Historical Pattern of Growth of the Worldwide Human Population since Our Origin
The world population has been increasing by approximately 83 million people every year since 1800. The current number of humans on the planet is estimated to be 7.7 Billion and is expected to rise to 8.6 Billion by 2030 ( Cortés, 2016 ). Technology has allowed the mass production and transport of food to poor parts of the world thereby saving lives and reducing the chances of premature death. The medical field has evolved and grown to provide solutions to most health issues, leading to reduced mortality rate and a consequent uptick in population. Culture and religion have continued to encourage growth of large families in order to increase the religions popularity. This has contributed to the multiplication in the number of humans on the planet earth. Nutrition plays a key role in determining the growth of humans. A good diet increases fertility and enhances the quality of life leading to more healthy lives.
Human Population Growth and Ecological Footprint and Carrying Capacity
The ecological footprint indicates that the demand for renewable energy by humans on the planet has increased by 140% in the last century alone ( Crist et al., 2017) . The carbon footprint has only been rising in high income countries and decreasing in low income countries leading to an exponential growth in the poor countries. The ability of the planet to support a certain number of humans at any given time due to the available resources is known as the carrying capacity. The limiting factor of this population density to the human growth is that the planet can only support a certain number of lives. Notably, when the figure is surpassed there is often an imbalance scenario leading to chaos. The lesser the ecological resources the fewer the number of humans the planet can support. This explains why there is an increased population in poor countries due to a small percentage of Carbon footprint.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Relative to Carrying Capacity, What May Result From Unbridled Continued Growth of our Population
Unbridled continued population growth can harm the environment and surpass the planet’s human carrying capacity. In Asia where more than 61% of the current human population resides, overpopulation has led to rising sea levels due to climate change. It is estimated that if nothing is done to reverse the change, the coastal areas will experience regular floods and some of the cities such as Jakarta in Indonesia are at a risk of totally submerging. Uncontrolled population growth will eventually surpass the planets capacity, exhaust the natural resources that support live consequently leading to starvation and death (Crist et al., 2017). Additionally, those that do not starve to death will have to contend with survival for the fittest. Therefore the weak will be eliminated resulting to an even smaller population. The natural environment is set to degrade immensely leading to extinction of some animals and plant species. Carbon gases produced from green houses is increasing the global warming and this changes the water cycles. The end result would be a planet without enough safe water for drinking. Contaminated aqua causes borne diseases which leads to loss of life.
How the Size of the Human Population Contribute to Environmental Degradation
The size of the population dependent on the available natural resources is indirectly proportional to the amount of available raw materials. When the number of humans increase past the earths carrying capacity the environment is degraded in several ways. First, there is often not enough space for human settlement. Therefore, people invade water catchment areas to build homes leading to dry rivers, lakes, and dams. This also reduces the amount of water available for use resulting to humans seeking water from underground which puts the environment at a risk of floods and even submerging in extreme cases ( Cortés, 2016) . Second, Carbon emissions produced by greenhouses will further contribute to exacerbation of global warming. The greenhouses have been on the rise to increase food production to cater for the increasing human population. Therefore, degrading the environment will likely cause sporadic rains and rise in the sea level which will eventually flood the coastal regions.
Why must we take the Human Population Size into Account When We Attempt to Develop Environmental Restoration Projects?
When making a decision to develop environmental restoration projects, the human population size must be kept in consideration. This is because the burgeoning of human population is the number one cause of environmental degradation. The project must be able to meet the needs of the available population. Otherwise, it will be strained within a short period leading to a waste of resources. A viable environmental project should proactively involve all stakeholders to ensure each individual understand their duties in making the project a success. When a restoration project is launched and the people do not understand its importance, the people are likely to completely loose interest have in the project ( Cortés, 2016) . The literacy of humans in any project success is paramount. In some poor countries, environment restoration projects are met with rejection due to non-involvement. People’s focus is often a project that generates them income. If not, such a project would be of little or no value to them. For example, a coal plant is likely to be embraced more than a tree planting initiative because the later does not create employment unlike the former. Therefore, the surrounding community will deem it less important.
References
Cortés, E. (2016). Perspectives on the intrinsic rate of population growth. Methods in Ecology and Evolution , 7 (10), 1136-1145.
Crist, E., Mora, C., & Engelman, R. (2017). The interaction of human population, food production, and biodiversity protection. Science , 356 (6335), 260-264.
