PHYS 100: REED

OVERPOPULATION AND ITS TOLL ON THE PLANET

HYPOTHESIS

Earth's continued decline is due to human overpopulation and outdated practices in Mining, Farming, and Industrial Waste Management.

DEFINITION

Overpopulation: A situation in which the number of individuals of a given species exceeds the number that its environment can sustain. Possible consequences are environmental deterioration, impaired quality of life, and a population crash (sudden reduction in numbers caused by high mortality and failure to produce viable offspring).(The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009b)

World Population Growth

It took most of human history for our population to reach 1 billion—and just over 200 years to reach 8 billion. (Human Population Through Time | AMNH, n.d.) At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the total world population crossed the threshold of 1 billion people for the first time in the history of the homo sapiens. Since then, growth rates have been increasing exponentially, reaching staggeringly high peaks in the 20th century and slowing down a bit thereafter. The total world population reached 7 billion just after 2010 and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2045. (Van Bavel, 2013)

Overpopulation's effects on global resources

Overpopulation continues to cause an increased need for natural resources to keep up with the increased demand. Outdated practices in mining, farming, and industrial waste management have caused deforestation, soil erosion, and decreased air quality. Rapid population growth continues to be a major underlying force of environmental degradation and a threat to the sustainable use of natural resources. It reduces the quality and quantity of natural resources through overexploitation, intensive farming, and land fragmentation. (Maja & Ayano, 2021)

Effects of Outdated Mining Practices: Open Pit mining

While mining resources is essential to human survival certain mining practices cause adverse effects on our planet. Open pit mining, where material is excavated from an open pit, is one of the most common forms of mining for strategic minerals. Environmental hazards are present during every step of the open-pit mining process. Hardrock mining exposes rock that has lain unexposed for geological eras. When crushed, these rocks expose radioactive elements, asbestos-like minerals, and metallic dust. During separation, residual rock slurries, which are mixtures of pulverized rock and liquid, are produced as tailings, toxic and radioactive elements from these liquids can leak into bedrock if not properly contained. (Environmental Risks of Mining, n.d.)

Effects of Outdated Mining Practices: Underground mining

Like most traditional forms of mining, underground mining can release toxic compounds into the air and water. As water takes on harmful concentrations of minerals and heavy metals, it becomes a contaminant. This contaminated water can pollute the region surrounding the mine and beyond (Miranda, Blanco-Uribe Q., Hernandez, Ochoa G., & Yerena, 1998). Mercury is commonly used in as an amalgamating agent to facilitate the recovery of some precious ores (Miranda et al., 1998). Several other practices such as In situ leach (ISL) mining, Heap Leaching, and Brine mining create environmental damage to waterways and soil composition in much the same ways. Without oversite of these forms of mining continued damage to our renewable resources will continue to occur. (Environmental Risks of Mining, n.d.)

In addition to industrial mining practices overpopulation creates other challenges that cause a drain on our natural resources. As our population continues to dramatically increase the need for food increases as well, leading to an increase in farming. While farming is an essential practice for human survival outdated practices have created unique challenges of their own. These challenges create a need for sustainable farming to keep up with the increased demand.

EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE

Industrial agriculture is the large-scale, intensive production of crops and animals, often involving chemical fertilizers on crops or the routine, harmful use of antibiotics in animals (as a way to compensate for filthy conditions, even when the animals are not sick). It may also involve crops that are genetically modified, heavy use of pesticides, and other practices that deplete the land, mistreat animals and increase various forms of pollution. (Industrial Agriculture 101, 2020)

EFFECTS OF OUTDATED FARMING PRACTICES: THE DUST BOWL

The Dust Bowl was the name given to the drought-stricken southern plains region of the United States, which suffered severe dust storms during a drought in the 1930s. The Dust Bowl was caused by several economic and agricultural factors, including federal land policies, changes in regional weather, farm economics and other cultural factors. Rising wheat prices in the 1910s and 1920s and increased demand for wheat from Europe during World War I encouraged farmers to plow up millions of acres of native grassland to plant wheat, corn and other row crops. As the United States entered the Great Depression, wheat prices plummeted. In desperation, farmers tore up even more grassland in an attempt to harvest a bumper crop and break even. Crops began to fail with the onset of drought in 1931, exposing the bare, over-plowed farmland. Without deep-rooted prairie grasses to hold the soil in place, it began to blow away. Eroding soil led to massive dust storms and economic devastation—especially in the Southern Plains. (“Dust Bowl: Causes, Definition & Years - HISTORY,” 2009)

OVERPOPULATIONS EFFECTS: WATERWAYS

As our population continues to grow the effects continue to be detrimental to our water systems, resource development, and natural processes. Water and air pollution have altered the course of the earth’s history. Along with amazing technological advances, the Industrial Revolution of the mid-19th century introduced new sources of air and water pollution. By the middle of the 20th century, the effects of these changes were beginning to be felt in countries around the world. (“Water and Air Pollution,” 2009)

WATER POLLUTION: CAUSATION

Just like air, water is under assault from numerous types of pollution. For centuries, humans unknowingly contaminated sources of drinking water with raw sewage, which led to diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Water pollution intensified with the advent of the Industrial Revolution when factories began releasing pollutants directly into rivers and streams. In 1969, chemical waste released into Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caused it to burst into flames and the waterway became a symbol of how industrial pollution was destroying America’s natural resources.(“Water and Air Pollution,” 2009)

RISE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: THE EFFECTS ON OUR PLANET

