Human Population And Its Impact On The Environment

By the year 2050, the human population will reach 9.0 billion (United Nations 1). According to a professor of sociobiology at Harvard University, Edward O. Wilson, this is a number that humans do not want to reach. Dr. Wilson, along with many other accredited scientists, estimate that the Earth’s maximum carrying capacity is somewhere between 9 and 10 billion people (Wolchover Par. 2). Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of people that can be supported by Earth due to the limitations of the availability of essential resources such as food and water. If the population hits this limit, it will be extremely difficult get the resources that each person needs; however, not everyone agrees that the Earth will get to this point. Many people would disagree with this argument due to the fact that fertility rates are dropping; however, the United Nations’ World Population Prospects report takes these dropping fertility rates into account. In fact, the United Nations estimates that by the year 2050, fertility will drop from 2.5 to 2.0 (3). Even when accounting for dropping fertility rates, the human population will still be pushing its limits. A growing population is problematic because of the affect it will have on the environment and the availability of essential resources.

Did you know that around 200 years ago, it took 90% of the U.S. population living on farms to produce food for the country? How about the fact that now only 2% of our population supplies all the food in our country? The biggest factor leading to this drastic change is fossil fuels along with advancing technologies. They have made it possible for much larger ranches and farms and enabled jobs to be done with a fraction of the personnel once required to operate them. There has been a downside to this technology though; fossil fuels, chemicals, erosion, etc. have degraded the overall health of our ecosystems. Additionally, farmers and ranchers did not realize until much later that these practices were damaging the environment. In reading William

Throughout human history scholars have been publishing works that discuss the correlation and effects of exponential growth and carrying capacity on a population species. Exponential growth is described as “the increase of a population (or of anything) by a fixed percentage each year” (Withgott, Laposata, and Murck 2016), whereas carrying capacity is “the maximum population size that a given environment can sustain” (Withgott, Laposata, and Murck 2016). Three notable authors to contribute to the topic of exponential growth and carrying capacity are Thomas Malthus, Paul Ehrlich, and Mathis Wackernagel. Of the three authors, Reverend Thomas Malthus undoubtedly had the most controversial solution to the problem of population growth. Malthus urged

Ecological human effects on the planet are now about 40% greater than the planet can support in a sustainable fashion (Grossman, 2010). One of the many areas with significant damage is the marine biosphere. Ocean acidification is a great threat to marine and subsequently human life.

Over the past 50 years the human population has grown exponentially, and as the world’s population continues to increase. A Lot of research has been done by climatologists around the world directly linking the effects of population growth to increased CO2 emissions. I will provide data behind the negative externalities linked with these increased CO2 emissions and how they are linked to overpopulation.

The overall growth of the human population in the last 2000 years has been a J-shaped growth. This can also be expressed as an exponential growth. A big question that can only be answered in time is how this population growth will slow down or stop. The planet can only handle so many humans before the effects of overpopulation send the environment into an unrecoverable tailspin of degradation. So the question is will the overall maximum human population be reached in a gradual manner with a trend resulting in an S-shaped population growth, or do we as humans need to experience some kind of catastrophic event that will let us know that the maximum capacity of

Planet Earth is a beautiful place home to a substantial amount of people. Nevertheless it faces many issues one of which is the growth in the over all rate of population.

The population continues to grow throughout the years. Currently with seven billion people in the world, has shown how much the population has grown from the 1960’s. Humans live trying to be comfortable and free, in a sense humans want to live a good, perfect life that will benefit them. As doing so, humans do not see the danger the ecosystem, animals, and especially ocean life goes through. The environment is being effected by humans, why are we humans not doing enough to balance out the human and environmental needs? Human population is the root of most pressing environmental problems including wildlife, extinction crisis, habitat loss, and climate change.

