Human Population: The Overpopulation Problem and Sustainable Solutions Essay

Human society lives in the atmosphere of numerous environmental threats. However, no dangers are as threatening to humanity as those created by humans themselves. Like global warming and the extinction of animal and plant species, overpopulation has already turned into the definitive feature of the postmodern environmental reality. Few strategies have been developed to address the overpopulation issue. The positive effects of those strategies had been but few. Today, there is an urgent need to develop a global sustainable strategy that will reduce the rates of the population growth to the extent, which will allow humans to meet their present needs without compromising the needs of the future generations. Overpopulation: A Review of the Problem A wealth of literature was written about overpopulation, its causes and consequences. Gilland (2008) defines overpopulation as â€Å"relation to a country’s ability to feed its inhabitants† (p. 122). In the global contexts, overpopulation implies that the planet no longer possesses resources necessary to satisfy even the basic human needs. More often than not, the concept of overpopulation is discussed in relation to diet and food consumption patterns. For example, Gilland (2008) provides an extensive review of what a satisfactory average diet is and what nutrition problems usually indicate the presence of the overpopulation issue. Overpopulation is often equated with conditions of living that manifest through continuous imbalance between population numbers and the carrying capacity of land; and here, food and diets are fairly regarded as the basic measures of overpopulation per unit of land (Fellmann, Getis & Getis, 2007). Overpopulation is problematic because it leads to unavailability of food resources with the caloric content needed to meet individual daily requirements for energy (Fellmann, Getis & Getis, 2007). The situation with developing countries is particularly difficult, because these countries cannot meet the growing demands of the ever increasing population. Difficulties with food production, continuous poverty, climate changes and significant crop losses add their share of complexity to the issue of overpopulation. For example, Africa’s share of crop production decreased 30% between 1960 and 1990, and further 30% decrease is predicted in the next 25 years (Fellmann, Getis & Getis, 2008). These problems will widen the population-nutrition gap and will turn overpopulation into the basic cause of famines and economic scarcity (Fellmann, Getis & Getis, 2008). Overpopulation marks the beginning of the so-called â€Å"plague cycle†, which will lead to the collapse of the food supply systems and will create environmental constraints, which technologies cannot reduce (Cassis, 2004). The growing pace of technological advancement makes the problem of overpopulation even more controversial, achievements in technology lead to the growing scarcity of natural resources, especially oil and gas. The current state of overpopulation and the continuous population growth on the planet will lead to global crash of the most important supply systems (Cassis, 2004). Urban and densely-populated territories will be among the first to perceive the adverse effects of overpopulation. Their dense population and woefully inadequate sanitation provide the ideal breeding ground for diseases new and old – diseases that will, sooner or later, be carried to all parts of the world through migration and tourism† (Cassis, 2004, p. 178). The poorest parts of the world will experience the drastic consequences of resource depletion and are likely to plunge into anarchy in their fight for survival (Kaplan, 1994). With the population of roughly 6. 8 billion today and 211,000 people ad ded every day, the earth is likely to reach the 9. 2 billion point by 2050 (Johnson, 2007). Food and health systems will hardly withstand the pressure of the ever growing population. The world’s food supply per capita increased 30% between 1960 and 2000; meanwhile, the world’s oil reserves increased only 3%, and grain production increase did not exceed 2. 1% (Ehrlich & Ehrlich, 2001). Obviously, the time will come when the growing population will need to fight hard to satisfy the growing feeling of hunger. In light of these complexities, the lack of the overpopulation awareness is at least striking. Cassis (2004) is correct in that the media do little to help people better understand how overpopulation impacts the planet. Most individuals do not have any single idea about the finiteness of natural resources and do not recognize the need to preserve the environment for the future generations. However, the resource pie is far from big enough to divide it into equal pieces among everyone (Cassis, 2004). It is high time the human society reconsidered its consumption patterns and addressed the existing overpopulation concerns, before it is too