Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Human Population -- Overpopulated or Overblown?

Human Population -- Overpopulated or Overblown?

Image Source:  http://envirosci.net/111/population/the_human_population.htm 

In class we have learned a lot about populations and how they interact.  We recently started looking at human population and how it is growing.  Incorporating facts from the resources you found in class, please answer one or more of the following question(s) in about one paragraph..
1) Have we reached Earth's Carrying Capacity?  If yes, did we overshoot it?  If no, what is it?
2) Is our current human population an issue, why or why not?
3) What could be done to help control the human population, do you think these things are ethical?
4) What are some other countries doing to help curb the human population "problem?"
5)

15 comments:

  1. Each day more and more people are born and less people are dying from dieseas. This is a huge problem problem and the population needs to be controlled. Or else the world will run out of resources for humans. They say the carrying capacity for our world is 10 billion, that was not reached yet but we are close. If we are to get to 10 billion people the world could run out of reasources and the people would go made. The population needs to be a little mor under controll or else it could be very bad.

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  2. 2. Yes, I believe that the current human population is an issue. It is estimated that if the global population keeps increasing at this rate, by the year 2050 we will need the resources of a whole second Earth to sustain the population. That is a lot of resources and a huge problem considering we don't have another Earth to take resources from. The way we are using our resources now is going to make a harder futeure for our descendants. We have to find a way to level out our population growth before we run out of resources completely.

    Kaeli Simmons

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  3. 2. Yes, I believe human population is a huge issue with our economical and versitile country. we keep increasing and increasing. If we dont stop reproducing our human population by 3000, it is proven to be around 10 billion people. With that many people we can run out of resources so quickly. Thats why we need start controlling all of the countries. If we reach carrying capacity, there will be very scarce resources and it is very possible we will run out.

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  4. Our current human population is a tremondous issue. We will reach our carrying capacity sooner or later, and when we do we will either level off or see a steady decrease in human population. Humans are the reason for global warming because of the release of excess fossil fuels being realsed into the atmosphere. Also because of the high human population we have seen higher levels of poverty and malnutrition. Population is a big probelem for our planet and we msut control our population.
    Roman Dolinay

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  5. 2. The human population on earth is not a problem too us. We just have not reached our carrying capacity yet. Of course ou popluation is at 7 billion but we we have not leveled out our population yet. Maybe our population did meet the capictity, maybe we didn't. We can't know for sure unless we wait a few more years. Since the birth rate is now .9%, the population couldstart leveling out if it didn't. But if it did reach past it, then it could be problem. But so far the Earth has not been through an enviromental catasrophe and scientists believe that we won't have to deal with that anytime soon. So now we don't have to worry about the population of humans for now. It will probably level out in time.

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  6. 1. Our carrying capacity is an unknown number. Scientists can only estimate the number of people and prepare for the worse. Resources will run close to zero by the year 2083 when scientists estimate we will reach our carrying capacity of ten billion people. Being only three billion away from that number really scares me. Nothing can be done to control this 'epidemic'. Controlling births per family will not solve the carrying capacity problem. Law breakers have been around ever since laws were made. The only thing that could help us prevent reaching ten billion, or at least slow us down, is a deadly disease that easily spreads or a world war. The human population will reach ten billion people in the near future and we will see a sudden decrease in resources. We need to prepare for this crisis. Estimates show that by 2050, the amount of resources to support the population will be so limited that we will need a second Earth to support everyone. We need to prevent the density dependent factors from destroying not only the United States’ population, but the rest of the world! We must conserve our resources and explore other types of resources for the future.

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  7. I do think the human population is a problem. Each day more people are born then are dieing and that has led to a high living to dieing ratio. It is an issue because more and more resources are being used by the increasing population and eventually we may run out of some. Some of these resources include, water, food, space, oil, natural resources and even the carbon dioxide in the air is increasing. There are some methods of population control but none that I do not think are purely ethical. For example in China woman are only aloud to foster two children, otherwise they are put on the street and eventually die or are available for adoption. Some other ways could be natural like disease, or a natural disaster that could wipe out a large amount of people. I do not think we have reached Earth's carrying capacity because we are still increasing dramatically. I also do not think we overshot it because there hasn't been a sudden drop in the population which normally would occur.

