theories on population change

Question 1

what are the four different ideas of population change?

Answer 1

thomas malthus
ester boserup
neo malthusians
julian simon

Question 2

who was thomas malthus?

Answer 2

he was an economist working in the later 18th and 19th century

Question 3

when did thomas malthus write his theory?

Answer 3

1798

Question 4

what was malthus’ basic idea?

Answer 4

that population could grow more rapidly that its carrying capacity to feed itself
population will grow to a point when there is too many people for the food available

Question 5

why does population grow faster than food in malthus theory?

Answer 5

because population grows exponentially (more and more each time) whereas food supply grows arithmetically (constant rate)

Question 6

once carrying capacity has been exceeded what begins to happen? -malthus

Answer 6

positive checks occur to decline the population such as famine and war

Question 7

is there evidence for malthus theory?

Answer 7

• there has been famines but not to a global extent

- he stated that food production would decrease but since the 18th century it has seen an increase

Question 8

what are neo malthusians

Answer 8

rapid population growth in the 20th century lead people to believe that pop was growing faster than resource
they ebleive that rapid population growth is an obstacle to development

Question 9

who is the club of rome?

Answer 9

part of the neo malthusians
an international think tank who created computer models based on malthusian ideas to model relationship between populations and resources

Question 10

what did the club of rome computer models predict?

Answer 10

• that population would continue to increase until 2050, after that it will decrease
• food per head starts to rapidly decline in the 21st century
• pollution increases then decreases in 2030

Question 11

what are the overall conclusions of neo malthusians?

Answer 11

that population can live indefinitely if it is limited and resources are used sustainably

Question 12

who is ester boserup?

Answer 12

an economist who challenged the idea that there were limits to human population growth

Question 13

what was boserups theory of population?

Answer 13

that a growth in population and change in human ingenuity can alter the carrying capacity
the more people that there are the more advances in technology, therefore new ways to increase food production

Question 14

is there evidence for boserups theory?

Answer 14

• genetic modification
• green revolution
• hydroponics aeroponics
• intesnive farming

Question 15

what was julian simons idea of population?

Answer 15

that the human mind was the ultimate resource