OverPopulation
Daniel Elgen
Axia College of University of Phoenix
In developed countries foods and drinks are bought to be consumed, replaced, consumed, and replaced. Some humans are making the mistake of taking these resources for granted. Some humans are not educated enough to understand the dire situation the world is in. Some humans have extensive knowledge about the many problems and dilemmas facing the world as a whole, and they are do little or nothing to help solve them. When will the leaders of the world take action? How long will it be before humans consume more than they can replace? The human population is already experiencing shortages of resources. Here is a quote from Mark R. Elsis, a well respected researcher of governmental and environmental issues, “Nearly half a billion people around the world face water shortages today. By 2025, the number is expected to grow to 2.8 billion people”( 2000, May 1). Water is only one of the many resources in trouble. If the growth of the human population is not dramatically reduced the world’s resources will soon be depleted.
There is a term that is used to describe the effects that researchers are seeing and normal humans are experiencing. The word is overpopulation and it is easily defined as the, “growth of a species' population beyond its carrying capacity”(Catton, Jr., 1980). To further expand on this simple definition the definition of another may be required. The National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet Earth’s Glossary is quoted to describe carrying capacity as, “the maximum number of organisms that can use a given area of habitat without degrading the habitat and without causing social stresses that result in the population being reduced”(Glossary, 2008). A social stress that would cause a reduction in the human population would be the depletion or shortage of a necessary resource. Humans have many resources they can not live without. The human body needs a certain amount and type of...