The Living Planet Index ( Lpi )

There have been many other extremely knowledgeable humans who agree that eventually, “the earth’s carrying capacity will no longer be able to keep up with population growth, and civilization will end unless large swaths of human beings are killed, so the question is: How do we want to do this?” In a very credible and well-esteemed publication, Dr. Edwin Peters, a Cambridge University ecologist followed up this statement by asking a critical question: “Do we want to give

The message of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s Governing Board is that human impacts on this resilient natural world are so unprecedented and extensive that we crossed the line into unsustainable consumption some time ago and are now depleting ecosystem capital stock instead of living off its sustainable goods and services.

The book was very in depth and she thoroughly explained her claims through facts and data. Her claims successfully explain the patterns of life on Earth through numerous studies and she explains the dangers of extinction. The author concludes her work with the fact that humans are dependent on Earth’s biological and geochemical systems. Her work will continue to teach future readers the danger of human lifestyles if necessary actions toward sustainability are not taken. If humans continue to live their harmful lifestyles, then they will continue to danger wildlife species, the environment, and their own

nearly 7.3 billion people can be a disaster if we don’t use many resources. The over use of natural

The link is to a report, titled Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, A Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The report covers ecosystem changes and how that is intertwined with humans and their well-being. The ecosystems of the earth are complex and have many variables. Human actions can have a significant impact on these ecosystems and the report aims to seeks and apply scientific analysis and reasoning to how human actions have and need to change to support these diverse ecosystems focusing on sustainability.

Globally, environments are experiencing large numbers of extinctions and loss of biodiversity as a result of human development. In Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, the author reveals the difficulties of calculating rates of extinction in populated areas with high biodiversity such as rainforests. As a result of tropical deforestation, humans have reduced biodiversity to its lowest level, with theories proposing that fourteen species experience extinction daily (Kolbert 186). The issue of human development is also addressed in an episode of Planet Earth called “Living Together,” which relates agricultural development to the loss of biodiversity. Because agriculture requires environments to be altered

The current global population of 7.6 billion people is expected to reach 11.2 billion in 2100 (UN DESA), and as the Earth’s population continues to grow exponentially, the topic of environmental sustainability is being debated with increased urgency. In the past few years, many large-scale environmental issues have emerged due to human activities: climate change, air and water pollution, rising sea levels, habitat loss, species extinction, and worsening natural disasters are all becoming more and more prevalent. But perhaps our most immediate concern should be whether or not we will be able to continue feeding this ever-increasing population.

As much as we direct the environmental dialogue on fuel emissions and renewable energy, we shift focus from a topic that is mother to all of ecological issues: the earth wasn’t intended to sustain the human population as it is and definitely not as it would be according to most estimates. Although talks of curbing the population through widespread viral pandemic or mass extinction maybe a slightly radical yet efficient approach, a serious discussion on overpopulation and its ecological effects needs to be had in the near future. An article on the state of the world by Wuliam Halal and Michael Marien, titled "Global MegaCrisis: Four Scenarios, Two Perspectives," appeared in The Futurist magazine for May-June 2011. It paints an impending global crisis, a perfect storm resulting from a congruence of the problems afflicting the world today, including climate change, environmental destruction,

Ever since the beginning of recorded human history food production has always limited how much the human population can grow. The Malthusian Trap is a theory that as improvements are made to food production the total human population will increase proportionally to the increased food production. During the industrial revolution, many industrialized countries were able to break out of the Malthusian Trap and since then human population has grown exponentially. Now some of the major issues the human population is facing is disturbing the natural balance of the environment by having to turn more land into agriculture to feed a growing population. This loss of nature is causing a devastating amount of biodiversity loss throughout the planet. As new technologies emerge to try and solve these issues they must

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s Summary for Decision-Makers brought to light the fact that the rate of species extinction, over time, has increased at an alarming rate. This is distressing because species extinction means loss of biodiversity: a measure of a healthy environment. There are five main drivers, that are interconnected, that influence biodiversity loss and species extinction. While all five are interconnected they are strongly related to one in particular. That driver is human population size. The other four drivers are habitat destruction, overexploitation of resources, pollution, and the introduction of alien species. Biodiversity loss and species extinction, and the healthiness of the environment, are all influenced by

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

Booming human population growth over the last two centuries has put, and continues to put, many of these life-sustaining systems out of balance and in serious jeopardy, endangering many of the plant and animal species that human beings directly and indirectly depend upon for long-term survival. Bigger human populations naturally mean increases in human activities worldwide, leading to changes in landscapes, oceans, atmospheres, and the path of human history. Some of these changes

Ellis explains that the facts about population do not accurately display how the world works because it does not include all the factors of overpopulation. Ellis concludes that people need to be focusing on improving the “social and technological systems” (2) which will help keep the world sustainable.

Many may say that I’m foolish for believing that our plane is capable of sustaining a large population, but I argue this because I truly see a change happening in our world. While we may always have wars, poverty, mistreatment, illegal activities and natural disasters, many good-hearted people are devoting their life to help our planet grow and sustain a large population. Our planet is already capable of sustaining more people than we currently have on earth, “while population doubled; food supply tripled” (Henrylito 2008). The obstacle that many countries in poverty face can be largely directed on its economy rather than on the earth running out of resources. Countries with undeveloped economy face poverty because they are incapable of buying their resources, not because the resources do not exist. I believe that the solution to poverty as well as sustaining a large population lies in developing free resources.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, the world population reached 7 billion on October 31, 2011. The previous milestone, the six billion mark, had been reached on October 12, 1999. This means that the number of inhabitants increased by one billion in only twelve years, that is, two million seven hundred thirty nine thousand seven hundred twenty six people per day. Although the growth rate has decreased from 2.08 percent in 1970 to 1.13 percent in 2016, by 2024 the population is expected to hit the eight billion mark. So, even with this deceleration in the growth rate, the increase of the human population poses a formidable challenge for the world 's natural resources.