Earth’s Human Population Limits Human population depends on the Earth’s basic ecosystems. There is a feedback loop which demonstrates how population depends on the Earth’s resources: “population cannot grow without food, food production is increased by assets, more assets requires more resources, disposal of resources becomes pollution, pollution interferes with the growth of both population and food” (Meadows, 103). The only problem is that most humans assume the Earth’s ecosystems can forever withstand the already outgrowing population. In reality, once the Earth’s population threshold is reached, demands expand and the supply of resources shrinks. The Earth and human population can only absorb a finite amount of pollution. If we continue to create more pollution due to crop pesticides, wasteful technological advances, and waste disposal, the fertility rate will continue to decrease causing the human population to decrease. Unfortunately, the poorest countries suffer the worst pollution effects because they have fewer physical resources to fix the problems. In addition, most of the needy countries lack peace, social stability, and education making it difficult for them to solve the problems. Although the poorer countries suffer the most immediate pollution effects, the pollution will eventually move through the atmosphere and up the food chain, effecting the entire Earth and its population. Population cannot grow without food and food cannot grow without arable land. Currently, the amount of arable land is decreasing due to pesticide use, soil erosion, and soil fertility degradation. Therefore, the quality of food is decreasing which is causing many cases of cancer. Since many acres of land are useless, society has turned to manufacturing foods made of many artificial chemicals. The chemicals are also causing cancers and other health problems. The land that is useful for agriculture takes thousands of gallons of water for irrigation purposes. In many countries, water is being depleted quickly, making it difficult for farmers to grow food crops. The nutrient levels of crops are totally depleted due to soil erosion and loss of fertility. Farmers in turn use fertilizers to produce good looking crops, however, the crops contain harmful chemicals, again causing human health problems. The Earth’s human population not only suffers from the effects of pollution and loss of land, it also suffers from the spreading of diseases. For example, the AIDS epidemic is horrendous throughout most of Africa and especially South Africa, where a gargantuan amount of people (approximately 6 million) currently have the disease. Africa is not a wealthy country where AIDS medication can be afforded. “HIV Management Services report that projections indicate that within 3 years almost 250,000 South Africans will die of AIDS each year” (AIDS Foundation of South Africa). Therefore, in the near future, the Earth’s human population will naturally decrease due to the increase in the AIDS mortality rates. The Earth could maintain a sustainable population if the proper physical and social necessities were met. Examples of physical necessities are: food, fossil fuels, ecological systems, land, water, metals, forests and oceans. Examples of social necessities are: peace, social stability, education, employment, and steady technological progress. Unfortunately, it would take many miracles to reverse the damages that humans have already managed to do to Earth’s ecosystems and human population. Maybe, if all levels of society gained and lived by the basic ethic of a sustainable society, namely: “Each generation should meet its needs without jeopardizing the prospects of future generations” (Olszewski, 65) the fate of humanity might find refuge. Then, the feedback loop would look something like: population - - > food - - > assets - - > wise use of resources through “green” technology - - > responsible recycling and reuse of resources - - > controlled food production - - > controlled population... However, it would be naive to believe that the entire world population would embrace the idea of living without jeopardizing the prospects of future generations. The best that can be hoped for is that this ethical challenge will be passed onto future generations. Resources: AIDS Foundation of South Africa - http://www.aids.org.za/ Meadows, Donella and Dennis, The Limits To Growth, Signet, 1974 Olszewski, Bruce and Frank Schiavo, Readings in Environmental Studies, Kendall/Hunt, 1992