Impacts of the Human Population: Introduction
If we determined the ecological footprint of every person on the planet and added them all together it would equal 1.5 earths. Now, we all know we don’t have another earth to use. We don’t even have another ½ of an earth to make up for that difference! What can we do about this?
There are two major solutions to this problem: (1) We can all adjust our levels of consumption to reduce the demands we place on the planet, and (2) we can slow human population growth so that the earth has fewer people to support. How do we slow population growth? That’s what this section is all about!
Lesson Objectives
After you have completed this lesson, you will be able to:
- Examine factors that influence the size and rate of growth of the human population.
- Describe and analyze ways to decrease the population growth rate.
- Analyze the potential environmental and economic effects of human overpopulation.
Lesson Warm-up
Cultural Carrying Capacity
How many people can the earth support? Two billion? Thirty billion? This has long been a topic of scientific debate. In fact, way back in 1798, a British economist, Thomas Malthus, asked this same question. What conclusion did he come to? Let’s ask him!
Click the image to open the interactive activity.
Text Version