The Population Problem Essay Essay Malthuss Theory

1. The Population Problem Essay
The Population Problem
Imagine a world where there isn't enough clean water to drink and there isn't ample food to eat.
We have used up most of the resources that we require to survive. What little that is left is so
polluted that it is not fit to be used. Is this our future? What are we doing to keep this from
happening? We recycle, we ride our bikes, we compost, but is this enough? It is up to us to find a
cure to the ailment that is destroying our planet. We only have one Earth to sustain the entire
human race for the rest of its existence. Will we be find a way to continue our survival, or will we
be the cause of our own destruction? Only time will tell, but this time may be upon us sooner than
we imagine if we do not start...show more content...
People seem to think that we can continue to live any way that we please without consequence.
We have no idea how many people this world can support and if we continue living as though we
are conducting a science experiment, we may end up destroying ourselves. If we have too many
people, we may end up using all or most of the resources like clean water and oil. At that point
there is no turning back on the future generations that will need to survive on what we leave
behind. The Assyrian Empire's decline was partly due to poor planning and the eventual
exhaustion of resources needed to sustain their basic needs. Paul and Ehrlich write that "Unlike
regional ecological collapses experienced in the past (such as Mesopotamia's), this time the
collapse would be global." We have the power to make sure that this does not happen to us. If we
do what is necessary in time to ensure our survival is the question. Thomas Malthus is the author of
An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the Future of Society written in 1798. This
essay is often quoted by those concerned by population growth. Malthus' theory of the world's
population growing faster each year is called The Malthusian growth model. His theory claims that
the world's food production can not keep up with the population's needs. The predictions of the
world running out of resources have been considered overly pessimistic by some, and simply
unrealistic by others. I
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2. Essay Malthus's Theory
How can we ever determine or analyze the amount of data we receive, when the only perception we
have is from the way things have been up until that time, rather than the future? In 1798, what
seemed like a monumental amount of people is now nothing compared to the population of the
world today; a trend which will continue just like the growth of Earth's population. However, with all
things, it seems, there is a breaking point. Malthus was quite certain that this breaking point would
be felt in our world's food supply by now, but he was wrong. Although Malthus's theory may not
have been entirely correct, there may be more truth then we realize or would wish to see based on
the sheer number of people and the way our resources are being used...show more content...
He did not expect stages 3 and 4, and thus, his theory is for a continuously, rapid growing stage 2
world. This caused his predictions to be greatly inaccurate, and more extreme, which causes many to
see his theory as faulty. However, some stage 2 countries today would definitely follow Malthus's
theory.
The population of the world increased by 200,000 people in one day; making a current total of 6.9
billion humans on the planet (GeoHive–Population Statistics). In Mathus's time, there were merely 1
billion people, which means in about 200 years, almost 6 billion people have been added to the
planet. Malthus may have made incorrect predictions on the state of food production today, but this
does not make his actual theory false. Almost 7 billion people inhabit this planet. Simply compare
our population to any other life form on Earth that is close to our size, and it will be clear how
much more we've expanded even when compared to animals that have been here much longer than
us. Siberian tigers are the largest wild cat in the world, yet there are less than 400 of them left in the
wild. We consume more resources than any other living being on this planet due to our numbers, and
eventually we will reach carrying capacity. Even those who make arguments about our ability to
keep advancing (and keeping up the food supply) can't argue that with a continuously increasing
population, eventually there literally
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