Cost of Population Growth

Explanation of Sub-Headings Interpretation: Human population growth describes the increase in the number of living human beings. Current levels of population growth are not sustainable when considering the earth’s limited resources.

Analysis: Population growth is beginning to surpass the amount of available farmland in certain areas (Narasaiah 20). The lack of farmland puts pressure on the food supplies for the entire world, as the population struggles to produce the necessary supplies to sustain its own growth. Areas with insufficient farmland require additional trade and international connectivity in order to provide for the local populations (Narasaiah 20). The needs of locations with less farmland place additional pressure on areas with plentiful farmland, constricting the planet’s resources and leading to food insecurity.

Without the past solution of additional farming land, humanity must come up with new solutions to the problems of the global food supply. Humanity must rely on an increase in the productivity of land rather than the addition of new land. Problems arise because heavy use and oversaturation of farmland tend to decrease productivity (Narasaiah 22). The increase in human land usage has a direct negative effect on the land available for use by wild animals. Earth’s ecosystem is a balance that is maintained in part by the actions and interactions of animals in natural settings (Peutrill 14). The elimination of natural landscape interrupts animals’ abilities to maintain the balance of the ecosystem.

Humanity must counterbalance its negative effects on wild creatures while simultaneously increasing food supply to match population growth. The task is complicated because humans and wild animals require many of the same resources for food production. Each resource used in human food production makes that resource unavailable for natural use (Peutrill 15). Population growth is counter to many of the world’s natural processes. Additional land and resources cannot currently be created from nothing, and human intake yields direct decreases in available resources.

Species are likely to prosper and decline in direct relation to human activity and land usage. The problem is that environmental connectivity is widespread and difficult to predict. Although food availability may be the primary factor in species growth, predation and competition are significant in determining the futures of specific animal populations (Sibly 8). When a species suffers from population decline or elimination, there are direct and widespread effects on other animals that interacted with the original creature. The implications for increases in human populations are complicated by issues of pollution (Hunter xii). The productivity of land must be increased to sustain higher population numbers, but this must be balanced. A technique that increases productivity, but creates massive amounts of pollution may have a negative effect on sustainability.

Evaluation: The research presented by the RAND organization was sponsored by three foundations, so it is possible that a foundation may have pushed for results in line with its own motives.

Inference: Although population growth is a global concern, levels vary between nations and reasons for growth are often based upon the social environment of a specific locale.

Explanation: Properly analyzing the issues of population growth requires consideration of a number of factors and the interconnectivity of all factors and solutions to the problem.

Self-Regulation: My bias comes from my educational background and opinion that humanity is overusing the earth’s resources for personal gain.

Works Cited

Hunter, Lori. The Environmental Implications of Population Dynamics. Santa Monica: RAND, 2000.

Narasaiah, M.L. Population Growth. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House, 2001.

Peutrill, Sarah. Earth's Changing Landscape: Population Growth. London: Franklin Watts, 2003.

Sibly, R.M. Wildlife Population Growth Rates. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.