![]() As it is, the people living in developed countries are consuming so much that the other approximate 75 percent of the population is left with barely what they need to get by. On the other hand, if everyone on the planet consumed only what he or she needed, 40 billion would be a feasible number. Basically, if everyone on Earth lived like a middle-class American, consuming roughly 3.3 times the subsistence level of food and about 250 times the subsistence level of clean water, the Earth could only support about 2 billion people. So are we doomed? How many human beings can the Earth support before resources run low and nature takes over, culling the human herds in order to reestablish a sustainable balance? Or do humans' unique abilities to develop new food and energy-production methods negate the danger?īecause people in different parts of the world are consuming different amounts of those resources. It seems Earth may have a carrying capacity after all. But scholars have recently begun to rethink their dismissal of Malthus' prediction, for several reasons. They have argued that this human ability allows food production to grow exponentially, as well. For two centuries, scientists have pretty much dismissed Malthus' hypothesis, saying he neglected to account for one very important variable that applies exclusively to humans: technological advancement. ![]() In this model, humans are bound to outgrow the Earth's resources. He said that while the human population tends to grow exponentially (by a greater amount each year - a percentage of the total), the food supply will only grow linearly (by a fixed amount each year - a number, not a percentage). The problem, Malthus suggested, is the difference in growth patterns between the human population and food production. A sustainable habitat is one in which supply of and demand for these resources are balanced. ![]() The idea of Earth's carrying capacity goes something like this: Humans need certain resources to survive at subsistence level - most commonly air, food, water and usually some kind of shelter. ![]()
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