Bryan ZingmarkBIO-205-I012/05/09
Assignment 5 Week 4 (Unit 2)
A. Discuss how the ever increasing "World's population" effects the environment.

The exponential growth rate of the last 2 centuries was literally incredible. The population of the world has grown by 6 billion people in just 179 years. Since the year I was born the population has increased by 3 billion. That is an increase of over 1 billion people every 10 years. These numbers are startling, and it really makes you think about how the rate of change began growing so much in the 1900’s.

I think it is safe to assume that the industrialization of countries and benefiting economies is the link to this growth. In fact it isn’t an assumption at all the developing and industrialization of countries is directly linked to population growth and the lowering of mortality rates around the world.How does population growth affect our world’s environments? Well the list of ways that people affect or damage the environments around them could go on forever. Multiply that list by the number of people and the projected population increase and it is easy to see the negative effects the “world’s population” has on the environment. I will attempt to examine a few of the environmental issues that I feel are important to me.

As the population grows so does the strain put on the worlds natural resources. The people demand sources to of power to satisfy their daily needs. To provide these sources of power companies must deplete and refine natural resources and fossil fuels. Countries allow and even encourage the gathering of these resources ensuring growth and prosperity for these nations. When resources are depleted it put a huge strain on the environment surrounding these industries. Pollution is a guaranteed side affect, to both the air, and ground water and fresh water systems.

As the population grows, so does the need for the clearing of land; for new housing developments, and agricultural purposes. This puts a horrible strain on local ecosystems and again is directly related to the polluting fresh water systems.Unclean water, along with poor sanitation, kills over 12 million people each year, most in developing countries. Air pollution kills nearly 3 million more. Heavy metals and other contaminants also cause widespread health problems. (http://actionbioscience.org/) If we use this example to project the long term effects pollution has on the life of humans on Earth, it is obvious that the death rates will increase as the population grows. Basically as the population grows so will the number of deaths related to pollution. At the current rates we are polluting our Earth we our setting up the future generations to suffer terribly. It is up to us as individuals and societies, to figure out possible solutions for the strains our growing populations puts on our environment. We can start with recycling and getting involved with world stewardship organizations. Every one of us leaves a carbon footprint which shows our individual consumption history. We need to learn what our individual carbon foot print is and find ways to lessen our impact on the

world.http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/hinrichsen_robey.html