The Problems with Human Population Essay -- Carrying Capacity Humans G

The Problems with Human Population In Chapter III of The Origin of Species, Darwin writes: "Even slow-breeding man has doubled in twenty-five years, and at this rate, in a few thousand years, there would literally not be standing room for his progeny.† (Darwin 29) Three hundred years ago, the population was only at about 500 million, and during this time the population was at a slow increase. Another factor during this period of time was the birth and death rates were at much higher levels. Many babies were born, but many also died. â€Å"Living conditions were such that many of the remaining children failed to survive beyond the age of thirty.† (Black 84) The crisis of Over Population should not be a surprise to anyone, currently if you were to look at the world Pop clock, which is a counter supported by the U.S. Bureau of the Census you would find a number that has risen from 6,367,148,920. This is the amount of people on earth May 8, 2004 at 8:39:47 PM; this number is constantly rising at about 8 milli on people per month. At the present rate, the population will rise to a point that it will max out the earth’s carrying capacity leaving humans with a lack of resources and space. Soon people will have to learn to survive off artificial resources to substitute for the inability for agriculture to keep up. â€Å"In 1950 the population of the world was placed at roughly 2,400 million, the rate of growth of the world's population is greater than ever before in history, and the successive net additions, period by period, are breath-taking.† (Hertzler 9) In 1974 the United Nations held the World Population Conference at which it was determined that a solution for the crisis was needed, it was also decided that all countries would create a population policy that would attempt to help the countries deal with social, economic and cultural development. Although the United States has a large population problem to deal with of its own, underdeveloped countries hold 80 percent of the worlds population and are unable to provide methods of birth control, leaving people no choice other than abstinence. A question we are forced to ask ourselves is: Should we help fund family planning in third world countries, or should we leave them to fend for themselves when it comes to the issue of population control. Aside from third world and underdeveloped countries, modernized nations inc... ...ion Explosion and the Natural Environment." Our Crowded Planet, Essays on the Pressures of Population. Ed. Osborn, Fairfield. 1st ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962. 71-79. Darwin, Charles G. "The Law of Population Increase." Our Crowded Planet, Essays on the Pressures of Population. Ed. Osborn, Fairfield. 1st ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962. 29-35. Ehrlich, Paul R., and Anne H. Ehrlich. Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1977. Hardaway, Robert M. Population, Law, and the Environment. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994. Hertzler, J. O. The Crisis in World Population: A Sociological Examination, with Special Reference to the Underdeveloped Areas. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1956. Lee, Philip R. "The Development of Federal Policies Related to Population Problems." The 99th Hour: The Population Crisis in the United States. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1967. 84-94. Managing Planet Earth: Perspectives on Population, Ecology, and the Law. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 1990. Sadik, Nafis. "World Population Continues to Rise." The Futurist Mar.-Apr. 1991: 9+. Questia. 11 May 2004.