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  8. Our current human population is an issue. More people are being born each day then the number of people that are dying. There is not enough fresh water to support so many people. Food is also an issue. Livestock and crops need water to survive. Millions of people are starving each day. The environment is also suffering. Trees are being cut down to make room for roads, houses, and other things needed to support the large human population. Animals are being kicked out of their natural habitat and their numbers are declining. Pollution in the air is increasing because of the amount of fossil fuels humans burn because so many people drive cars or use other forms of transportation. The human population is becoming a big issue.

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  9. 2. I don't think that our population is starting to become a problem. We have 7 billion people on earth and our population is increasing but we still did not reach our carrying capacity. There is still space in lots of countries for more people and people are dying every second because of disease or because of age. I think that our population will eventually start decreasing because of disease or because the birth rate will decrease. Only time will tell. But so far I think that our population isn't that big of an issue

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  10. 2) I believe our population is a big problem. On Earth there are only so many resources, and we are quickly draining the supply. Unless we find a way to convert salt water into fresh water, we are going to run out. Many countries are already feeling the effects. In many small countries and even parts of the western United States are running low on fresh water. With the countries’ population already at 7 billion, we will also start to run out of room. In the country I read, it said that some nations are so desperate, that wars are breaking out over resources. The population has to level out or we will run out of food, water, space and other resources.

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  11. 2. I personally believe that our current human population is a very big issue. We only have so many resources left to run on and at some point we will run out. With our population always increasing, we are forcing us to use more and more of these natural resources to try and provide for everyone on the planet. This is causing our supply to keep decreasing and soon there will not be enough left for everyone. Our population is a very controversial issue, and I feel something needs to be done about it.

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  12. 2. I think that our population is a very big problem. 95% of the population growth is in countries that are already haven struggles. most of their struggles are because they do not have enough resources. Things like water and food is lacking in these places. secondly the more people that come on the earth the more damage that is done to it. Now we have things like cars the more that drive the more co2 in the air and the bigger the problem global warming is. Based on predictions to support the population in 2050 we will need a second earth. according to the Big Bang theory this earth took billions of year there is not that long from now til 2050.

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  13. 3. Other countries like China, Iran and India have been putting limits to how many children you can have per family. They do this not only to try to control the population but also because their country is so overpopulated that it is hard to have enough resources for all of the people in that country! I think that it is okay to limit the amount of kids that people can have. If we put a limit to how many kids that someone can have then our population will decrease and then we will have enough resources to provide to everyone on the earth! If we limit how many children people can have then it is ethical, because we can not have every person having twenty babies, otherwise our earth will not be able to support man kind!

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  14. 1) Have we reached Earth's Carrying Capacity? If yes, did we overshoot it? If no, what is it?

    I don't think that we have reached our carrying capacity because even though there is poverty,and disease, there has always been these things. It is true that there is a lack of resources for some, but that is only because the places where resources are limited are not extracting them in the most efficient way. For example, in India, when farming they only harvest 1/3 of the possible crops because the people are uneducated in the most efficient ways of agriculture. That being said, the earth can only hold so many people, and with only some resources being left, I think the carrying capacity is around 9 billion.

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  15. 2.) Is the current human population a problem?
    I think the current population is a problem. The Earth has a limited number of resources,and with the population growing the way it is, soon the non-renewable resources such as water will run out. We have already seen that happening in many third world countries such as Africa, where children are starving and thirsty. If they do have water, it is a very small amount and contains water borne illnesses that have the potential to kill them, and unfortunately that is the case most of the time. But when you think about other countries, such as the US, we seem to have an abundant amount of water, and we use it as though we will never run out, which is sad to know that our country throws away clean water, while other people around the world are dying from drinking unsanitary water.

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