The Causes And Effects Of Exponential Population Growth

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 the past years, there has been an exceptionally large national increase which has caused several population issues. These issues include: homelessness, deforestation and more fields being used to make space for shops and houses disrupting the biodiversity growth. Problems like this are caused when there is an abnormal increase in the birth rate where more babies are born; this is also known as a ‘baby boom’. This can occur when nations have more children as a whole and events like this normally takes place after an achievement – an example being when we won the World War Two. The country was relieved that the fighting was over so their instantly celebrated which is why more children were born. In the last 50 years alone, the population has doubled showing just how fast the population is actually growing and even though it may seem fortunate that there are less recorded deaths, this makes the Economical

The human population is growing at an exponential rate. It is expected that the human population is going to increase to 9.6 billion by 2050, compared to 7.2 billion in 2013 (Porter). Because of the increasing human population, the rate of food production increases causing food waste produced to rise as well. Food consumption has decreased to less than a quarter of what was consumed in 1961 for people living in developing countries (Porter). These statistics are important to highlight because according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, most landfills are made up of food waste which is causing the emissions of greenhouse gasses. The Environmental Protection Agency also states that cows produce one of the most dangerous greenhouse gas known as methane. Methane is 21 more times stronger than carbon dioxide. The reason why this needs consideration is because beef is the most consumed meat compared to other meats such as chicken, which has less greenhouse gas emissions. Countries with the most greenhouse gas emissions come from great financial economies in which citizens are privileged with what they eat. The increasing rate of releasing emissions by food waste can be dramatically slowed down by, using systems that convert food waste into a source of renewable energy, implementing policies that limit the amount of food waste in each country, and having governmental officials influence citizens to take into consideration the amount of food waste they produce.

Thesis: The topic of human population growth is an important issue due to its impacts upon people in developing countries, economics, religion, food production, and the environment; without any limitations, population growth can lead to negative consequences, such as famine and environmental destruction, or even positive outcomes, such as potential economic growth.

As the Earth’s population grows at breakneck pace over the next several decades, who will feed the world’s people? Agriculture has undergone an extensive expansion and transformation throughout the last few centuries, beginning with the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s. New technology allowed for better and greater methods of production. With the development of modern technology, people try to think some way can plant less, get more. Many farmers plant only one crop in the same place year after year. However, those against monocropping claim that it is very hard on the environment and actually less profitable than organic means of farming (“Monoculture Crops – Learn About The Effects Of Monocropping”). In addition, the destructive nature of agriculture has recently shown its hand. While our supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants are filled with abundant food options, people forget to ask themselves where all this food comes from. Globalization has opened up economies of scale and has allowed people to tap into different types of products, whether that is food or clothing. But the availability of an increased mass market comes at a cost. However, today, the modern farming techniques have grown into a headache for farmers and governments alike, because they are the consequences of overproduction, industrial waste and other problems arising from the modern methods of agriculture. Thus, modern techniques are harmful to environments, animals, and humans.

Exponential Growth is shaped in a J-form, this type of growth curve occurs when supplies and materials to a specific population are abundant. Since usually environments are not idealized and resources are limited, exponential growth curve doesn’t occur as much as a logistic growth curve. Logistic growth is a type of growth curve,in a S-form, that occurs more often in an environment. Since each environment has a carrying capacity,which is the number of individuals from a population an environment can hold,the logistic growth is the most logical way to represent a population size over time. An example of a population size that could be represented by an exponential growth curve are mice. Since mice reproduce many offspring at the time of reproduction the population size will exponentially grow, however since mice also have a high predation rate the exponential curve starts rapidly decreasing over a period of time. An example of a population size that could be represented by a logistic growth curve are lions. Usually when lions reproduce only a few offspring are created. However, once an environment reaches its carrying capacity, the population size decreases as the environment can’t sustain the entire population and the “fittest” survive.

As of December 31st, 2014, the population of the United States was estimated to be over 320 million with a net gain of one person every 13 seconds (U.S. Census Bureau). In the year 2011, the world population reached 7 billion and is currently predicted to reach 9 billion by the year 2050 (Monsanto). In order to meet the expected needs of our growing population, agriculture production will need to at least double (Monsanto). Agriculture is essential to everyone’s daily lives. This raises many concerns for agriculturists and for our growing population as a whole. With the population of the United States continuously growing, space is also becoming more limited. Therefore, agriculturists are having to find new, innovative ways to produce

The United States is one of the countries expected to grow at the highest rate (Kochhar). One might think that a simple fix to feeding a growing population would be to produce more food. The answer is not that easy as farm land is rapidly being taken up by urbanization to house people in this population expansion. It is estimated that about 3,000 acres of farmland are lost to development every day in this country (US). This decrease in available farm land has shown a major challenge for famers as they try and feed the world. Therefore, farmers have turned towards new means of production.

There are at least two billion people are hungry or malnourished and the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that food production will need to increase by 70% (FAO Report, 2009) to keep up with the demands of a growing population. Overconsumption also contributes to the widening gap. In fact, if every person consumed resources at a US level, four to five more earths would be needed!

One of the widely discussed issues, nowadays, we must tackle sooner rather than later is scarcity of food on our planet. Today our population growth is rising , and as Jonathan Foley says “ In 2050 there will be nine billion people in Earth “. Our planet does not have sufficient amount of food to feed whole world’s population. It is obvious that, the planet has a problem with the food supply to 2050 and to rectify this problem we need to stop expanding land, increase crops on land that we already have, use water efficiently, use less animal products, and to save food- as Jonathan Foley suggests in “ Feeding Nine Billion “. I feel fearful, but I do not want to change my habits.

The lab help us to undestand all the factors that has a impact in the population and the measures that can be taken to find an equilibrium of the population growth. The earth has a carrying capacity and this lab is useful to analayze and be aware about the effects in the environment caused by the population growth.

Many people have heard or seen the commercials about how a farmer feeds 155 people in today’s world vs 28 people in years past (http://www.sdcorn.org). Farmers need to produce more food in the next 40 years than in the previous 10,000 years combined. According to the United Nations, 1 billion people across the globe suffer from chronic hunger today. This number is expected to dramatically increase as the world’s population grows to a projected 9 billion by 2050, requiring a 70 percent increase in the amount of food the world’s farmers produce annually (). The problem the world faces is how to feed the ever-growing population off of diminishing acres of farm land. It is urgent that the world comes together to form a plan to control the amount of land consumed by urban sprawl.

In this lesson, we are going to discover why populations do not continue to grow at unlimited rates, and what ecological factors limit population growth. We'll also discover how humans factor into population limits.

You would expect to see a species growing at an exponential rate when a population has a constant birth rate through a period of time and it is never limited by food, disease, or space. WIth an exponential growth the rate of birth of a species alone can control how fast, and in some cases how slow, the population grows. A population will increase its rate and reach its maximum potential if it is filled with limitless amounts of resources. The numbers would start of slowly then pick up as quickly as the new individuals are added to the reproductive pool. Once they enter the pool the rate of growth will continue to increase over time.

The world population is growing faster than ever thanks in part to improved food growth. Large production farms ensure that food is inexpensive and accessible to millions of people.