Term paper on Overpopulation

Free Overpopulation papers

Plato And Aristotle
What is real? What gives life meaning? What happens when we die? These three questions are very common in today’s society. Everyone has different beliefs and their answers to these world view questions are different. Greek Philosopher’s, Aristotle and Plato had very different views and answers to

The views of Plato
The views of Plato back in Ancient Greece and that of conservative Christians today about education for children have surprisingly similar views. Plato thought it to be most beneficial for children, if their learning consisted of music and poetry to shape the soul, and of physical training to sha

“The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970’s the world will

undergo famines-hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in

spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can

prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate, although many lives

could be saved through dramatic programs to “stretch?the carrying capacity of

the earth by increasing food production. But these programs will only provide a

stay of execution unless they are accompanied by determined and successful

efforts at population control.? These words, from Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich’s book

The Population Bomb, predicted a grim future for the world of 1968 when the book

was published. Today, the debate rages on about how much life our planet can

hold. With world population estimates currently around 5.5 billion, and a

projected population of over 10 billion by 2100, the question of resource

scarcity is raised. Will there be enough resources to support the exploding

population of our planet? Also, is it true that population growth is necessary

for economic prosperity, or is it responsible for problems such as hunger and

poverty? One of the first things that need to be considered in the population

debate is the issue of “carrying capacity.? Many different people define

carrying capacity in many different ways, and in this lies a major problem.

Basic ecology textbooks define carrying capacity as the number of individuals in

a population that the resources of a particular habitat can support. Others

define it as the point at which the birth rate is equal to the death rate, while

still others define is as the average size of a population that is neither

increasing or decreasing. Each different definition of carrying capacity has

different arguments for the earth being above or below its carrying capacity, or

of having infinite carrying capacity. Also, many other factors must be

considered when estimating the earth’s capacity by any of the above

definitions. For instance, one must consider the level of prosperity of the

people, the technology available, and the distribution of available wealth.

Under certain conditions, the world might not easily hold even 1 billion people,

while under other conditions a number as high as 20 billion is possible. Another

factor in overpopulation that must be considered is that of life expectancy.

According to United Nations estimates, the life expectancy in developed nations

in the 1950’s was approximately 66.0 years, while third world nations enjoyed

a life expectancy of 40.7 years. Due to substantial declines in infant

mortality, the average life expectancy in developed nations was 74.0 years and

64.7 years in developing countries. However, although the majority of this

increase is due to decreases in infant mortality, jumps with this large of an

increase cannot be entirely explained by that alone. New developments in

medicine and technology have increased life spans across the board. Even more

promising, and perhaps alarming, is the fact that predicted “upper limits?of

human life expectancy have regularly been surpassed, and increases in life

expectancy even appear to be accelerating. These average life expectancy

increases, if they continue, will allow the world population to skyrocket at an

even faster rate. Finally, and perhaps the most important issue that must be

discussed in the debate on overpopulation is the issue of resource scarcity. So

called “experts?love to enter the debate and make doomsday predictions that

the world will run out of food, or oil, much like Dr. Paul Ehrlich did in his

book, The Population Bomb. However, these predictions never seem to come true.

Julian Simon, an economist, has an idea about natural...

5 Years ago in the Bulletin,?The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,

July/August, 1996, p. 7. “Be Fruitful and Multiply,?Fortune, September 7,

1998, p. 48. Carnell, Brian, “Food,?http://www.overpopulation.com/scarce_food.html

Ehrlich, Paul R. The Population Bomb. United States of America, Ballantine

Books, Inc., ?968, pp. 1-223. “Ehrlich’s Fables,?Technology Review, January,

1997, pp. 40-47. “The Future of Populous Economies: China and Indis Shape

Their Destinies,?Environment, July/August, 1996, pp. 6-11. Gallant, Roy A. The

Peopling of Planet Earth. United States of America, Macmillan Publishing, ?990,

pp. 1-158. Holm, Charles F. ed. Population: Opposing Viewpoints. United States

of America, Greenhaven Press, ?995, pp. 1-240. Nardo, Don Population. United

States of America, Lucent Books, Inc., ?991, pp. 1-92. “National Security: The

Role of Population,?Current, May, 1998, pp. 16-22. Stwertka, Albert Population.

United States of America, Franklin Watts, ?981, pp. 1-82.