Definition of Sustainable Population Growth
Population growth and the consequences of overpopulation have concerned economists and demographers for more than 200 years. According to United Nations estimates, the world's population doubled from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion in 1999. Projected population growth, coupled with apprehension about global poverty and environmental change, has many people concerned about the sustainability of this trend.
Other People Are Reading
-
Identification
-
Sustainable population growth means the rate at which the number of inhabitants of a given area can increase without overburdening the area's economic, social and natural resources.
Many demographers use the term "carrying capacity" to refer to the number of inhabitants who can be supported in a particular area -- given that natural resources are finite -- without degrading the physical and social environment at present or for future generations. When population growth exceeds an area's carrying capacity, growth is considered unsustainable because the existing resources, such as water and food, are not sufficient to sustain the growing population.
History
-
The English economist and philosopher Thomas Robert Malthus was one of the first to express fears about overpopulation. In his 1798 book, "An Essay on Population," Malthus contended that human population would grow at a far faster rate than the ability of the population to produce food. He predicted that famines and wars over territory would result as nations sought to increase their capacity to produce food for their people.
Malthus' argument may have fit the pre-industrial times in which he lived. He could not have anticipated the technological advances that revolutionized food production and increased prosperity. Malthus also could not have predicted the social and cultural changes that lowered birth rates in some parts of the world, such as Western Europe, where some governments have begun to worry about the economic and cultural implications of low population growth.
A 2009 essay in the Christian Science Monitor, however, asked if the Malthusian prediction will come true because of global climate change and economic slowdowns. -
Geography
-
A United Nations population study released in 2006 projected that world population would reach 9.2 billion in 2050, growing from an estimated 6.7 billion in 2005. The study suggested that most of the growth would occur in less developed regions of the world, such as southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This raised many questions about sustainability, given the limited resources and lower levels of economic and social development. Meanwhile, population among the more developed nations is expected to show little change.
Considerations
-
Technological advances can allow a nation or region of the world to increase its carrying capacity, enabling it to better accommodate a growing population. Advances that facilitate more food production per acre of farmable land or that bring water from faraway sources will increase a region's carrying capacity, making population growth more sustainable.
Misconceptions
-
Claims that the world is large enough to hold every living person or that the entire world's population could fit into a small portion of the earth's land mass do not take into consideration the issue of carrying capacity. Carrying capacity relates to sustainability, or the ability of an area's natural resources, which are not infinite, to sustain a population.
Claims that there is enough food to feed all the world's inhabitants also fail to consider questions of sustainability. The most developed regions of the world, such as the United States and Europe, have far greater food production capacities than other regions. Many underdeveloped nations, in contrast, must rely on imports of staple foods, such as wheat and rice, to feed their people.
-
