpopulation is increasing the number of deaths, or

As our global population count continues to exponentially climb, many people are under the impression the world is overpopulated. A lot of society wonders how we will be able to sustain such a large population. An overpopulated planet could cause or enhance problems such as natural resource depletion, global climate change, and starvation. The majority of people believe overpopulation is our world’s most crucial problem, including me. Or at least I did before I read What to Expect When No One is Expecting. This book definitely made me think twice.

Have you ever heard the metaphor “packed in like sardines”? You could only imagine how uncomfortable it would be. Picture a couple. This couple has three children, and these three children each have a spouse and three children of their own. Now picture these seventeen people all living in one room. Would you feel a little crowded, maybe claustrophobic? How soon before panic would set in, and you find yourself needing space? Now imagine that even if you could leave this room, the situation outside is no better. Did you know there is a world population clock on the United States Census Bureau website that increases by one number in less than one second? 7,421,546,950 was the latest number as of 7:36 p.m., 16 September 2017. It is not hard to imagine with this growth that soon the world will run out of room for all of these people, not to mention the ability to feed them. The world already has over a billion people with no access to food, clean water, or sanitation (Kuo, 2012). Now put yourself in this room, close quarters and hungry. You see a rat over in the corner. Would you fight for it? You probably said no, but that is because you are not starving, and no one is inside of your personal space for now. The world’s overpopulation crisis will lead to an apocalyptic end with conflict over land and food.

The Earth’s population is growing rapidly leading to a state where human population exceeds the Earth’s carrying capacity. Thomas Robert Malthus was the first economist to start the theory of population and the idea of overpopulation. He wrote his views and explanation about population and its consequences in his essay on “Principles of Population” which was published in 1798. The book explained the relationship between food and population, and their growth patterns. His views on the theory of overpopulation and its impact influenced many political economists and earned economics the label of the “dismissal science”. Malthus was concerned by the condition of poverty in the British cities during his time and the increase of population in the industrializing societies. The main idea of Malthus theory was to maintain balance between the population growth and the food for human existence, as the human population tends to grow quicker than the power in the earth to produce subsistence.