Technology is the Solution to Overpopulation

975 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Environmental impacts of overpopulation

Technology is the Solution to Overpopulation

About ten years ago while in a science museum, I saw a counter that estimated what the world population was at that given moment. Innocuous at first glance, since a number in excess of five billion is difficult to comprehend, what became alarming after watching the counter for a minute was the continual increase in the population. Thinking about the circumstances related to the population rise logically made the problem seem apparent. The earth is finite both in terms of physical size and in resources but the population is growing towards an infinite value. At some point the steadily rising population will move from being a problem that is geographically distant to one that is immediate and more salient than just an increasing value on a faceless counter.

This problem of population growth leads to a number of solutions that could have significant implications on the quality of life. Taking no action and allowing population to grow unchecked could possibly risk the entire human species if food or clean water were to become unavailable worldwide. Aiming for zero population growth would in theory maintain the existing quality of life since a stable population would not increase their use of resources. However not all resources are renewable, so scarcities could still occur with a fixed population size. In an extreme case permanent resource depletion under zero population growth could have the same extinction effect that unchecked growth can lead to. Despite the escalating risk of unchecked population growth, technological advances necessitated by the increase in population will at least maintain the quality of life and could possibly improve conditions.

Southwick in “Global Ecol...

... middle of paper ...

...ould accept the fact that not all people of the world will be able to have a high standard of living but the potential for improved quality exists. This potential cannot be reached immediately since resources and population remain geographically separate and faster transportation would increase the spread of fatal diseases. Improvements in resource production such as increased crop yields makes it possible to support higher populations and improve the quality of life at least at a local level.

References

Southwick, C. H. Global Ecology in Human Perspective, Chapter 15. Oxford Univ. Press. (1996).

World Health Organization “Frequently Asked Questions on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),” Communicable Disease Surveillance & Response (CSR), March 24. (2003). World Health Organization . Retrieved March 29, 2004.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Outside The Solar Village One Utopian Farm

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    In, The Population Bomb by, Paul R Ehrlich, he explains the problem of population increase, and how there are people everywhere! The feeling of feeling over populated. He talks about how if there are more people then there is more food that needs to be produced then ate. He explains on the rich people becoming wealthier and the poor are going to be even poorer and there is going to be a starvation. Population is doubling every year and how our energy is turning into

    Read More

  • Atrocities Associated with the Eugenics Movement

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    As small mobile groups of hunter-gatherers adopted a sedentary lifestyle, they mastered both agriculture and animal domestication. These small settled groups quickly evolved into cities and towns that encompassed the entire globe. Today the estimated population of the world is over 6.2 million people.1 As the population has grown, it has had several deleterious effects on the Earth. These include climate changes, the spread of diseases, declining food production, deforestation, and environment pollution (particularly air pollution). As people have become more conscious of these harmful effects, they have begun to devise strategies to combat this problem. Among the suggested responses include a switch to renewable energy, a call for zero population growth, and adopting sustainable agricultural practices.

    Read More

  • The Turkish Pogrom of 1955 and the Elimination of the Greek Minority of Istanbul

    2537 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...itly the Christian Orthodox and Jews, which were the largest minority groups from Turkey. In addition, according to nationalist elites, these minorities were assimilable thus, were not capable of becoming part of the Turkish nation. Also, they stated that, the Non-Muslim minorities, mainly the Greek, were not composed of loyal citizens but possible traitors to the Turkish state (Guven 2006). Adnan Menderes believed that was national and extremely important responsibility of every Turk to implement the Turkification, in an attempt to establish an independent Turkish state. A corollary of this concept was the effort of assimilation of the Greek minority by force, exercising a policy of discrimination and restrictions against it. In this context, the language, culture and desires of Non-Muslim minorities had to be connected with the history and dignity of Turks.

    Read More

  • Greece's Conflict Under Nazi Rule

    2021 Words  | 5 Pages

    As Babe Ruth, a famous baseball player once said, “It is hard to beat a person who never gives up.” When facing a challenge that requires an immense amount of perseverance or let alone, any obstacle in life, the person that sticks to it eventually comes out with an answer or solution. With morale very close to this, the Greeks were determined to outwork the Nazis in World War II in order to reclaim their country. Modern Greek authors such as Ileana Karafilly and other anonymous poets like those translated by Wislawa Szymbroska portray characters in their works that exemplify the concept of having the drive to pursue what you want by hard work and a strong willed attitude of putting personal needs ahead of others. Being trapped in Greece’s Nazi invaded society that was stuck in an “every-man for them self” perspective, no one could trust one another. Once the people realized that they would have to fight for what they wanted, the citizens and characters were able to achieve anything they set their minds to as long as they were willing to work for it. This fight to regain their home country began on April 6, 1941 when Germany invaded Greece and the conflict began. With the country no longer in control of Greeks, but rather in foreign control, pandemonium spread within the country(Livanos 15-16). While Nazis were in control people lived in resistance, wanting to fight the Nazis in order to regain their freedom(Livanos 1-3). Finally on October of 1944 Greece was liberated, however with Greece left in bad shape, its economy failed and has remained weak still to this present day (Shiller 15-18).

    Read More

  • Centralization & the Ottoman Empire: An Integral Role in the Golden Age

    2201 Words  | 5 Pages

    Michael, Michalis N. “Local Authorities and Conflict in an Ottoman Island at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century.” Turkish Historical Review 2, no. 1 (May 2011): 57-77. EBSCO.

    Read More

  • Honour and Fidelity Varies for Men and Women in the play Much Ado about Nothing

    1995 Words  | 4 Pages

    The theme for honour and fidelity apply for both men and women in Shakespeare’s play ‘much ado about nothing’. Honour and fidelity is represented very differently for men and women as it would have been for the people in Elizabethan times. In this first section of the essay, I will be exploring double standards and Shakespeare’s awareness of the double standards between sexes and his feminist approach, the differences of honour and fidelity for men and women and upper class and lower class comparisons.

    Read More

  • Genocide In The Armenian Genocide

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    As mentioned in Armenian Genocide and the Christian Existence, after more than 75 years, the Armenian people have still not healed and are faced daily with the effects of the past. The Christian religion in this group of people has been exterminated since 1915 to some. And not even just the feeling of religion, but something exterminated during this time was the culture. (Guroian, 1991) With the notion of being “Turkified” many lost a sense of who they were and what their ethnicity and culture was during this time of hopeful survival and forced

    Read More

  • The Genide Of The Armenian Genocide

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Turkish government had a reason to get rid of the Armenians. In the Ottoman Empire, Armenians were second class citizens that lived in harmony with the Turks before the forces of nationalism came into the picture. Even though the Armenians had to face higher taxes and second class citizenship, they were treated and accepted pretty well. When nationalism took over, things began to change. The Ottoman Empire began to fall and the Armenians were considered to be the only major Christian minority since all the other minorities had gained their independence already. The Ottoman Empire became known as the "sick man of Europe". An empire that was once strong and an independent power, was now starting to collapse. The Turks had an envision of spreading new-Pan Turkic empire to Central Asia and the only thing that came in the way of doing so was the Armenians. Because of this, Turks wanted to get rid of the Armenians. Sultan Hamid II ruled the Ottoman Empire and because of him, the empire was saved and did not fall. Despite saving the Ottoman Empire, Hamid ordered th...

    Read More

  • Carbon Sequestration: Methods Of Carbon Reforestation

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    All crops absorb CO2 during growth and release it after harvest. The goal is to use the crop and its relation to the carbon cycle to permanently sequester carbon within the soil. This is done by selecting farming methods that return biomass to the soil and enhance the conditions in which the carbon within the plants will be reduced to its elemental nature and stored in a stable state. Methods for accomplishing this include:

    Read More

  • The Cyprus Crisis: The Causes Of The Cyprus Island

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cyprus Island has hit the world headlines several times because of the violent troubles that broke out there for the past several decades. The conflicts in the island have cost thousands of lives that have been lost excuse of Turkey's invasions and power games. The consequences can be felt even today, and Greek and Turkish Cypriots refuse to let go of the traumatic memories. The essay focuses on the history of the Cyprus Island, why it remains divided and why the conflicts refuse to dissolve.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Hieronimo in The Spanish Tragedy

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hieronimo is a symbol for the authority of law within The Spanish Tragedy. From his soliloquy in act III scene II, one can see Hieronimo’s ambiguity in deciding whether to pursue either justice or revenge. It could be argued that Hieronimo’s actions and concerns change throughout the course of the play by the wills of others and not his own desires; thus representing the failed authority of the law. This can be shown by analysing Hieronimo, Bel-imperia, the Gods, Lorenzo and the Law.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Role Of Women In Macbeth

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women in the Elizabethan era were subservient to men. They were expected to conform to the societies expectations while obeying the significant male figures in their lives. High-born women were often portrayed “possessions” to be shared between fathers and husbands. In several cases, they were socially restricted and unable to explore the world around them without chaperones. The women were mainly expected to act as loving caretakers to those in their families. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, however, the female figures in the play both promote the idea of unbridled feminine sexuality but also promote the female ideals of being loving caretakers. The dramatic technique Shakespeare uses to characterize his female figure in the play are the setting, the character’s dialogue and what the other characters say about them, especially behind their backs. The three main female characters that endorse but also contradict the archetypes of women are the tyrannical Lady Macbeth, the loving Lady Macduff and lastly the mysterious weird sisters.

    Read More

  • The Problems that Our World Faces Today

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the problems facing our world is population. It began about ten thousand years ago when the humans settled and began farming. The farming provides more food for the people thus making the population grow. Now we are about 6 billion in population and in a few years we will be around 10 to 11 billion. Therefore, our population will almost double in size. This means that we will need more food to support us. A study in 1986 by Peter Vitonesk, a Stanford biologist, showed that the humans are already consuming about 38.8 of what is possible for us to eat. Thus, if the population keeps increasing, the percentage will increase also, making us closer and closer to the biophysical limits. By studying the earth's capacity, Dr. Cornell, another biologist, believes that we are already crowded for this would. He believes that our world can only support two million people. Not only this, but population can cause complicated problems to the countries with very high population. These countries will need more schools to educate its people, they will need more hospitals and public health to take care of their people, and they will need more water and more soil for farming to feed all the people. In order to solve the population growth problem, the people should be educated. Once the people are educated they will be aware of the problems they ca...

    Read More

  • Critical Appreciation Of Sonnet 130

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s sonnet 130, the speaker ponders the beauty, or the lack thereof, of his lover. Throughout the sonnet, the speaker presents his lover as an unattractive mistress with displeasing features, but in fact, the speaker is ridiculing, through the use of vivid imagery, the conventions of love poems and the way woman are portrayed through the use of false comparisons. In the end, the speaker argues that his mistress may not be perfect, but in his eyes, her beauty is equal to any woman who is abundantly admired and put through the untrue comparison.

    Read More

  • ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

    1653 Words  | 4 Pages

    The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in human population. For many thousands of years people lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Population sizes were small, and life-supporting tools were simple. Most of the energy needed for work was provided by the worker and animals. Since about 1650, however, the human population has increased dramatically. The problems of overcrowding multiply as an ever-increasing number of people are added to the world's population each year.

    Read More

More about Technology is the Solution to Overpopulation

Open Document