Chapter 15-Promoting Environment Health
The global population has grown more in the past 50 years than at any other time in human history, posing a potentially devastating threat to the natural resources we consume and our capacity to survive.
Polar ice caps and glaciers are melting at rates that surpass even the most dire predictions of just a decade ago, and threats of rising sea levels loom large.
One in four mammals is now threatened with extinction as humans destroy habitat, exacerbate drought and flooding due to climate change, voraciously consume precious resources, and pollute the environment.
Clean water is becoming scare, fossil fuels are being depleted at unprecedented rates, and massive amounts of solid and hazardous waste are threatening the future of all living things.
We must reduce consumption, waste less, be less selfish when it comes to personal comfort and perceived needs, and force governments to enact and enforce environmentally responsible legislation.
The Threat of Overpopulation
The United Nations projects that the world population will grow from its current level of 7 billion to 9.3 billion by 2050 and over 10.1 billion by 2100.
Tomorrow’s population will be more industrialized, consume more resources, and produce even more waste than did previous generations unless actions are taken to control population growth.
Bursting with People: Measuring the Impact
Carrying capacity of the earth- the largest population that can be supported indefinitely given the resources available in the environment
Simply, we are running out of the natural resources necessary to sustain us, and the problem is growing at an unprecedented rate.
Impact on other species. Rain forests are being depleted, oceans are being polluted, and over half of the world wetlands have been lost in the last century. 12% of birds are threatened with extinction. More