late. Overpopulation: Living and Nonliving Factors and Positive and Negative Sides of the Issue Definitely, the current state of population on the planet is the result of both living and nonliving influences. The living factors of overpopulation include the growing availability of food resources (including animals), the growing resistance of the human organism to bacterial infections/ diseases, and the growing life expectancy. Among nonliving factors of overpopulation, the most important are public health improvements, the advances in human knowledge of ecology and biology, better access to nonliving resources like oil and gas, improved transportation and communication and, simultaneously, the growing social gap between different population layers. The availability of food and better human resistance to bacterial infections and diseases greatly contributed to the population growth on the planet. The past 150 years were marked with the remarkable increase in food production by farmers: between 1965 and 1985 alone, the amount of grain harvested and processed worldwide increased from 630 million tons to almost 2 billion tons (Miller, 1995). Rapid technological advancement led to the development of more sophisticated fertilizers, machinery, and new kinds of seed, which altogether sped up the expansion of agricultural production all over the world (Miller, 1995). Unfortunately, the distribution of food resources on the planet remains increasingly uneven. Meanwhile, human society continues conquering the most dangerous infections and diseases, making human organism more resistant to various kinds of living organisms. Better health is both the product of better nutrition and better medical practices. The latter are an essential nonliving component of the growing population. Really, significant improvements in medical practices and public health systems made the rapid growth of population possible and even threatening to the stability of the social order on the planet. Vaccinations, new theories of disease, better systems of food and water supply, and improved waste treatment became the basic prerequisites for the dramatic increase in human population on planet (Miller, 1995). Death rates fell sharply due to substantial progress in medical science, while birth rates, especially in the poorest areas of the planet, remained increasingly high (Miller, 1995). For many people, having more children became the symbol of healthier life (Cassis, 1994). Modern communications and the sophisticated system of transportation have created better conditions for giving birth to and bringing up children (Cassis, 1994). As a result, with time, overpopulation gradually transformed from a distant perspective into reality. Like any other issue, overpopulation has good and bad sides. Surprisingly or not, overpopulation creates a challenge the society must meet in order to survive. In this situation, people actively work to develop solutions to the most urgent food supply problems (e. . , the development of genetically modified foods). Nevertheless, negative factors of overpopulation overweigh its positive sides and include the growing scarcity of resources, environmental pollution, the failure of traditional food supply chains, and the growing population-nutrition gap. Overpopulation and the Current Sustainability Solutions The growing scarcity of food resources leads governments and social groups to propose and implement sustainable solutions t o the problem of overpopulation. Current sustainable policies cover a limited range of instruments and do not resolve the existing overpopulation controversies. In the system of overpopulation solutions, family planning and birth control occupy the central place and are based on Malthus’s theory that â€Å"all biological populations have a potential for increase that exceeds the actual rate of increase, and the resources for the support of increase are limited† (Fellman, Getis & Getis, 2007, p. 125). Indonesia was among the first to adopt a family planning program that established numerous village centers to distribute contraceptives and educate people about birth control (Pakenham, 2004). As a result, Indonesia was able to decrease its fertility rates by almost 40 percent (Pakenham, 2004). Other countries, including Thailand, Mexico, South Korea and Tunisia were able to decrease their birth rates; the dramatic decrease in birth rates ultimately led to a 33-percent increase in economic growth in East Asia (Pakenham, 2004). Chinese one-child-per-family policies received a great deal of attention (Cassis, 2004). Economies like Japan apply to complex policies of economic growth, based on the belief that economic prosperity and lower fertility rates are closely connected (Cassis, 2004). These, however, are separate attempts to resolve separate issues in separate countries. Humanity never tried to develop a complex strategy to address the most complex elements of the overpopulation problem at once.

