1. Malthus on Overpopulation
Unit #2: Population Geography
Malthus on Overpopulation

2. Thomas Malthus (1766)-(1834)
Argued that the world’s population increase was outrunning the development of food supplies in the essay An Essay on the Principle of Population

3. The Malthus Theory on Overpopulation
According to Malthus, the growth rates would produce these types of relationships between people and food in the future because population increased geometrically and food supply increased arithmetically:
Today:     1 person, 1 unit of food
25 years: 2 persons, 2 units of food
50 years : 4 persons, 3 units of food
75 years : 8 persons, 4 units of food
100 years: 16 persons, 5 units of food

4. World Population growth
World population from 1800 to 2100, based on UN 2004 projections (red, orange, green) and US Census Bureau historical estimates (black).

5. malthus
Malthus’s main points were that the Earth was consuming more than what was actually being produced. Even though his ideas have seem a bit too unsettling to people, many still believe that this theory is true.

6. Neo-malthusians
These are the supporters of Malthus’ views on overpopulation.  These people believe that Malthus’ claims are even more drastic because of three recent factors:
Relatively poor countries have had the most rapid population growth due to the increased development of medical technology.  As a result, the gap between population growth and resources is wider in some countries than even Malthus anticipated.
Many LDCs have expanded their food production significantly in recent years, but they have more poor than ever before.  Because population growth outpaced economic development, all the economic growth was used to accommodate the additional population.
World population growth is stripping the earth of valuable resources, not just food supply. Wars and violence will increase due to scarcity of food and other resources like clean air, farmland and fuel.

8. Malthus’s critics
Beliefs are unrealistically pessimistic because they are based on the theory that the world’s resources are fixed rather than expanding, i.e. possibilism.
Population growth could stimulate economic growth and, therefore, production of more food. More people=more brains=new inventions to improve life.
Poverty and hunger are a result of unjust social and economic institutions, not overpopulation.
We have plenty of food and resources, we just don’t distribute it equally.

9. Malthus theory & reality
Conditions of the last 50 years have not supported Malthus’s theory
Food production has grown at a faster rate than NIR
Malthus food production guess were about right, but he overestimated population growth
Hunger and food shortage is a result of distribution problems rather than overpopulation problems

10. J-Curve v. S-Curve