A Discussion of the Effects of World Human Population Growth and
Increasing Resource Consumption on the Environment and Human Health
Nathanael
Clark
Stan Grove
1. Introduction
A.
Background
A.
Future Predictions
B. Environment
1. Ecological Footprint
2. Resource use
C. Health
1. Sanitation and Disease
2. Human Psyche
III. Historical Views.
A. Ancient Philosophers
1. Chinese
2. Greek
B. Mercantilism
C. Malthusian Theory
IV. Religious and Ethical Views
A. American ideals
B. Religious Views
A. Birth Control
B. Other Proposed Solutions
VI. Conclusion
VII. References
The creation of stone tools dates back to more then 2 million years ago with the ancestors of modern man. The use of fire has been dated to 500,000 years ago, and according to the fossil record our species, homo sapiens sapiens is dated to 90,000 years ago, originating in the middle east. The earth and the ecosystems have changed overtime with the development of the modern human culture, however at no time in history has been marked with such incredible changes in development and growth then in this last 100 years. This growth and development along with increased rates of consumption of natural resources is the root cause of the earth’s environmental problems as wells as human health and societal problems. (Gascoigne, 2001)
History and Causes of Population Growth
For roughly a
million years the population of humans on the earth remained consistent and
growth remained slow. Historians
estimate that in 10,000 B.C. the total earth population of humans had reached 5
million. Ten thousand years later, by
the first year of the Common Era the population reached 250 million. The first billion was reached in the year
1800 (Shah, 2003).
Then within the last 200 years until the present the human population
exploded, 60% of the growth occurring in 0.02% of human history. The doubling of the world population has
occurred in shorter and shorter time spans, meaning that the growth rate is
occurring even faster with each year. (PBR, 2005)
What does all this mean for our postmodern human society today? Well, if you have ever read or watch the current world news and seen the economic, social, environmental and political strife that is happening in our world today, then you will have seen evidence of the direct and indirect results of this major problem that is occurring in our world today. Famine, disease, crime, species extinction, war, pollution are all results of the ever increasing population problem. All of these problems and many others are a direct result of the exponential increase in the populations of humans on the earth, in combination with the ever increasing high rate of consumption of earth’s natural resources. This is a very important topic to investigate when dealing with large-scale future social planning for an earth that will sustain us all. (Christian, 1999)
The spark that has led to the raging fire of growth within the last century is the agricultural revolution which began in roughly 5000 B.C. This cultural system of food production leads to a surplus of food. With all species of life on this planet from bacteria to bullfrogs, an increase in food supply leads consistently to an increase in that species population. The opposite is also true, a decrease or a consistency in food supply and resources leads to a decrease or a consistent population. Other factors, of course, have also contributed to the success rate of humans on this planet. Things like better nutrition, medicine, and sanitation have helped fuel the fire. (Leslie, 1998, p73)
Future
predictions are quite a complex thing to do when it comes to human
population. The growth rate is
determined by many different factors. If
current trends continue however the population by 2050 will easily reach 30
billion. Most scientist and planners
estimate from 9 to 12 billion by 2050 and 10 to 15 billion by 2100. Growth rates by numbers are much higher in
Ecological
footprint is an analysis of the average amount of resources used by individuals
in a population. As you might have
guessed, the ecological footprints of citizens in
The world's wealthiest 20 percent of humanity consume 86 percent of the world's resources. Half of humanity lives on less than two dollars a day. This is quite an extreme difference in wealth distribution. Between 1970 and 1990 the population increased from 3.6 billion to 5.3 billion, an increase in 1.7 billion. However the resources that Americans used between those years more then doubled in most cases. Registered automobiles went from 250 million to 560 million, this more then doubled miles driven and oil consumed. Soft drinks consumption went from 150 million barrels to 364 barrels. Energy used went from 1.1 billion kilowatts in 1970 to 2.6 billion in 1990. Every year each American throws away more then eight times his weight in letter and trash. Many other resources used have increased dramatically, disproportionately to population growth each year. (Leslie, 1998, p23)
Renewable resources such as land and forests, and clean water are being depleted faster then the can be renewed naturally. Non-renewable resources such as metals and fossil fuels for energy are reaching peak production, these resources take millions of years to regenerate. Atmospheric pollution and climate change, water pollution, including ground aquifers, deforestation and loss of oxygenation are all results of consumption. The list of environmental problems can go on and on; the oceans, depletion of coral reefs, national parks, wildernesses and wetlands being destroyed, quality of farmland topsoil, global warming… (Berkeley, 2001)
Another list of problems resulting from the population and consumption explosion is the effects on human health. Edgar R. Chasteen (1971) in the book The Case for Compulsory Birth Control makes the analogy:
Overpopulation
is a child whose teeth decay, whose bones are malformed, whose eyesight goes
uncorrected and whose education is sporadic and totally inadequate for today’s
world. It is a body stunted by vitamin
deficiency and beset by diseases unknown to the less crowded world. It is a mind caged in a primitive world and
dominated by the strong, where those ethics by which civilization maintains
itself are irrelevant to the brutal demands of daily living. (p35)
Currently world wide 1.1 billion
people suffer from malnutrition. Diseases
in history: smallpox, cholera, plague, typhus, yellow fever, scarlet fever and
many others, and new forms are ever on the rise. Many have been the result of overcrowded, unsanitary
conditions. The numbers of famine and
there devastation has increased throughout history. (Christian,
1999)
Also this problem extends to the human psyche. With the increase in population the number of interaction with unknown people increases. This according to Chasteen leads to increased feelings of personal insecurity and suspicion. These characteristics are essential for survival of the species as a whole, but for the individual it is damaging for the spiritual and emotional well being. This may lead to crime and conflict, to mental illness or political unrest. More demand is made for political control and freedoms are lost. (Chasteen,1971, p42).