Jack Davis ( No Sugar Essay)

NO SUGAR (JACK DAVIS) Jack Davis’ â€Å"No Sugar†, written in 1985, is a play that highlights Australian racism and cultural destruction caused by British colonialism. It is set in 1929 (Great Depression) in Northam, Western Australia. The play explores the impacts of the European social and political philosophy of the early 20th century on Aboriginal society. The focal points of this play are the superiority of white people, racism, and the bond between Aboriginal families. These themes highlight Australian culture, and have shaped it into its many different forms for all Australian’s today.Jack Davis has used dialogue between the characters in this extract to privilege a postcolonial reading of the text. Davis uses dialogue in order to construct a world in which the aboriginal people can be identified to the audience as an ill-treated, oppressed race. Davis uses dialogue to represent how the colonized react to the social situations in which they were subjugated to, on a regular basis in the early times of colonization. â€Å"CISSIE: Aw mum, Old Tony the ding always sells us little shriveled ones and them wetjala kids big fat one. Through this dialogue the audience identifies that society at the time did not allow the colonized to be classed as the same standard as the colonizer. Davis lends this text to a postcolonial reading through the use of characterization. The use of characterization in the play reinforces the idea that the characters amplify a sort of submission to English culture displays to the audience the effect of colonization. Although the characters retain many of their aboriginal attributes, such as living off the land â€Å"Come on, let’s get these rabbits. They have allowed themselves and their culture to be colonized by accepting many of the British attributes such as playing cricket â€Å"DAVID and CISSIE play cricket with a home-made bat and ball. † The aboriginal people have allowed themselves to colon ized acquiring British aspects, which coincide with their aboriginal heritage. Through this extract the characters also begin to read the paper, the combination of the children playing cricket and the elder reading the paper appears from an outside point perspective a very British activity. Looking at the context, which surrounds the writing of the play, can also support a postcolonial reading.Another device used by Davis is stage directions principally used to invoke or create a rising dramatic tension, an example of this is â€Å"He nicks his finger with the axe and watches the blood drip to the ground. † This is symbolic of the Aboriginals manifesting frustration; they are inflicting pain on themselves because they know it isn’t possible to inflict pain on their conquerors. Jimmy’s character represents the rebellion of any marginalized race; he pushes the boundaries as far as he can. The fact that Aboriginals are â€Å"dancing† for the white Australian s shows their power.This dancing is a form of service provided by the Aboriginals, they are expressing their culture but to the people who have destroyed it. It could almost be read as a child trying to get an adults attention by jumping around and holding out what they want. To Jimmy these dancing Aboriginals are jumping around and showing the White Australians that they want their culture back. This reach out to white settlers shows how much more dominate they are and their culture is. Through the use of dramatic conventions Jack Davis’ play No Sugar can be read as a postcolonial criticism.It presents a number of issues with colonization and the particular effects it had on the Australian Aboriginal people. First performed in 1985, the play deals with the struggles of the aboriginal people and oppression in which they endured by white Australian society. The play was set in 1929, a time when aboriginal people were not yet accepted as equals in society. The main ideas presen ted in the play are shown through the dialogue, characters and context. This extract uses techniques to set the basis for the idea’s that will be expressed throughout the entire play.

Banking law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Banking law - Essay Example For example in Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien the House of Lords ruled that when the burden shifts to the stronger party to prove that there was no undue influence, the burden can be discharged by proof that the weaker party voluntarily entered into the agreement or the transaction and this can be proven by showing that the weaker party had the benefit of independent legal advice.7 It has been subsequently ruled that where undue influence is presumed, the bank’s security will stand on whether or not the surety had the benefit of independent legal advice.8 It was not altogether clear whether banks had a duty to ensure that vulnerable sureties sought independent legal advice. The courts had merely stated that the burden of proof could be discharged by showing that the vulnerable surety had voluntarily entered into the transaction and this could be shown by proof that the vulnerable surety had the benefit of independent legal advice. The matter was more clearly stated by the House of Lords in Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (no.2). In Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge, the House of Lords ruled that the bank is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the vulnerable surety was appropriately apprised of the transaction and what this means is that the bank would require that the vulnerable surety had the benefit of independent legal advice.9 Further guidance was provided by the House of Lords in National Westminster Bank v Amin. In the case, the bank applied to the court for the defendant’s defence of undue influence on the part of her son who was a business man. In this case, the bank had previously required that their solicitors clarify and explain the details and consequences of the transaction to which the defendant would provide...Banks should also want to be sure that vulnerable sureties are exercising free and unimpeded judgement from the onset. Therefore the requirement of independent legal advice should not be an obstacle to ban ks taking on vulnerable securities. It should merely be perceived as a necessary step toward ensuring that vulnerable securities may not be rescinded at a later date. The requirement of independent legal advice is commercial sound and reasonable in that it seeks to safeguard the interests of all parties involved, including the bank. The principle debtor is ensured that he or she will obtain the benefit of a loan on the strength of a promise that the surety will provide security for the loan or discharge the debt in the event he or she is unable to. The bank obtains the necessary security for the loan and the surety is committed to loan. Each of these interests are equally important and it is in each of the party’s best interest to ensure that the vulnerable surety is fully aware of his or her obligations and the consequences of the transaction. Neither the bank nor the principle debtor will benefit from a transaction in which the surety is unaware of the consequences of the transaction is unable to fully understand or appreciate the consequences of the transaction. It makes sense that since the bank wants to ensure the integrity of its secu rities, that it would take the minimal step of requiring that vulnerable sureties seek independent legal advice.

