Human Population Growth And Its Effect Environmental Sciences Essay

Human Population Growth And Its Effect Environmental Sciences Essay Population growth can be defined as an increase or decrease in the population size of living species including human beings. Human populations are also subject to natural process of birth and death. There has been a rapid increase in the worlds human population over the last few decades (UNFPA, 2011). Unless urgent steps are taken to control population, serious problems can arise like environment damage and limited availability of food resources. Continuous population growth can be problem and therefore it is important to understand how we can manage population growth for the benefit of all. Human beings have tried to make food resources available for all the population in many ways. Starting from the industrial revolution, advances in modern medicine, and green agriculture revolution have all made us self sufficient so far. However such technology development cannot go forever and therefore unless we manage population a day may come when all resources will be finished. At present there are two school of thought for the theories on population growth. The first is the pessimistic view developed by Reverend Robert Malthus, a British scholar who believed that the resources available will not be sufficient for human beings if human population is not controlled. The other theory is the optimistic view developed by Julian Simon who believed that humans can manage the issue of population because of their knowledge and skills. Therefore this paper will discuss these two theories for population growth and their effect on the resources and environment of the earth. II. Factors affecting population growth The population growth is determined mainly by birth rate, death rate, and migration patterns (immigration and emigration). For instance the population in the developed countries like Europe and America is growing at rate of only 0.1% per year while in developing countries the growth rate is over 1.5% per year. (Wright and Boorse,2011) (UNDP). In developing countries where manual labour is still considered main source of labour, children form part of the labour force and therefore families tend to have more children. Similarly when the pension system is not good, people tend to raise more children to look after during old age. Wherever women are more educated and take lead role in household income activities, there tend to be less number of children raised. In areas where traditions, culture and customs are respected population tend to be higher due to less use of contraceptives. III. Impacts of population growth Although it may be difficult to measure the carrying capacity for humans on earth (Cohen, 1995) scientists have estimated the carrying capacity at around 7.7 billion people (Van Den Bergh and Rietveld, 2004). It is now estimated that the world population will be around 9.1 billion by the year 2050. The very high population growth has raised concerns that the planet may not be able to sustain such population in the long run. Increasing population will mean increased demand for food, water, and other resources such as fossil fuel. The impact of population growth can be seen by everyone who care for the world that we live in. Over the last few decades there has been large scale destruction of the tropical forests mainly to make land available for agriculture and for urbanization. In order to produce enough food to meet the demand of growing population, forests have been cleared to undertake farming. Due to increased industrialization and urbanization, there has been great increase in th e pollution of air, water and the environment of the planet. Growing population will result in the depletion of natural resources such as water, fossil fuels (Hubert, 1982); deforestation and loss of ecosystems; and emergence of new diseases. It will also lead to more starvation, hunger and unhygienic living conditions in poor countries. IV. Factors affecting environment Environment means our surroundings in which all the things, living or non living, which includes atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), lithosphere (solid earth), biosphere (all living organisms), and geosphere (rocks and regoliths). Numerous factors affect our environment which includes anthropogenic activities such as urbanization, industrialization, deforestation, overpopulation, and use of fossil fuels. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, cyclones, landslide and floods can also negatively affect the environment. V. Relationship between environment and population growth Humans are an integral part of the eco-system of nature and there is close interconnection between human beings and environment. Ever since life existed humans have been depending on their environment for food, shelter, and other necessities. There is an inverse relationship existing between population growth and environment as overpopulation will lead to adverse effect on the environment. As human population increase, there is also increase in the demand for food and other energy sources. It is essential that the population is maintained at a level so that the natural resources are sufficient to meet the requirement for survival of all living beings. VI. Neo-Malthusian or pessimistic views on population growth Malthusian theories or pessimistic theories on population growth was derived from the ideas of Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus, a British scholar who wrote series of essays on the principles of population. There were six editions of his An Essay on the Principle of Population (published from 1798 to 1826) in which he said that if the human population growth is left unchecked the food supply will not be sufficient to meet the needs of humans. He