Question

Overview As you know from the readings, the worldwide population is approximately 7.3 billion and continues to increase by approximately 80 million a year (about double the number of citizens in California at present). The world population size is predicted to reach 11 billion by the year 2100. That growth is accompanied by increasing urbanization as well as resource consumption. Instructions With human population size already high and still increasing, research how scientists and others think society will be impacted. After doing so, answer the following questions: 1. What are the pros and cons of population growth? 2. How does population size affect sustainability? 3. How does population size impact biodiversity? Provide at least 3 references for where you obtained your information.

Answer 1

1. Pros and cons of population growth:

Pros of population growth:

Economic Growth: The growth of population equates to increased purchases of items such as clothing, educational material, food and other household goods. In addition, increased number of family members encourages the movement of families into larger houses. This results in increased trade, which in essence supports several sectors of the economy like manufacturing, agriculture, construction and home improvement industries.

Availability of Labor
Population growth causes an increase in labor force. This ensures efficient utilization of resources and optimal productivity in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. Availability of labor is an essential tool for economic development.

Innovation
Population growth encourages innovations in fields such as medicine, agriculture and production. This is because more great minds results in more innovations. In addition, population growth has led to a greater consciousness for more industrial and agricultural productivity to meet the demand of the large number of people.

Genetic diversity, which means there is a greater chance of the species surviving from any particular disease or disaster. If everyone has the same genetic susceptibilities and potentials, then a disease that kills one person can kill everyone, so having a wider set of genes is helpful.

Cons of population growth:

Environmental Degradation
Rising populations may lead to deforestation so as to create more land for human settlement and agriculture. Deforestation greatly affects the weather cycle and may lead to climate change.

Unemployment
In some situations, rapid increase in population may surpass the number of employment opportunities created in the economy. This results in widespread unemployment. Unemployment has several negative effects in the society such as increased crime rates, political instability, reduced standards of living and a decline in economic development.

Food Shortage
Unchecked population growth without an equivalent agricultural development may lead to food shortage. Factors such as reduced agricultural land and environmental degradation contribute to reduced agricultural yields, hence food shortage.

Aging Dependency
Increased population growth coupled with high life expectancy rates results in an increase in the number of aged population. This leads to high dependency rates, hence limiting economic development.

Property Shortage
Population growth encourages rural to urban migration in search of better employment and business opportunities. This leads to overcrowding in urban areas, resulting in shortage of housing and other social amenities. The shortage of housing in some underdeveloped countries led to the growth of informal settlements and slums.

Question No.2

Population Size and Sustainability:

Human population growth and overconsumption are at the root of our most pressing environmental problems, including the wildlife extinction crisis, habitat loss and climate change. To save wildlife and wild places, we use creative media, advocacy and public outreach to raise awareness about runaway human population growth and unsustainable consumption and their close link to the endangerment of other species.

If population size continues to grow, more technologies and practices will be implemented to increase agricultural yields. “Industrial chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides and countless other products will continue to produce waste products of all kind” . As humanity continue to use these waste products, it will increase dead zones in pools, lakes, and rivers. With the increase of dead zones, fishes and other marine organisms will start to die more frequently. This will lead to cascading events that will negatively impact the marine environments and the quality of water.

Question No.3

Population Size Impact Biodiversity:

Human population growth arguably affects other species even more than it does our down. Humans share the earth’s resources with countless other species. A primary issue that lies in this is the fact that as humans, we don’t exactly seem to know how to share very well at all. Rapid growth of the human population has resulted in the increase of human need for earth’s natural resources – food, water, the materials for shelter, etc. Because of this, we are increasingly cutting into resources that other species must use in order to survive. We have hindered, or even ended the lives, of numerous species. Today, 99% of the species still remaining on this planet are at risk because of human activity alone.

For example, exploitation and habitat loss through human activity has resulted in the loss of approximately 93% of the world’s tigers. Today, there could be as few as 3,000 tigers left on the planet.

The unprecedented rate at which Earth’s biodiversity is declining can be blamed primarily on the rapidly growing human population. The surging human population means that more arable land is needed for crop production and livestock grazing, and for wood for fuel, construction, and energy. This in turn leads to virgin lands, rich in biodiversity, being violated! Also, increased human activities cause land, water and air pollution; alters the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere; affects the nitrogen cycle to bring about acid rains; alters the climate and brings about the introduction of exotic species.