Need a 150 word discussion response to the following discussion post.
Overpopulation of the planet is not something that we are at risk of. Over population is even considered a myth based on the work Rev. Thomas Malthus. Rev. Thomas Malthus was an English cleric and scholar who had many influences in the field of political economy and demography (UCMP Berkeley, 2016). Malthus believed that food production increased incrementally and people reproduce exponentially. Based on his calculations he estimated that he world would run out of food in 1890. This led him to suggest that it would be in the best interest of the world to get rid of the worst of the population. Then in 1968 Paul Ehrlich, who was an American biologist from Stanford university, took on the same argument of the consequences of population growth (Too Many People, Too Much Consumption, 2016). He believed that reckless human reproduction had overwhelmed the earth and there would be famine. This would result in the death of one fifth of the population by the end of the 1970’s.
However, based on the information from the U.S. Census, the world’s population is 7,344,149,500 as of August 13, 2016 at 4:00pm (Iinternational Programs, 2016). We can take everyone in the world and fit them in the great state of Texas, which has a landmass of 268,820 square miles (7,494,271,488,000 square feet). If we can divide 7,494,271 square feet by 7,344,149,500, you get 1020.44 square feet per person. That means that each person can live comfortably in Texas in a plot the of land that is the size of a small apartment.
Reference:
International Programs. (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2016, from http://www.census.gov/population/international/
Thomas Malthus (1766-1834). (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2016, from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html
Too Many People, Too Much Consumption. (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2016, from http://e360.yale.edu/feature/too_many_people_too_much_consumption/2041/
