Earth's Human Carrying Capacity

Having a population size that is not dangerously large is the limit where the population size is acceptable and understood as the defined carrying capacity for humans. Population size and consumption can create stress on the environment through resources and social systems so that the quality of life decreases. However, some believe that resources can be created by humans and not all need to be replaced and reinvented once it’s used up, so resource availability may not be declining after all. All species are naturally selected and as they adapt to their environment they adapt to each other. Coevolution can also limit the growth of a population by affecting the biotic environment of a species. However it’s wrong to assume that all populations are regulated to perfection when environmental limits are constant since technology and man-made products are enabling humans to expand their limits even further.

Rapid population growth is harmful where it can eventually decrease wages and raise food prices due to an increase in food consumption. For example, China’s one-child policy has a population growth that is slowly increasing but not as fast as before, however food and energy prices are still rising all over the world and are affecting the economic growth of China where poor households risk ending up in poverty. Rapid economic growth also increases eco-environmental pollution pressure and affects economic urbanization where more land is being taken up for sheltering. To support the growing population where spatial urbanization can meet its urban sprawl goal, more lands will be used leading to environment weakening and limiting Earth’s carrying capacity. People argue that population pressures encourage technological change and organizational and institutional change especially in agriculture. However rural places like Bangladesh and parts of Africa have high population density and labour put into use.

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