proposed the idea that while human population grew exponentially, the food resources grew only arithmetically. He also believed that population will be controlled naturally by disease, famine and mortality. This was called as the pessimistic model of population growth. Malthus believed in using preventive checks such as abstinence, delayed marriage and restricting marriages in order to control population growth. Some people criticized Malthuss theory based on the fact that there has been an enhanced agricultural production and reduced human fer tility over the past few decades since the publication of his theories. However, many still believe in his theory that if left unchecked, population growth can pose serious problems for resource availability (Cristina, 2010). Neo-Malthusianism These are groups who also believe in the theories of Malthus and encourage population control programs for the present and future benefit of human beings. The Neo-Malthusians view however differ from Malthus in their belief on the use of contraceptive techniques for the birth control measures. The neo-Malthusians or the pessimistic view had more concerns about the effect that population growth would have on environmental degradation. While they supported the theories put forward by Malthus, this group of people strongly supported the idea of actively controlling population growth in order to prevent adverse impact on the environment. This pessimistic group are concerned about the effect overpopulation may have on resource depletion and environmental degradation. There has been a general revival in neo-Malthusian ideologies from the 1950s onwards especially after the publication of series of books by some Malthusian supporters such as Fairfield Osborn (Our Plundered Planet), William V ogt (Road to Survival) and Paul Ehrlich (The Population Bomb). Although many critics of neo-Malthusianism criticize the revival of this theory based on fact that the green revolution has led to sufficient food production, Pessimists such as Paul Ehrlich believe that unchecked population will ultimately lead to serious problems in the future (Ehrlich, 2009). Neo-Malthusian or the pessimistic view is more about the positive checks but Malthusian said that there is balance between both positive and negative checks. Technological or Optimistic views on population growth. The optimistic model of population growth was proposed by Julian Simon who in his book The Ultimate Resource (1981) argued that as resources become scarce the price goes up which in turn creates incentives for people to discover new source or find alternatives for the resource. Simon also claims in his book that the natural resources are infinite based on the justification that innovative methods can be used to make natural resources available. Increasing population growth and reduced resources make people to create innovations and inventions to produce more food and all basic needs. The optimistic view said that science and technology can overcome scarcity problems. Esther Boserup (1910-1999)-Danish economist said necessity is the mother of invention. So, humanity will always find a way to overcome their problems. The optimistic view also said that more people means more alternatives to find new materials and discover ways to do things. Discussion It can be seen from the above paragraphs that population growth can impact on the state of environment of our planet. Of the two theories on population growth, I support the neo-malthusian theory of pessimistic views based on the following justifications. Deforestation for agriculture If the human population growth is left unchecked, a day might come when the earths resources will not be able to sustain the requirements of human beings. As overpopulation will demand increasing food, energy, and other resources, humans will engage in activities that will directly affect our environment and ecosystem. For instance, about 160,000 square kilometers per of tropical rainforests are cleared for agricultural use thus resulting in loss of habitat for the biodiversity (Laurance, 1999). Such loss of forests will contribute to global warming and other negative effects on environment. Urbanization/industrialization In order to meet the growing demand of increasing population, humans have been using technologies such as industrialization for enhanced production of food and other needs. Increased industrialization and urbanization results in air pollution, noise pollution, and water pollution which are all detrimental to our environment. Increased urbanization will also mean clearance of forests for construction of roads, buildings etc. which further adds to pollution. Depletion of non-renewable natural resources and emission of green house gases Uncontrolled growth of population will lead to rapid depletion of non-renewable natural resources such as fossil fuels which are used as source of energy. The burning of fossil fuel i.e. carbon based fuels, mainly wood, coal, oil and natural gas produces significant amount of CO2 which is one of the main green house gases that contributes to global warming (International Energy Outlook, 2000). The green house effect maintains the earth at comfortable temperature range but if there is excessive release of CO2 and other harmful gases from the industries and factories, the green house gases gets easily out of control and will lead to so many problems like continental drift, climate change, natural disasters and variations of suns out put. Loss of biodiversity and habitat Due to growing population, especially in the rural areas of developing countries, people practising shifting cultivation undertake slash-and-burn techniques which results in the extinction of native flora and fauna. It has been reported that nearly 140,000 species are lost every year due to