environmental biology

The global population and carrying ability

The global population has reached 7 billion, and the resources required to support the increasing human population are limited. The carrying ability of an ecosystem applies to the infinite amount of animals that it can sustain indefinitely. Humans have a different carrying ability than most organisms because other creatures reproduce, eat resources, and communicate with their environment in predictable ways. Ecologists, on the other hand, find it impossible to measure human carrying ability when humans communicate with the environment in non-uniform ways. The carrying capacity is an estimation based on projected demographics, capital supply, and technological and economic growth. An ecological footprint is used to track biocapacity and comparing what humans can consume natural resources and the ability of the environment to replenish those resources (“World Population History”). Human population growth is a problem, since the planet does not have the biocapacity to sustain current population growth. The current population consumes more than the planet can replenish, and this leads to depletion of resources. In other words, lack of balance in the ecosystem leads to overpopulation of the planet.

Essay Question 2

Three-factor model is used to show a human impact on the environment. The model (I) has three factors: the number of people (P), affluence per person (A), and environmental effect of technologies used. The following equation is used to represent the environmental impacts: I=P*A*T (“The Sustainable Scale Project”). The environmental impact may also be expressed regarding resource depletion or waste accumulation. The three-factor model refers to the size of the human population in a given environment. Affluence relates to the level of consumption by the human population. Technology refers to processes applied by human population to obtain resources and ways of transforming them into wastes and goods.

Works Cited

World Population History. “Carrying Capacity - World Population.” Worldpopulationhistory.Org, 2016, http://worldpopulationhistory.org/carrying-capacity/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.

The Sustainable Scale Project. “The IPAT Equation.” Sustainablescale.Org, 2003, http://www.sustainablescale.org/conceptualframework/understandingscale/measuringscale/theipatequation.aspx. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.