“Most ecologists consider human population growth to be one of the most serious problems contributing to environmental scarceness. Human population growth works in combination with excessive consumption to threaten global environmentally.” (Southwick 160). It has been disputed that having a larger world population leads to an increase in human capital, will lead to an increase in the world's standard of living. Dr. Julian Simon believes that the world is making progress because people are living longer and more fulfilling

However, the relationship between population and surroundings is complicated. Scientists are concerned when they estimate consumption of natural resources, the demand of the population, and the limits of the earth’s ability to support 4 billion people more (“Global Population Growth” 49). Indeed, communities’ effect on the environment takes place in two greater parts, as reported by the “Unit 5: Human Population Dynamics Section 5: Population Growth and the Environment.” The first is that people consume more and more natural resources

Climate change is one of the biggest problems the whole world is collectively facing. Even though climate change is partially caused by the natural cycles of Earth, humans I think are still a major part of it and I think that we can do more to protect the environment that we live in. Climate change happens when temperatures increase dramatically. When climate change causes temperature rises many environmental problems can occur here on earth . Temperatures rising can result in more floods, droughts, or flooding rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves which can cause wildfires. Oceans and the Antarctic Ice Glaciers have also experienced changes in oceans that are rising temperatures and are becoming more acidic. The Antarctic ice glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising destroying many habitats along the ice glaciers such as penguins and polar bears. As these changes frequently occur in future decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and environment.

Climate change is one of the biggest problems the whole world is collectively facing. Even though climate change is partially caused by the natural cycles of Earth, humans I think are still a major part of it and I think that we can do more to protect the environment that we live in. Climate change happens when temperatures increase dramatically. When climate change causes temperature rises many environmental problems can occur here on earth. Temperatures rising can result in more floods, droughts, or flooding rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves which can cause wildfires. Oceans and the Antarctic Ice Glaciers have also experienced changes in oceans that are rising temperatures and are becoming more acidic. The Antarctic ice glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising destroying many habitats along the ice glaciers such as penguins and polar bears. As these changes frequently occur in future decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and environment.

Population changes can occur for a few reasons which include birth and death rates and people moving from one area to another. Over the last few centuries the world’s population has continued to rise at an average of 84 million people per year (Macionis, 2014, p. 630). This can be attributed to the all of the studies of new medications, vaccines, and the learning of healthy lifestyles to expand one’s life. While the world has this huge population, not every country or state is equally populated. Per Macionis (2014) some people will migrate from area to another for many different reasons such as lack of employment, cost of living difference, and some are forced to move due to lack of available resources in their area.

Every year the human population on Earth increases by approximately 1.12%, or 80 million, according to the United States Census Bureau. This drastic increase in population has created a big strain on the environments around us. As the population increases, so does the amount of fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, deforestation, and other detrimental impacts on the environment. This, in turn, causes the extinction of at least 10,000 species per million per year and pushes countless others to the brink (“How Many Species Are We Losing?”). It is important to maintain Earth’s biodiversity, the variety and abundance of organisms and their habitats, to keep humans healthy and happy. The ecosystem is very delicate, and the more species disappear, the more the entire ecosystems become vulnerable and would eventually fall apart as the links in the food chains become broken (“Endangered Animals of the World”). The ecosystems around the world, however, provide humans with a wide range of food, medicine, and other industrial products. For example, honey bees are responsible for 80% of pollination worldwide. That means that if honey bees were to go extinct, there would be a drastic decrease in agriculture yield and the amount of food available for consumption, resulting in a massive food shortage worldwide. It would also result in a sharp decline in the diversity of plant species which would have other implications. To stop the further extinction of other

Throughout time the human species have utilized and relied on the Earth’s invaluable natural resources in order to survive everyday life. As years pass by, the human population is growing at an alarming rate and resources will become limited if proper steps aren’t taken now. During the 1970’s three men, John Holdren, Bary Commoner, and Paul Ehrlich developed a formula which measures the human impact on the environment. This formula I=PxAxT, refers to human being’s impact equals the product of its population multiplied by affluence and technology. “The world population is at 6.8 billion. That figure will rise to 9.2 billion by 2050. Meanwhile, climate change is speeding up alarmingly. So, are there too many of us? And if so, how long before our planet becomes unfit for purpose?” (Lord 24-26). In this essay, I will attempt to explain my understanding of the IPAT model and evaluate its current data trends within the human population. Is the IPAT equation an effective model in determining our detriment to the environment?