Human Population Research Paper

The human population has been growing at an exponential rate over the past two-hundred years. What is the reason for this drastic change in the population, and what factors contributed to it? There are many factors, but one of the largest has been the advances in medicine and technology over the last two centuries. The problem is that with such a large population, there will not be enough resources to supply us all. This will lead to massive famines, and wars between nations over land, and resources. First let's take a step back, and see how did we get here, then we will discuss ways to fix the problem.

During the eighteen-hundreds the world population was estimated at around a billion people, but now we have over seven billion people living on the earth. There were

a few key things that led to the drastic increase in the population. One of the major factors was the discovery of oil during the industrial revolution.

The discovery of oil led to the advances in both technology, and medicine. These advances have in turn led to better quality of life, and healthcare, and people living longer than previous generations did. The average person will live to see an older age than their grandparents did. There are also more people being born now, then in previous times, with about two children born every second. Oil has led to a rapid advancement in our civilization, but we are consuming it at such a rate, that in another forty years, scientists predict that we will run out. With oil, we were able to create machines to speed up the farming process, and greatly increase the amount of crops produced. We also use oil to make pesticides, and fertilizers, which are needed to keep the food supply steady. Once that happens we will no longer be able to supply enough food, using our current farming techniques, and this will lead to much strife around the world. There is also a problem of us running out of usable farmland, which has led to countries buying, and leasing land in poorer countries to farm off of, and export the crops back to their country. We are also experiencing water

shortages in certain parts of the world like Mexico. Even though the world is covered by so much water only a small percentage of it is actually fresh water that can be treated to make drinking water. Half of our potable water is used for irrigation, and energy purposes, so that doesn't leave much drinking water. Many speculate that eventually war will be fought over water, and not oil. There is a process called desalination, which purifies salt water, and makes it drinkable, but there are risks associated with it. It requires a lot of energy to desalinate the water, and can be damaging to the environment. Industrialization has had a tremendously negative effect on the environment, and right now about seventy percent of all plants are becoming endangered. If we keep harming the environment, we will be unable to produce enough food, and will be unable to sustain the growing population. Population density is also a very big factor in causing many environmental problems. When areas are overpopulated, there is more pollution, because there are more vehicles on the road, and there is a higher energy demand. There is also a demand for more food, to be able to feed the citizens. There is also the problem of running out of usable land for farming, and development. Basically population density contributes to most environmental problems. At our current rate of consumption, we would need one and a half earths, just to supply us with enough resources. We need to do three things to make the earth more sustainable, and they are: to change technology, to reduce the growth of population, and to reduce our consumption of resources.
Human beings are intelligent, and skilled at many things, but we are also selfish creatures that only care for ourselves, and not our fellow man. This is why we do not think about what is best for humanity, because we are busy with our own lives, and problems. Norman Borlaug was an agricultural scientist, who discovered a way to successfully mass produce grains. His contributions helped make the United States, one of the biggest suppliers of the food exporting business. Borlaug also spent many years of his life, working in Mexico, and India to teach the farmers how to farm using his techniques. For his great contributions to humanity, he won a Nobel Peace Prize. Right now, due to the state of things in many poorer countries, people are emigrating to richer countries. Many people from India, Jamaica, and African countries, are going to the United States. They are going there, because there are more resources readily available there, and there is an overall better quality of life. Projected population growth will make it more difficult for me to get a job as an engineer. It will increase competition, and mean that to get hired, you have to be very skilled.