2008 Woodie Awards
Are we out-growing our natural resources?
Laura Ledger
Staff Writer
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Opinion
Our species is currently faced with an obvious and ever-growing problem - a dire case of overpopulation! It is the root cause behind a suffering environment, a failing economy, and the increasing miseries of humanity. It is surprising that many people choose to ignore this main issue, or are unaware that it is one.
It is simple ecology that there is a carrying capacity for every species on this Earth, and humans are no exception. When a species exceeds that carrying capacity, then the species uses resources faster than can be replaced and produces more waste than the environment can handle. Eventually the species will exhaust the resources and degrade the environment to such a degree that numbers are forced to decrease, as well as the carrying capacity. Humans think that because of their intellect this doesn't apply to them. It is true that we can delay nature's attempt to fight off our numbers, but it is a futile attempt because there is a finite amount of resources and space on this Earth.
Earth currently contains over 6.5 billion people. Our population size is expected to double in just over 50 years. For many of us it will occur in our lifetime. Under what kind of conditions will we be living in then? Under what kind of conditions are we living in now?
In present times we pay for the treatment of air and water when it was once provided for free by nature. Valuable resources are gone that technology does not equate with. We are also witnessing the mass extinction of plants and animals. Why? Because humans are consumers, and more humans mean more consuming which inevitably leads to the destruction and depletion of ecosystems-the system we are apart of and on which we rely. Is it surprising then that almost half of our population is dealing with water scarcity, and around 852 million lack enough food and water? Also 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation, and over one billion people are living in immense poverty. And the catch is, as population doubles, so do these numbers.
It is simple ecology that there is a carrying capacity for every species on this Earth, and humans are no exception. When a species exceeds that carrying capacity, then the species uses resources faster than can be replaced and produces more waste than the environment can handle. Eventually the species will exhaust the resources and degrade the environment to such a degree that numbers are forced to decrease, as well as the carrying capacity. Humans think that because of their intellect this doesn't apply to them. It is true that we can delay nature's attempt to fight off our numbers, but it is a futile attempt because there is a finite amount of resources and space on this Earth.
Earth currently contains over 6.5 billion people. Our population size is expected to double in just over 50 years. For many of us it will occur in our lifetime. Under what kind of conditions will we be living in then? Under what kind of conditions are we living in now?
In present times we pay for the treatment of air and water when it was once provided for free by nature. Valuable resources are gone that technology does not equate with. We are also witnessing the mass extinction of plants and animals. Why? Because humans are consumers, and more humans mean more consuming which inevitably leads to the destruction and depletion of ecosystems-the system we are apart of and on which we rely. Is it surprising then that almost half of our population is dealing with water scarcity, and around 852 million lack enough food and water? Also 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation, and over one billion people are living in immense poverty. And the catch is, as population doubles, so do these numbers.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 6
Lart Nikkels
posted 4/26/08 @ 3:20 PM CST
Of course we're out-growing our natural resources, since they limited, after all. The amount of natural resources is limited by the amount of animals now dead that have ever lived on the earth. (Continued…)
Laura
posted 4/26/08 @ 5:26 PM CST
I wrote the article, addressing overpopulation as a problem that we are experiencing right now! Guess what, the Earth can absorb and recover from a certain amount of waste. (Continued…)
Andrew Garcia
posted 4/28/08 @ 3:16 AM CST
Since you state that if we solve overpopulation, the other problems will disappear, how do you propose we solve the overpopulation problem? It doesn't seem like something that can be solved ethically or in a way too friendly to the environment. (Continued…)
Laura
posted 4/29/08 @ 2:53 AM CST
I thought the most important thing was to make other people aware of overpopulation as the main concern. You are right, this is a sensitive issue, but mainly because humans think they have the right to outgrow every other species. (Continued…)
Andrew Garcia
posted 5/06/08 @ 1:48 PM CST
Reducing immigration in America, is one country. What good does that do to help the world. I could care less about America, when it comes to humanity as a whole. (Continued…)
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