With the world's population seeing a steady rise and cities beginning to erupt, the need for goods and services in those populated regions increased as well. These needs of a rising populous led to the mass production of goods. To mass produce these goods, mankind needed a way to do so and by the late 18th century, the world began to see the rise of the first industrial revolution.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION DEFINED:

The Industrial Revolution, in modern history, was the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. These technological changes introduced novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed society. This process began in Britain in the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world. Regions such as China and India however, did not begin their first industrial revolutions until the 20th century, while others, such as the United States and Western Europe, began undergoing “second” industrial revolutions by the late 19th century. (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2024)

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: THE GOOD

The invention of new technologies, from mechanized looms for weaving cloth and the steam-powered locomotive to improvements in iron smelting, transformed what had been largely rural societies of farmers and craftsmen who made goods by hand. Many people moved from the countryside into fast-growing cities, where they worked in factories filled with machinery. (Kiger, 2023)

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: THE BAD

While the Industrial Revolution created economic growth and offered new opportunities, that progress came with significant downsides, from damage to the environment and health and safety hazards to squalid living conditions for workers and their families. Historians say that many of these problems persisted and grew in the Second Industrial Revolution, another period of rapid change that began in the late 1800s. (Kiger, 2023)

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: THE UGLY

The Industrial Revolution was powered by burning coal, and big industrial cities began pumping vast quantities of pollution into the atmosphere. London’s concentration of suspended particulate matter rose dramatically between 1760 and 1830. Pollution in Manchester was so awful that writer Hugh Miller noted: “the lurid gloom of the atmosphere that overhangs it, the innumerable chimneys [that']l come in view, tall and dim in the dun haze, each bearing atop its own pennon of darkness.” Air pollution continued to rise in the 1800s, causing respiratory illness and higher death rates in areas that burned more coal. Worse yet, the burning of fossil fuels pumped carbon into the atmosphere. A study published in 2016 in Nature suggests that climate change driven by human activity began as early as the 1830s. (Kiger, 2023)

Oceanic Pollution:

Each year, billions of pounds of trash and other pollutants enter the ocean. Some debris sinks, some is eaten by marine animals that mistake it for food, and some accumulates in ocean gyres. Other forms of pollution that impact the health of the ocean come from sources like oil spills or the accumulation of many dispersed sources, such as fertilizer from our yards. The majority of pollutants that make their way into the ocean come from human activities along the coastlines and far inland. One of the biggest sources of pollution is nonpoint source pollution, which occurs as a result of runoff. (Ocean Pollution and Marine Debris, n.d.)

EFFECTS ON THE OCEAN:

Trash poses dangers to both humans and animals. Fish become tangled and injured in the debris, and some animals mistake items like plastic bags for food and eat them. Small organisms feed on tiny bits of broken-down plastic, called microplastic, and absorb the chemicals from the plastic into their tissues. Microplastics are less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter and have been detected in a range of marine species, including plankton and whales. When small organisms that consume microplastics are eaten by larger animals, the toxic chemicals then become part of their tissues. In this way, the microplastic pollution migrates up the food chain, eventually becoming part of the food that humans eat. (Marine Pollution, n.d.)

GREENHOUSE EFFECT:

Over the last century, the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This increase happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased concentrations of greenhouse gases. The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by nearly 50% since 1750. This increase is due to human activities because scientists can see a distinctive isotopic fingerprint in the atmosphere.(The Causes of Climate Change, n.d.)

ATMOSPHERIC DECLINE:

Due to the basic physics of heat-trapping gases and an exponential rise in population and energy consumption, humans have become a force of nature. This is a topic with enormous political, socio-economic, and emotional dimensions, but the scientific results show clearly that: Human activities, particularly the combustion of fossil fuels, are altering the climate system. Human-driven changes in land use and land cover such as deforestation, urbanization, and shifts in vegetation patterns also alter the climate, resulting in changes to the reflectivity of the Earth's surface (albedo), emissions from burning forests, urban heat island effects and changes in the natural water cycle. Because the primary cause of recent global climate change is humans, the solutions are also within the human domain. Because we understand the causes of climate change, that paves the way for effective solutions to be developed and deployed. (6. Humans Affect Climate, n.d.)

CITATIONS

Human Population Through Time | AMNH. (n.d.). American Museum of Natural History. https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/humans/human-population-timeline Van Bavel, J. (2013). The world population explosion: causes, backgrounds and projections for the future. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987379/ Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, November 15). overpopulation. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/overpopulation Maja, M. M., & Ayano, S. F. (2021). The impact of population growth on natural resources and farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change in Low-Income countries. Earth Systems and Environment, 5(2), 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-021-00209-6 Environmental risks of mining. (n.d.). https://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2016/finalwebsite/problems/mining.html Miranda, M. T. P., Hernández, L., & Yerena, E. (1998). All that glitters is not gold: Balancing conservation and development in Venezuela’s frontier forests. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL396684M/All_that_glitters_is_not_gold

CITATIONS (CONT.)

Dust Bowl: Causes, Definition & Years - HISTORY. (2009, October 27). HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2024, February 8). Industrial Revolution. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution Water and air pollution. (2009, November 6). HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/water-and-air-pollution Ocean pollution and marine debris. (n.d.). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-pollution Marine pollution. (n.d.). https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/marine-pollution/ The causes of climate change. (n.d.). Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/ 6. Humans affect climate. (n.d.). Teaching Climate. https://cleanet.org/clean/literacy/principle_6.html