GEOG 1070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Arabian Oryx, California Condor, Thomas Robert Malthus
5 Aug 2016
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Thomas malthus proposed population grew geometrically/exponentially, while ag productivity is arithmetically increasing. Said that it was obvious population would outstrip food supply; different than typical views of the time. 3 reasons why ag production cannot keep up with demand: loss of topsoil to erosion, exhaustion of aquifers for irrigation water, high price of energy for making fertilizers. Cornucopian economist believes more people is positive, because the more people there are to solve the problems and get around them. It is not just the short term disasters that could wipe out the population, it is the long term projections, when carrying capacity is reached. Some believe, such as sandra psotel, that we have already reached our carrying capacity, based on the rate we are depleting our natural capital. She is a naturalist, meaning she knows something of the factors that keep populations of different species of animals within bounds and what happens when they aren"t .
