“TOO MUCH IS NEVER ENOUGH” BIG IDEAS

Malthus Malthus could not possibly have known about the changes in agriculture, medicine, sanitation and housing that would come in the future. These changes (especially industrial agriculture) enabled the exponential growth of the human population. Our yeast population grew fast and then crashed when resources (nutrients and O 2 ) were used up and waste (CO 2 ) was produced. These limiting factors kept the yeast population from continually increasing. Will the human population have the same fate?

Malthus The trout population in Pipe Lake grew exponentially until the maximum number of trout that the ecosystem could support was exceeded. Trout then died off until the carrying capacity of trout in Pipe Lake was reached. Does Earth have a carrying capacity for humans? If so, what is it?? Might humans be able to continue to come up with technological advances to support the continued exponential growth of our species? Won’t we eventually run out of resources??

Population Distribution Approximately 5 billion of the world’s 7 billion people live in developing countries. (refer to Fig ) As developing countries improve their standard of living, a HUGE strain on the earth’s limited - and not evenly distributed - supply of resources will result. Nearly ½ of the world’s population currently lives in urban, as opposed to rural settings (refer to Fig ). In 1950, only about ¼ of the world’s population was urban. An urban lifestyle is much more resource dependent. What kind of strain will the trend towards urban living have on earth’s limited supply of resources?

Birth and Death Rates These rates are calculated in #/1000. Mortality rates have decreased globally due to advances in medicine, housing and sanitation. Mortality rate has been 10/1000 in developed countries since at least the 1950’s (refer to Fig ) Mortality rate has been 10/1000 in developing countries only since 1995 due to a delay in or limited access to medical and sanitation advances in these areas. (refer to Fig )

Birth and Death Rates Developed countries have a birthrate that is nearly equal to the death rate. This is Zero Population Growth. (Fig ) Though developing countries have decreasing birthrates, these still far exceed death rates (24/1000 compared to 10/1000). (Refer to Fig ) Therefore population continues to increase in developing countries. Because most of the world’s population resides in developing countries, the world’s population continues to increase.

Fertility/Girl Effect Fertility is the average # of babies born to a female during her reproductive lifetime (menstruation to menopause). There is a direct correlation between literacy rates and fertility rate. (refer to Fig ) This is HUGE reason why female education is so vital to reduce population growth. Religion, culture, finances, social status and need for labor all influence a woman’s choice* to have kids and how many kids to have. (*But it’s not always the female’s choice, is it?)

Fertility/Girl Effect Education of females is probably the single best way to slow the growth of the human population. Being in school delays the baby producing period of a female’s life. Instead of having babies starting at 12 years of age, a girl might delay marriage and babies until after she finishes school. Imagine the impact of this on a larger, global scale. Imagine the impact of an educated mom on her own daughters. Another point of view on slowing population growth: