The Effects of Overpopulation & Consumption

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Because the world is ever changing, people do not really stop and look at the things happening around them. People do not usually think about how population is interrelated with consumption and how both affect the world in different ways. A population has the ability to expand infinitely so long as there are enough resources in the environment to sustain it. As long as resources are available, populations can grow to large numbers; however, when resources become scarce, populations can also decrease to small groups. If a population is small, consumption is at a low rate. If a population is large, consumption rates are high. When consumption rates are high resources tend to be depleted faster. Many factors go into determining population size and the consumption rate of a population. Some of the factors include fertility rates, age expectancy, technological advances, immigration, and environmental conditions. Whether this is favorable to the planet or not, consumption is influenced dramatically by population.

The rate of resource production must exceed the rate of population growth, in order for it to continue growing. The question is how do you make that happen when the population is skyrocketing and getting out of control? Our resources cannot naturally keep up with that kind of population growth, which is why advances in technology have modified crops to grow faster in order to keep up with a population’s consumption. Scientists are able to genetically modify food sources such as maize (“Genetically Modified Maize”). Because of this technology, resources can keep up with growing populations and people’s demands are satisfied for the time being (Cantrell). With the increase in production of resources the population can keep inc...

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