deforestation activities (Pimm, Russell, Gittleman and Brooks, 1995). Therefore, if population growth is not controlled, increasing human activities will further result in destruction of the habitat and loss of biodiversity. In Bhutan, human-wildlife especially human-elephant conflict is increasing and this is mainly due to the loss of habitat for the elephants due to increasing human population and activities (Kuensel, 19 May 2012). IX. Solutions There is a need to find solutions to decrease the problems associated with overpopulation and environmental degradation. The governments around the world should have policies to decrease the population growth rate by increasing use of birth control measures. The governments should also frame good policies to protect forests and environment and prevent loss of natural habitat. Innovative ideas and research should be done to increase food production without disturbing the environment. The governments should increase funding for education and awareness of especially the poor people for them to protect and take care of their environment. X. Conclusions In conclusion overpopulation can lead to problems in the form of depleting natural resources, environmental pollution and degradation, and loss of habitat. Therefore, urgent steps need to be taken to manage human population growth to a level that can be managed well. The theories founded by Reverend Malthus can be still followed because the natural resources available now may not be sufficient in the future if we do not control human population growth. XI. References Cristina Luiggi. (2010). Still Ticking. The Scientist 24 (12): 26. Hubbert, M.K. Techniques of Prediction as Applied to Production of Oil and Gas, US Department of Commerce, NBS Special Publication 631, May 1982. International Energy Outlook 2000, Energy Information Administration, Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. (2000) Joel Cohen, How Many People Can the Earth Support? (New York: Norton, 1995) J. Van Den Bergh and P. Rietveld, Reconsidering the Limits to World Population: Meta-analysis and Meta-predictions, Bioscience 54, no 3 (2004): 195. Kuensel, 19 May 2012, Page 22. Laurance, W. F. 1999. Reflections on the tropical deforestation crisis. Biological Conservation 91: 109-117. Paul R. Ehrlich; Anne H. Ehrlich (2009). The Population Bomb Revisited. Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development 1(3): 6371. Retrieved 2010-02-01. S.L. Pimm, G.J. Russell, J.L. Gittleman and T.M. Brooks, The Future of Biodiversity, Science 269: 347350 (1995). Sahney, S. , Benton, M.J. Falcon-Lang, H.J. (2010). Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica (PDF). Geology 38 (12): 10791082. doi:10.1130/G31182.1. Tilman D., Fargione J., Wolff B., DAntonio C., Dobson A., Howarth R., Schindler D., Schlesinger W. H., Simberloff D. et al. (2001). Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change. Science 292: 281284. doi:10.1126/science.1057544. PMID11303102. United nations Population Fund, 2011 (http://www.unfpa.org/swp/ ) Wright and Boorse. (2011). Environmental Science.

Vann Woodwards The Strange Career of Jim Crow Essays -- Book Reviews

Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow Martin Luther King Jr. believed that The Strange Career of Jim Crow was, 'The historical bible of the civil rights movement.' Any book that graces a quote, of such intense backing etched across the cover has much to live up to. If an author can get the support of such a predominant figure in American society, like Martin Luther King Jr., the message behind the book will reach an ever growing population. When Martin Luther King Jr. put his stamp of approval on the book written by C. Vann Woodward, he provided a base for the book to reach people that may have never picked up and read the words that Woodward put out. Woodward himself was born in the south just after the start of the 1900?s and his inquisitive nature brought about the research that went into his book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow. Every person struggles to find out where he or she comes from and what the history of that area is. Woodward was no different, he was born in the south and immediately found out that there was a deep history rooted in prejudices and fighting. Although he wrote many other works, it wasn?t until his research during his stay with the NAACP, as a part of the controversial Supreme Court trial, Brown verses The Board of Education, that he himself made his mark in history. He based his whole book on the Jim Crow laws and their relationship with segregation. His direct contact with these unjust laws and how they were affecting the population of his home, created the setting for what some would consider his greatest work. His view that segregation started after the Civil War and that it began in the North, help ed to open reader?s eyes to what really might have occurred. The Strange Career of... ...ble make a change. Woodward marks a new philosophy in American history with his book and for that reason it will remain a must read. By writing, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, Woodward put himself, his family, and his career on the line to make a statement. It is easy for others to see how an idea is received and then decide whether they then want to show support for it or not. It is, however, enormously different to be the first person to put a controversial idea out to the public. In a sense Woodward threw himself to the wolves, but this time instead of being eaten alive, he changed the way in which the wolves lived. He took a chance by thinking differently and used his abilities as a historian to change the way people were thinking on the Jim Crow Laws. Works Cited: Woodward, Vann C. The Strange Career of Jim Crow. Oxford University Press:New York, 1966.

