Population Theories World Issues 120

Divergent ideas about population growth There are both optimistic and pessimistic views on population growth: Cornucopian (Optimistic) Bogue (Optimistic) Malthus (Pessimistic) Catton (Pessimistic)

Cornucopian Faith in the human ability to find technological innovations to carry the increased capacity of the human population.

Bogue D.J. Bogue believed that society naturally limits population – the population grows only in response to the Earth’s ability to support a larger population.

Malthus Thomas Malthus believed that the population grows in geometric sequence (1,2,4,8,16…), whereas food only grows arithmetically (1,2,3,4,5…).

Phantom carrying capacity – unsustainable use of resources Catton William Catton believes that Earth’s carry capacity has exceeded at the expense of environmental damage. Result? Phantom carrying capacity – unsustainable use of resources

Population Projections Where do we go from here? Population Projections The U.N. has three projections on how quickly the population growth rate declines. The projections are less than a few years ago – this indicates demographic transition occurring faster than anticipated.