Current number of people and predictions

The study of population size, growth and Earth’s ability to sustain the world population is extremely interesting and it requires critical thinking in terms of alternatives. Withgott and Brennan defined population as a group of individuals of the same species inhabiting a particular area. In addition, they said that population size may increase, decrease, undergo cyclical change or remain the same over the time. (1)

Considering the table 1.1, we can conclude that the number of people on Earth is increasing. The world today has almost 7,1 billion people and it is estimated that the number will increase even more. By 2045 the Earth will have 9 billion people. (2)

Table 1.1. The depiction of growth of human population (2)

The phenomenon of constant growth can be observed on graph 1.2 where we can see more or less constant population size with not significant increases. This was the case until 1850’s when the industrial revolution started. We can say that technological advances, better health systems and sanitation, and increased food production are the reasons for this population growth. The better living conditions and the more food we can produce lead to a substantial growth in human population. (2)

Graph 1.2. Growth of population on earth through history(2)

The number of people being born and dying can be followed live here: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

Is there enough food for everyone?

Hunger is a term which has three meanings:

the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food; craving appetite. Also the exhausted condition caused by want of food

the want or scarcity of food in a country

a strong desire or craving

The pie chart 1.3 depicts the number of hungry people in 2011. (3)

Chart 1.3. The number of hungry people in 2011 (3)

However, the fact that a lot of people die every day due to malnutrition and starvation is highly controversial. Many theories say that this is not because we cannot produce enough food, but rather because of poverty, undeveloped economies and unequally distribution of food. According to the World Hunger web site, we are producing enough food for everyone. (3)

How many people more the Earth can sustain?

This is a highly controversial topic with many different answers. Humans’ greedy urge to reproduce, Malthus argued, would ultimately lead us to overpopulate the planet, eat up all its resources and die in a mass famine. (4) This is a very pessimistic view of the human’s future on Earth.

On the other hand, we can find people with little more optimism and arguments for such opinion. One of them is Joel E. Cohen who states: “It’s very hard to put a number on a quantity that depends on future events, processes we don’t understand, and values that may change over time.” The following video gives us the sense of his position and prediction.

Joel E. Cohen – How Many People Can the Earth Support? (5)

Furthermore, the fact is, nobody really knows exactly how much people the Earth can sustain. Carrying capacity depends on what kind and how many resources are available and how we use them. It also depends on how they are distributed and how much each person uses on average.

Earth’s carrying capacity has recently been estimated to be as low as one billion people – or as high as 44 billion people!

The carrying capacity can be reduced by environmental destruction such as deforestation, soil erosion and pollution. However, carrying capacity may also be increased through technology. Fertilizers and hybrid seeds can increase food production. Modern transportation systems allow that food to be moved across oceans. And cheap energy has boosted industrial production tremendously. (6)

In conclusion, we should be worried. The fact is that we are not using our resources appropriately and we are destroying our environment. We should try to limit our consumption and think more about the rest of the people and their future. This does not mean that we should stop eating, but rather use what we have in a smarter way by not wasting non-renewable and reewable resources and by decreasing our “footprint” on the environment.

References:

(1) Withgott, J. & Brennan, S. (2010). Environment: The science behind the stories. 4th Ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education

(2) “World Population Clock: 7 Billion People – Worldometers.” World Population Clock: 7 Billion People – Worldometers. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/>.

(3) “World Hunger Notes Homepage.” World Hunger Notes Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.worldhunger.org/>.

(4) “How Many People Can Earth Support?” LifesLittleMysteries.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/1824-people-planet-earth-support.html>.

(5) ECSPWWC. “Joel E. Cohen – How Many People Can the Earth Support?” YouTube. YouTube, 22 Nov. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmALGtDTQWo>.

(6) “The Stutz’s Home Page.” The Stutz’s Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://stutzfamily.com/>.