3.1 Perspective on Population Growth

• Population; refers to the number of individuals living in a particular area from a village to the whole world
• Population Growth; causes poverty and environmental degradation
• 8.1 Billion People; total population the whole world has
• Thomas Malthus; he believed that human populations would outstrip their food supply and collapse into starvation, crime, and misery
• Thomas Malthus; he believed that populations would continue to expand until growth is stopped or reveres by disease, famine, war, or calamity
• Thomas Malthus; he wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population
• Karl Marx; The father of communism
• Karl Marx; he believed that population growth results from poverty, resource depletion, pollution, and other social ills
• Karl Marx; he believed to slow population growth, people must be treated justly, and exploitation and oppression be eliminated from social arrangements
• Joel Cohen; he estimated the maximum population size the planet can sustain
• 10-12 billion; the median value of the earths carrying capacity according to Joel Cohen
• David Pimentel; he said that by 2100 twelve billion miserable humans will suffer a difficult life on Earth.
• According to Optimists; food supplies have increased faster than population growth since Malthus time.
• According to Optimists; progress in agricultural productivity, engineering, information technology, commerce, medicine, sanitation, and other achievements of modern life have made it possible to support approximately 1,000 times as many people per unit area as was possible 10,000 years ago.
• Ecological Footprint; the impact of human activities measured in terms of the area of biologically productive land and water, required to produce the goods consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated
• Footprint = Demand; the land and water area needed to produce the resources we use and to absorb our wastes
• Biocapacity = Supply; the amount of biologically productive area available to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste
• Ecological Debtor; country's ecological footprint of consumption exceeds their biocapacity
• Ecological Deficit; Footprint of a population exceeds biocapacity
• Ecological Creditor; country's Biocapacity exceeds their ecological footprint of consumption
• Ecological Reserve; Biocapacity of a region exceeds its populations footprint
• Julian Simon; he believed that the people are the "ULTIMATE RESOURCE"
• Julian Simon; he said that no evidence shows that pollution, crime, unemployment, crowding, the loss of species, or any other resource limitations will worsen with population growth.
• Ester Boserup; she said that an increase in population would stimulate technologies to increase food production
• Ester Boserup; she said that "Necessity is the mother of invention"
• Boserup's Theory; in times of pressure, people will find ways to increase food production by increasing the workforce, machinery, and fertilizers
• Past and Current Population Growth Are Very

  Different; Why?

  Birth rate is relatively higher than mortality rate.
• China; was the most populous country throughout the twentieth century.
• India; is expected to pass China in the twenty-first century
• Nigeria; had only 33 million residents in 1950,is forecasted to have 299 million in 2050.