CGS NS 202 Study Guide - Final Guide: Garrett Hardin, Population Connection, Precautionary Principle
16 May 2018
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• Precautionary Principle: When an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary
measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relations are not fully established.
• Planetary Ethics: the precautionary principle from German law states how people need to restrain from certain activities
if its impact on environment isn’t clear. American environmental policy states how it is fine until proven otherwise.
• The Tragedy of the Commons
o Garrett Hardin
▪ Harding’s First Law of Human Ecology: We can never do merely one thing. Any intrusion into
nature has numerous effects, many of which are unpredictable.
▪ You cannot do only one thing→ this expresses the interconnectedness of every action
▪ A finite world can support only a finite population→ population growth must eventually equal 0.
• What is a common resource?
o Resources that are needed by all but whose productivity is diffuse rather than concentrated, low or
unpredictable in yield, and low in unit values tend to obey kept as communal property with relatively equal,
although not unrestricted, access by group members. Smaller, easier divisible, and more highly productive
areas may be owned and inherited by individuals.
o Overuse is tied to population density
• Zero Population Growth: a finite world can only support a finite population: population growth =0.
• What is the Tragedy of the Commons?
o CONCEPT: a shared resource in which any given user reaps the full benefit of his/her personal use, while the
losses are distributed amongst all users. Result? Tragedy all around.
• What is the “Tragedy of the Commons”?
o CLASSIC EXAMPLE: cows on shared pasture.
o Question: What are the benefits and costs to farmer of adding one more animal to his herd?
o Benefit: He gets all the biomass generated by that animal
o Costs: The village green is degraded a bit, but that cost is shared by all other animal owners
• Hardin’s Suggestion: Mutual Coercion, Mutually Agreed Upon
o Ex: speed limit, income tax, fishing limit, etc.
• Human Population
o Took more than 90,000 years to reach 5 million
o Took 200 years to reach 6 billion
o A J-shaped exponential growth curve
• Human Population
o Habitat destruction a direct result of human population increases. •
o Agriculture, cities, technological advances, industry/pollution all result in destruction of "natural" habitat, but
reason our carrying capacity increases.
• Human Growth
o Why exponential?
o Agriculture: food not limiting
o Technology: advances increase K, reduce death rate, and increase survival rate
• Population Density and Distribution
o Increased density impacts the environment, but relieves pressure in less-populated areas
o Humans are unevenly distributed across the globe
▪ Unpopulated areas tend to be environmentally sensitive (desserts)
• Overpopulation?
o Is population growth really a problem?
o Yes: Not all resources can be replaced; even if they could, quality of life suffers
o No: People can find or manufacture additional resources to keep pace with population growth
• Earth can support 2.5 billion people comfortably
• Some People Fear Falling Populations
• Population growth is correlated with poverty, not wealth.
• Policymakers believe growth increases economic, political, and military strength.
o They offer incentives for more children.
o 67% of European nations think their birth rates are too low.
o In non-European nations, 49% feel their birth rates are too high.
• Population Growth Affects the Environment
o IPAT: I=P*A*T
o I= total impact on environment
o P= interaction of population
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
American environmental policy states how it is fine until proven otherwise. The tragedy of the commons: garrett hardin, harding"s first law of human ecology: we can never do merely one thing. Population growth is correlated with poverty, not wealth. Policymakers believe growth increases economic, political, and military strength: they offer incentives for more children. 67% of european nations think their birth rates are too low. In non-european nations, 49% feel their birth rates are too high: population growth affects the environment.
