There are many kinds of environment: the physical environment often thought of as nature, psychological environments built out of human interactions, and political environments rife with manipulation and posturing. While there are some obvious effects that large human populations would have on the natural environment, there are also less evident psychological and political ramifications. Thus, overpopulation is today's most pressing environmental issue.
Acclaimed hermit Henry David Thoreau once wrote that humans have plenty of space. “Our horizon is never quite at our elbows” (Thoreau, 49). But is this really true? The U.S. Census Bureau's international population clock estimates the global population at slightly over 8.6 billion people. According to the UN, the world population increased by 46.2 percent between 1960 and 1980. This means that the estimate of the population is growing at .7% annually, with a doubling time of 100 years was incorrect, in actuality the rate was 2.08 % with a doubling time of only 35 years (Choucri, 5-6). If it's difficult to imagine how many people that really is, try this visualization: If every person in the world got together and stacked one on top of the others' shoulders, it would create a ladder to the moon. As large as our numbers are, global population is growing at an exponential rate, and we are seeing more and more environmental problems because of this. One phenomena of recent population growth is that many people are moving from rural to urban areas. More people in these urban areas means more traffic, more industrial development.
Natural environment is a topic that gets thrown around in many different debates. More controversial is the debate as to whether or not human population—i...
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Thoreau, Henry David. “Solitude.” Rpt. In Literature and the Environment: A Reader on Nature and Culture. Eds. Anderson, Lorraine, Scott Slovic, and John P. O'Grady. New York. Longman. 1999. pp. 47-53.
Wolfe, Tom. "O Rotten Gotham." Rpt. In Literature and the Environment: A Reader on Nature and Culture. Eds. Anderson, Lorraine, Scott Slovic, and John P. O'Grady. New York. Longman. 1999. pp. 54-61.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 2107-2141.
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“To read [Walden] as a poem,” writes Anderson (1968), “is to assume that its meaning resides not in its logic but in its language, its structure of images, its symbolism—and is inseparable from them” (p. 18). In this way in general, as Anderson concludes, can we as students of literature “discover the true poetic subjects” (p. 18); and in this way in particular can we here read, investigate, and parse the meaning of such subjects as “solitude”, to which Thoreau devoted an entire chapter—the eponymous Chapter 5, “Solitude”. Thoreau delivers this his poetic sensibility by way of what Golemba (1988) discerns are two “clash[ing]…rhetorical modes” (p. 385)—more succinctly, what Anderson (1968) determines are wit and metaphor. It is of contention here that metaphor impels the poetry of “Solitude” and thus is that which, upon close reading expresses not the logic but the language of what solitude truly means.
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Overpopulation does not only affect humans and put a greater risk of getting in a vehicular wreck caused by a deer running out in the highways and interstates, but it has tremendous effect on environmental
The term solitude is often defined as the act or state of being alone, which in turn, is associated with loneliness and isolation. In Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, however, the term solitude takes on a much deeper meaning. To illustrate, Solitude is the fifth chapter in Walden, a book about self-discovery through acts of transcendentalism. Furthermore, this chapter is focused around the idea that solitude is rather a state of mind instead of a specific circumstance. According to Thoreau, solitude is found everywhere, and for the most part, people are often loneliest when surrounded by others. In other words, Solitude not only addresses how one can feel wholesome when isolated and immersed in nature, but also how one can feel entirely lonely when apart of meaningless interaction.
Silence fills the air. A man in his late 20’s lies in a handmade hut in a private 14 acre woodlot known as Walden Pond. Two essays are strewn across the mossy floor: Self Reliance and Nature. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard outside. It turns out that the man’s mother came with freshly baked cookies and some food for breakfast. Later on that day, more footsteps could be heard. Outside, a group of people had emerged, looking for the young man. Once again, the tranquility of Walden Pond was broken. This man was Thoreau and he was “exploring” the modest life of simplicity by separating himself from society. Living alone in the wilderness is a great way to discover nature and to understand the need for simplicity. In a world filled with bustle
Thoreau, among the most heralded writers of the North American continent, may have lived on his little as possible, but the grandeur of his writing style suggest quite the opposite. This does coincide with a key part of Transcendentalism - putting matters of the mind and spirit far above any materialistic preference. Chapter 5 of Thoreau’s memoir Walden explains his reasonings for isolation through several rhetorical strategies that emphasize the splendor of aloneness and nature.
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
There are various systems in handling population rates and its various issues that connect with threatening our environment. The population and environment debate will forever be a back and forth problem because there is possibly no way to completely stop carbon emissions but ease its production. To help the environment, we must incorporate all potential solutions in governing population such as family planning and governmental involvement and practice renewable resources and stop on using nonrenewable resources, as well as ways to tackle overconsumption to support our corrupting environment.