How can Ebola affect us Essay

Imagine being isolated from your own family and feeling unsure as to whether or not you will ever see them again. They do not want to come anywhere near you, for you are a threat to their health. The only visitors who come within 10 feet of you are strangers in full on protective gear. They do not want to expose the slightest bit of skin to you and you cannot see anything besides their eyes. The world fears what you are and no one wants to come close to you. You know death is near, and you are all alone. You can see the mountain of corpses outside the wiry mesh window of your facility, being burnt and thrown into mass graves, and you know that you will soon be joining them. This is the life of an Ebola victim.. In the year 1976, Ebola climbed out of its unknown hiding place, and caused the death of 280 out of the 318 people who got infected. That’s an 88% fatality rate. Fear gripped the victims, and tortured their minds. The people of Zaire waited outside clinics, churches and in their homes for a treatment of the horrible disease, but there was no cure. They were forced to watch people die, hoping that they would be saved from the violent death of the Ebola virus. From the year of 1976 till today, researchers have searched for origin and cure of the virus. Scientist have carried out numerous studies and investigations, but no one has been able to find the right explanations. There have been many others out breaks in the past but 2014/15’s outbreak has claimed more lives than all of these other outbreaks together, with a staggering 8386 death and counting. It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone calming 3,049 lives and Liberia causing 3,515 deaths and to to Nigeria causing 8 deaths. It is believed that the Ebola  virus may have initially been transmitted to humans from bats, and other forms of bush meat like monkeys ect.. fro m the jungles in central Africa, i know it must sount crazy to you to hear that some people eat monkeys but In some remote areas of Africa it is part of their culture and their way of life. In Africa’s Congo Basin, people eat an estimated five million tonnes of bush meat per year. The reason that bush meat is so deadly is because some animals mostly bats, can be a host to specific diseases without being harmed, were as us humans cannot carry these diseases without becoming infected. When a person contracts Ebola they will start to feel the symptoms within the next 2-21 days. The symptoms of Ebola are very distinctive and deadly. If you were to contract Ebola, your experience would be horrific you would start to get bad stomach pains, but it would just be passed off as a common bug. after that they would then start to amplify in pain until they would wake you up from your sleep, which would be followed by chronic vomiting. Anything you ate would come back up. These symptoms would continue for a few days then you would start to lose weight at an extreme rate. Chest pains would now accompany the stomach aches, by this time you would be very weak with virtually no food in your body due to the vomiting and your teeth would start to fall out while you would develop a bloody rash and you would die days later after horrific suffering. But those are just the side effects of what’s really happening in your body. Ebola attacks every organ and all of the tissue in the human body except the bones. You develop blood clots under the skin. Your organs turn to mush and the under layers of your skin die and liquefy; this is what causes the bloody bubbly rash. These things actually happen to Ebola patients every day. Ebola is a very contagious disease; this is why Ebola victims have to be kept contained in hospitals and treatment facilities. When it comes to transmission doctors take cleaning themselves after being in contact with an infected person very seriously. Ebola is transmitted through the passing of boldly fluids, which means if you get fluids from an infected person’s body onto your skin, you should be okay; but we as humans are constantly rubbing our eyes and eating with our hands so this means that we are still giving the Ebola parasite a chance to enter our body. At the moment there is no cure or vaccination for Ebola. Experiments however are taking place to find  a vaccination using antibodies of Ebola survivors. This is possible because like any other disease like small pocks and the chicken pox, one you have survived Ebola u become immune to it. Scientists are trying to figure out how to copy this into a vaccination. Most people in the uk think that they are completely safe from the disease, and at the moment yes they are. It is extremely unlikely that Ebola at the moment could reach the uk and spread like wildfire. However, every person in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia ect that gets infected with Ebola provides it with an opportunity to grow and mutate, if not stopped it will eventually maybe in the next year, maybe in the next 10 years become air born. This means that even breathing near an Ebola patient will give u the disease. Once air born it will travel the world and could patiently kill a large percentage of the earth’s population. Including you. I hope now you can see why Ebola need stop be stopped. Thanks for listening

Cognitive and Psychosocial Development During Adolescence

