EMSC-100 EMS First Year Seminar

Fall 2014

Section 010
Name:

Instructor: J. Rostami
PSU ID:

Bret Jablonski

Assignment #1

Assignment

Revised

duedate
9/18/14

Problems Grow as the World Does

Introduction
The world population has been growing at an alarming rate. The global population hit one billion
people in 1804 and then reached two billion in 1927. Today, the total number of people stands at over
seven and a quarter billion. In less than a century, the population grew by over five billion people.
Projections show that by the year 2100, the population will be nearing eleven billion. The high growth rate
seen over the past century was a direct relation to the expansion in the abilities of technology, and one can
only wonder how far technology can take the human population.

Discussion
The growing population will create more problems that must be confronted by the current and
future populations. One of the main issues surrounding a growing population is needing more of just
about everything. The biggest of these will be supplying enough food to sustain the entire population. For
a population of 9 billion (35% increase) the current crop production will have to double in order to feed
the world. This is because of a growing diet in developing countries. There is a limited amount of fertile
land that is suitable for farming. Much of that land is currently in use for agriculture, leaving little
available space to grow food for the couple billion extra people living on the Earth. Today, one of the most
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EMSC-100 EMS First Year Seminar

Fall 2014

Section 010

Instructor: J. Rostami

popular methods of creating new land for agriculture is by ripping or burning down forest space,
especially rain forests. This method creates fertile space for a time, but crops usually use up the minerals
in the soil fairly quickly. Furthermore, doing this destroys vital forest areas that are already smaller than
what they were. This could mean an additional problem of air pollution, as there would be less trees to
replenish fresh air. Another critical element for agriculture and for all life is water. Fresh water will
become one of the most valued resources in future years. Even today, the limits of this resource are being
shown, specifically in desert areas. In the American West, lakes and rivers are at a fraction of what they
were, even a couple of years ago. The lowered levels of rainfall in the region has made for a dryer
landscape, increasing the risk of forest fires and increasing the use of city and ground water for
agriculture. In other regions of the globe, the problem is much more serious. In areas of Africa and the
Middle East, places where water is already scarce, people fight over the resource to help their survival in
the harsh deserts. If water is not used more efficiently today and in the future, people may have to fight for
it, even in places where today all people have to do is turn a faucet.
A continually growing population will not be the only problem facing the population, but it will
also be that a greater portion of the population will be living a developed lifestyle. This is what will cause
the biggest problems in the future. Developed nations use a lot more energy and resources compared to a
developing country. This is from a greater use of technology such as phones, computers, lighting, heating,
and air conditioning, and a much larger transportation sector. Despite most of the worlds resources being
consumed by developed nations, the majority of the worlds population lives in developing countries in
areas including Southeast Asia and most of Africa. The countries in these areas are becoming closer to
developed today, and once they are fully developed, the entire world will be consuming energy and
resources like todays developed nations. If the entire world consumed resources like the United States
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EMSC-100 EMS First Year Seminar

Fall 2014

Section 010

Instructor: J. Rostami

does, nothing would be considered sustainable. The worlds already finite resources, including fossil fuels,
would be stressed even greater and would run out much more quickly. To counter this, the world must
pursue a smarter growth, with large emphasis on renewable energy sources and more efficient materials
such as graphene. Graphene is one of the most promising materials for future technology. This material
has all of the right properties: great conductor of electricity, very strong, and flexible. Technology has
been able to carry the world population to where it is today. The only way a larger, more developed global
population can survive is if technology grows faster than the population.

References
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/feeding-9-billion/
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/slash-burn-deforestation-particularly-harmful
http://www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/

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