Thomas Malthus-pessimistic Flashcards
What did he forecast ?
Exponential rise in pop would outstrip food supply snd lead to things like famine/ war / disease
Pop will exceed carrying capacity
Food production arithmetically
Population geometrically
Current evidence of negative impacts of pop growth ?
Famines in Sudan
Wars in Syria
Energy / water in Dubai
As pop increases what happens to resources?
Over exploited
Positive correlation
Positive checks ?
Increased deaths through war
Famine / diseases
Increase abortion
Negative checks?
Moral restraint
Later marriages
What did he predict ?
Unless pop growth was control we would lead to malthusian catastrophe
The club of Rome
1968
Global think tank which was a computerised model to investigate state of a range of resources as well as pop growth.
Predicted that economic growth could not continue indefinitely due to limited availability of natural resources
What did the club Rome model predict ?
Pop would continue to rise until after 2050 - decline
Rapid resource depletion in first half of 21st century
Food per head declined
Pollution increases then falls in 2030
Problems with Malthusian theory?
Crisis not acc occurred
Technology has increased food production
What happened between 1960-2000?
3 billion people joined pop and to sustain growth agriculture resources had to be doubled meaning more space took up.
When did human populayipm start exponentially grprowmf
Beginning of 19th century
Thomas Malthus book
1798
An essay on the principle of population
“Power of population is infinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for ma
Food production can’t increase as much as human reproduction
How does food production increase
Arithmetically
10-20-30-40
So at any one time there is a fixed carrying capacity that can only support a given population
How does population occur/ grow
Geometrixalllg
1,2,4,8,16
Eventually population of people will exceed carrying capacity value
Postive checks
Increased death though war / famine / disease
More abortion