Cognitive and Psychosocial Development During Adolescence Cognitive Development of Adolescents Adolescence is considered as a stage wherein a person transitions into an adult (Green Peal, 2010). At this stage, the person experiences significant changes not only in the physical aspect, but also in the cognitive aspect. As the study about adolescent cognitive development have been conducted by the Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget. In his theory of cognitive development, Piaget proposed that the mental capability of children develops with age. According to Piaget, there are four major stages of cognitive development wherein children can be classified into. Children between the ages 0 to 2 years old are classified under the sensorimotor stage. At this stage, learning occurs through a trial and error process (Grossniklaus, Smith, Wood, 2011). The second stage of Piaget’s cognitive development is what he calls as the preoperational staged. Children who are between the ages 2 years old and 7 years old are included in the preoperational classification and are believed to have already developed the capability to communicate, memorize and imagine (Grossniklaus et al., 2011). Children at the preoperational stage are believed to possess egocentric behaviors and are beginning to develop their logical intelligence. Children between 7 to 11 years old are believed to be already self-aware. They now have the ability to reason and determine the consequences of their actions. Piaget classifies this stage of cognitive development a s concrete operational. The last stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, is the formal operational stage (Green Peal, 2010). Under this stage, children are believed to possess the ability to understand and formulate abstract ideas, such as morality, justice and conscience. Piaget’s formal operational stage is critical because it corresponds to the adolescent stage, which encompass children between 11 and 15 years old. It is the stage wherein most children reach the peak of their thought processes. Children, at this stage already have the ability to hypothesize. As observed by one scholar, formal operational thinkers are able to â€Å"construct hypothesis to account for a particular phenomena, deduce from these hypothesis that certain events should occur, and test the hypothesis by finding out if the events do occur† (Day, 1981, p. 45). Formal thinkers also begin to understand abstract ideas, such as love, faith, morality and spirituality (Grossniklaus et al., 2011). Some scholars associate the cognitive development of adolescence to the physical changes that occurs in the brain (Steinberg, 2005, p. 70). Because of this heightened ability to think for themselves, many adolescents become self-conscious. They tend to think that all eyes are on them and that they are the focus of other people’s attention, which accounts for awkwardness, especially in public. Adolescents also tend to think that their experiences are unique and that no one understands them. Psychosocial Development in Adolescence An adolescent’s psychological and social development is influenced by many converging factors, which includes their cognitive and emotional experiences. These experiences shape their behavior towards their family, peers and in public. According to Stanley Hall, a renowned American psychologist, individuals under the adolescent stage experience psychological and emotional turmoil, which he refers as ‘storm and stress’ (Arnett, 1999, p. 317). For Hall, this psychological and emotional turbulence accounts for the observed behavioral problems, such as mood swings, irrationality and impulsiveness. Scholars have also observed five major concerns that shape the psychosocial development of adolescents. Accordingly, adolescents are concerned about establishing their own identity; establishing their autonomy; establishing intimacy; concerns about their own sexuality; and concerns about their achievements (Ruffin, 2009, p. 4). It is quite common, for instance, for adolescen ts to experience confusion regarding their personality, primarily because of the many changes that occurs in their physical, mental and emotional state. Some adolescents, even exhibit delinquent behaviors; engaging in risk taking activities. Others, on the other hand, could not get along well with their parents; possessing a mindset that their parents could not understand their emotions. As a result, most adolescents spend more time with their friends as compared to the time they spend at home with their parents. Some get involved in drugs and substance abuse along with their peers. For Hall, such anti-social behaviors are associated with the emotional stress that occurs during adolescence, which eventually subsides as the individual matures (Arnett, 1999, p. 317). The turbulent psychosocial stage that adolescents go through should not be ignored. It is during the adolescence stage, for instance, when most individuals start to get involved with gangs, crime and drugs. Others struggle with anxiety and depression to the point that they would attempt to end their lives. The risk of suicide among adolescents is high. Studies in the United States, for instance, have observed that suicide is the leading cause of death for most young people between the ages 15 to 25 years old (Blum Qureshi, 2011). More than ever, adolescence is the stage wherein the child needs the emotional and moral support of their parents. Consistent with the social disorganization theory, the breakdown of social institutions, particularly the family, could impact the psychological and social development of children (Kubrin, 2009, p. 226). Failed parenting, divorce and dysfunctional families, for instance, are seen as the common grounds of delinquency among adolescents. Support g roups and social institutions, such as the school and the community, can also provide a nurturing effect on the development of individuals in this tumultuous period. The breakdown or failure of these institutions to provide the necessary intervention could also influence the psychosocial development of adolescents.