What is the most important geographical issue of the current decade, and why?
In the current decade, there are many important issues, however, I believe that most of these problems stem from one umbrella issue; the over population of earth. Therefore, I think the most important geographical issue of the current decade is over population. In terms of food supply, it has been predicted by scientists that the earth can hold no more than 10 billion people which may occur by 2050. This hasn’t even taken into consideration other factors like water and land.
One of the most obvious problems from an over populated earth is lack of space; both for living and for agriculture. A Cambridge University-backed report suggests that the UK could run out of land for housing and agriculture as soon as 2030, and an extra 7 million hectares would be needed to support its growing population. But even now, we can see Britain starting to struggle to house its growing population. A report by the Guardian suggests we need to
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While some scientists argue that the most prominent changes to our climate caused by our release of green house gases will be more significant in the future, it has been highlighted by others than some changes are occurring in this decade. Examples of this are glacial melt leading to rise in sea level, surface temperatures rising on big bodies of water like lakes and the sea and some even can link the release of green house gases to more violent storms and heavier rainy seasons. “An Essay on the Principle of Population” is written by Thomas Malthus where he outlines his theory on population growth. He thought that if population continued to grow, food production wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand and he believed that many people would die due to famine. Either people would have to use more contraception to drop the birth rate, or the death rate would increase due to wars, disease or
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
If there were less people dying and the amount of births stayed the same, a country could become over populated. Condorcet recognized this and addressed it by saying:
Malthus believed that population grows geometrically, whereas food supply to support the population grows arithmetically. Therefore, he predicted that the food supply would not be a sufficient amount to support the population which constantly doubles in its cycle. Once Malthus came to this realization, he predicte...
Malthus’ An Essay on the Principle of Population, he states “I think I may fairly make two postulata. First, that food is necessary to the existence of man. Secondly, that the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state.” He came up with the Population Principle in which he argued that population, when unregulated, increases geometrically, whereas subsistence increases arithmetically. This then becomes an issue when the population outweigh the amount of food available. Malthus then said that once this level was surpassed, that famine would be the main source of the limit to population growth and that premature death was the most natural way to control the
Global warming and global climate change is the study of future increases of temperature across the globe. Studying climate change refers to how the over- all climate will change such as the dry places getting dryer and the wet places getting wetter. Global climate is dependent on “the greenhouse effect a natural process that helps regulate temperature” (Easterling and Karl). In the past few centuries humans have had a monumental effect on increasing of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change is result of the increase amount of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere such as methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and ozone. “Global temperature has rose approximately 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over
The world’s population is unarguably on the rise. The real argument is if we should be concerned or see this as a serious problem. With this constant growth, there comes a rising concern for the food supply. Not only that, but other resources are in danger. On the other hand, over population is believed to be a myth. This causes for two very different opinions on this topic.
Malthus, on the other hand, in his book An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) imparted a tone of dreariness. Malthus’s main contribution to economics was his theory that a population tends to increase faster than the supply of food available for its needs.
Bonnett concludes the chapter with his summation current issues that plague modern society. He connects modern environmental disasters and issues with the theories of Diamond et al. to explain the current need for an understanding of geography. This understanding of nature allows humans to evolve and grow with the world they live in.
Global warming changed from a scientific topic to a real life concern in 1988 and is a topic that proposes everlasting environmental issues. Some countries are already seeing the effects that global warming can cause, not only will the temperature increase causing ice caps to melt and many animals becoming extinct but it’s the way global warming is happening that will really impact the environment. This problem mainly started to rise due to the Industrial Revolution. When more and more factories were built gases were released into the atmosphere and the main gas that causes global warming is the ever-growing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). As the world becomes more urbanized the more the crisis of Global Warming increases.
Overpopulation is a growing problem all over the world. This is a very important environmental issue and needs to be dealt with. This environmental problem is affecting many countries around the world, but mostly the poor and impoverished countries that don’t have the resources to help deal with these issues. It also affects the environment like plants, animal life and air quality. When the population of people expands we need more natural resources from the environment, so we consume more than we can produce.
Over population is a factor in lower life expectancy in fast growing countries. It is projected that in the next 40 years of human growth it will be in less developed areas. This fast population increase will put a strain on that region and make more nonrenewable resources, food, water and housing more competitive which will lead to lower longevity for the native population (Effects of Human Overpopulation). This competition will also lead to less independence and freedom. As populations grow so do the laws that restrict movement in that region. Some examples of this we already see today is water restrictions and gas restrictions such as the 1970’s scare. Another resource that suffers because of overpopulation growth are every day consumables. A study from the website “World Population Balance “was done and stated that if all the 7 billion people consumed as much as the Average American “it would take resources of over five Earths to support all of them.” Each American on average uses biologically productive land totaling near 20
Due to the political, cultural, and social aspects of humans, whether it be the positive advancements of culture, negative consequences of dictatorship, the human geography affects humans more than the physical geography. Although the physical geography
I interviewed two experts in this field to obtain additional expert accounts and information. One of my interviewees, Virginia Burkett is the Chief Scientist for Climate and Land Use Change for the US Geological Survey and has been studying climate change for 23 years. She claims, “some of the most important changes of the past 100 years are an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, an increase in temperatures globally, changes in the phenology of plants and animals that are driven by the increase in temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, an accelerated loss of sea ice and glaciers, a decline in permafrost in the Arctic, accelerated sea level rise, increasing ocean temperature, increasing ocean acidity, and more frequent droughts and fires in many parts of the world”
Climate changes occur in our earth's atmosphere due to a buildup of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can occur naturally as well as a result of human activities. The greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. “Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels, and wood are burned.” (2) The gases help to warm the surface of the Earth. Each greenhouse gas absorbs heat differently. If natural gases did not occur, the temperature of the earth would be considerably cooler. “Problems can occur when higher concentrations of greenhouse gases are present in our atmosphere because they have enhanced our earth's heat trapping capability.” (3)
However, the relationship between population growth and economic development of a country could be considered as negative if the increase of population is become an obstacle to the country’s economic development. This is because the faster the population growth, the greater the dependency burden. In other words, the segment of population which is considered economically unproductive included children and the elderly, expands along with the population growth. According to Kelly and Schmidt (1996), this negative view could be proved by Thomas Malthus as he raised warning about the danger of over-population in his “Pessimism about the economic impacts of population” over two centuries ago and thus conquered the thinking of population analysts.