Historical Views of Population
Many philosophers and social thinkers throughout history have dealt with the subject of population growth and development. Confucius and other ancient Chinese philosophers stated concepts for optimum agrarian population and designed policies for growth and distribution of population. Plato proposed to restrict births by permitting only the most fit to reproduce. His plan involved public opinion and societal rewards as being very important in encouraging births and societal stigmas and elders rebukes for the young to be a restriction of births when necessary. Colonization was Plato’s solution to drain off the surplus and immigration to replenish population decimated by war or epidemic. Aristotle’s solutions and proposals included putting deformed children out to die, abortions, and a form of eugenics as a method for controlling population growth. Homosexuality was also included in the discussion of Aristotle as a population check (Chasteen, 1971, p 53)
Mercantilism, the idea that an increase in population size is politically and economically advantageous for a society, became the leading view in the 17th and 18th centuries. A large population would be advantageous for wars and the labor force. The government systems during this era penalized unmarried people socially and financially. Large families were even rewarded monetarily by governments. This is more of a focus on the nation and less on the individual. (Chasteen, 1971, p56)
In the late 18th
century a man named Thomas Robert Malthus wrote theories and ideas revolting
against the previous system of views in
(1) Food is necessary to the existence of man. (2) The passion (sexual drive) between sexes is necessary, and will not change over time. (3) The rate of population increase is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence (food supply) for man. Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64..., while subsistence increases in an arithmetic ratio, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... (Chasteen, 1971, p57)
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a
saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” —
Dom Helder Camara. The ethics of dealing with
the problem of population growth by means of things like population control is
a very tricky subject to broach, because it involves the quantifiying and attempt
to control human life, a very complex system.
Human
life has always been viewed as sacred, and with this view, life should be
prolonged as long as possible. Beginning with the development of vaccinations
in the 19th century, America and the developed world has spread its
system of death control to the rest of the world. The motivation was benevolence and the
objective was prolonging human life, a very noble ideal in the traditionalist
eyes. To say otherwise is considered by
many to be heartless and cruel. However
the policy of help and run has unintentionally created a system of chaos for
many nations and people, who are living in poverty and suffering from
malnutrition, etc. The key problem being
the lack of long-term planning in solving these social problems of human health
and well being. (Farmer,
1968, p291)
Religious views have, in the past, tended to take very stringent views on sex and human sexuality, the church as in past held the distorted view of sex, that it is a sinful activity. It was taught that it was desirable to abstain from sexual intercourse in order to attain a more religious existence. However because most men are weak the permission was granted by the church for sexual relations in marriage, but only for procreation. And “If one felt any pleasure from sexual union, he was to seek God’s forgiveness of his lustful nature.” (Chasteen, 1971, p181).
The Catholic Church until the middle of the 20th century taught that any method of avoidance of contraception was sinful. The Catholic church eventually came to the views long held by the Protestant churches, which accepted healthy contraceptives as a means to avoid undesired pregnancies. The amount of children a family could have was left to the individual couple’s assessment of how many children they could rear in a healthy environment. Their consciences were to be the guide in this matter. (Farmer, 1968, p293)
These historically distorted views along with high emotional levels involved with sex has led to the stigma that many in society now view the subject and this causes problems for the development and implementation of birth control methods. While many contraceptives are available, from condoms to diaphragms to pills, the individuals do not seek out these actively because of the social embarrassment or ridicule that our society places on sexually active unmarried or even married people. (Farmer, 1968, p298)
Some other suggestions made for solutions to population problems include women in the workplace which will decrease the pregnancy rate. First of all this is not an effective method of decreasing the birth rate, and also children in these situations are deprived of necessary care and attention, very important for healthy development. This could increase the society with unstable individuals. (Chasteen, 1971, p193)
Many suggestions deal with economics. One proposal says that there should be greater movement of populations to urban settings from rural. This is based on the fact that urban growth rate is much lower the rural. However many other problems would result from urbanization, such as crime, pollution (including noise), alienation, easier spread of infectious diseases. (Chasteen, 1971, p194)
Some suggest that unmarried women be encouraged to have children with the idea that they will usually have less because of financial burdens; this statistically is not always the case. (Chasteen, 1971, p195)
Edgar R. Chasteen’s solution for population control involves the development of a system of immunizations given at the age of10 to all citizens which would make them sterile. Then after marriage and an official request, a second shot could be administered to reverse the sterilization. This requires the technology to be developed and very strict government control to oversee the program. According to Alan Guttmacher’s Babies by Choice or Chance:
Pregnancy prevention should be viewed in the same way as the prevention of smallpox and polio: It must be foolproof, infallible...cheap…harmless even when used over protracted periods. It must be readily reversible, so that when it is discontinued, fertility will be restored rapidly. It must be simple to apply, requiring neither intelligence, nor consistently maintained motivation nor special equipment. Finally, its application must be wholly dissociated from the time of coitus. (Chasteen, 1971, p 174)
The reality is that the
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Christian, Jonette (1999)
“Population, immigration, and global ethics.”
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George J. (1968) World
Populations the View Ahead.
The Foundation for the
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(2001) History of Homo
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“The Tragedy of the Commons” SCIENCE
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