Analyzing an important futer goal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analyzing an important futer goal - Assignment Example This sector is well developed, and there is a lot of market for its products. The government also has incentives for swine farmers and this endeared me to it considering that it is very easy start as long as one has a piece of land then he can quickly start it (Bensoussan and Fleisher 54). Some of the steps required to attain the goals entails reading content on swine farming, and this can take about one day. Looking for the market for the products, and this can involve 20 minute search on the internet. Setting up the structure that will host the swine can take about five hours. Ordering for its feeds from suppliers will take about one hour. It will also take approximately two hours to get the initial swine stock delivered to the pig sty. The venture will require a lot of sacrifices in terms of finances. I will have to forgo the money spent on entertainment so that I can direct it to

Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Memo - Essay Example Canada has a gross domestic income per capital of $41,000 and a total population of 34.3 million inhabitants (Culturegrams, 2012). Zamada Motors is looking to expand its operations into the Canadian marketplace. The firm in 2014 plans on launching a small compact car called the â€Å"2.2†. The car is a small two seater with high fuel economy that is targeted to compete with Fiat, Mini, Ford and Toyota. The purpose of this memo is to provide a comprehensive integrated marketing strategy for Zamada Motors. The company has a marketing budget of one million dollars. A million dollars might seem like a lot of money, but to launch an introductory mass marketing campaign in a foreign country the budget the firm has is limited. Despite the budget constraints there are marketing channels that can be used in a combined manner to achieve the goals of the company. The first step for the company is to let the Canadian population know about existence of the Zamada brand. The marketing plan will start by focusing on the brand. The second step of the strategy is to emphasize on the â€Å"2.2† to drive the sales of the product. The marketing budget of the firm will be divided in two initiates. The company will spend 20% of its budget to get the word out about the brand. The remaining 80% of the budget will be used to market the â€Å"2.2† car model. ... To minimize cost the company will select to launch its ads in popular shows that are not part of primetime television. The firm will place three commercials per week for a period of three months. The firm will contact all Canadian TV stations to negotiate a deal for the marketing package. The bid the company will make for the commercials will be valued at $150,000. If for some reason the firm is not able to negotiate a contract based on those parameters the company will lower its expectations to two commercials per week instead of three. The second marketing channel that the company will use is the written press. Some of the potential newspapers the firm might perform business with include Georgia Straight, The Fountain Pen, High River Times, and Oxford Review (Onlinenewspapers, 2012). The marketing budget for the written press initiative is $20,000. For that budget the company expects to have a daily ad in the newspaper for a period of three months. The final channel that will be us ed for the initial public relation launch of the company is the radio. The company will place four radio ads per week for a period of three months. The marketing budget for the radio campaign is $30,000. The second phase of the integrated marketing campaign is to introduce the â€Å"2.2† car model to the general public of Canada. The firm has a marketing budget of $800,000 for this initiative. The company will use some of the marketing channels utilized in phase one as well as other marketing channels that are better suited for a marketing strategy to target a specific demographic group. The company will once again utilize television as one of its channel. The television campaign to introduce the â€Å"2.2† will be shorter than in phase

Aeronautical Science Perspective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aeronautical Science Perspective - Essay Example Consequently, aircrafts roll to the right or left; and this is referred to as rolling. Ailerons tilt the wings in the required direction hence turns the aircraft. The elevator tilts down or up on a horizontal tail surface leading to an increased or decreased lift on the tail, this is known as pitching. An aircraft’s nose is tilted down or up from the pitching maneuver. When an aircraft rotates along its longitudinal axis (x-axis) then this motion is known as rolling while the maneuver is a roll. Control surfaces found on the aircraft’s wings know as ailerons initiate this rotation by deflecting differently (that is one trailing edge down and one trailing edge up) thus creating less lift on one wing, while more on the other. This net difference in lift establishes a rolling moment. Ailerons are hinged on the outer edge of the wings; they are movable and controllable from the cockpit via mechanical linkage. When lowered, aileron increases angle of attack on the wing hence increasing the lift; and vice versa. From these lifts, an aircraft rolls laterally around a longitudinal axis. During a pitch-up maneuver, an aircraft rotates about its lateral axis. A control surface known as stabilator or elevator situated near the rear of the aircraft gets deflected thus generating lift force that as a result of its moment arm (distance) from the aircraft’s center of gravity it produces a pitching moment. In most cases, an elevator is attached to a fixed (immovable) surface known horizontal stabilizer. The horizontal stabilizers acts as the feathers of an arrow that maintains an aircraft pointed at the right direction. Stabilator is a combination of both functions of the elevator and horizontal stabilizer. The stabilator is all-moving because it has no fixed portion. Elevator’s up positioning minimizes the camber of the elevator hence creating

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 5

Business Ethics - Essay Example However, the fact is that when she received a harassing message from a prospective employer on a professional networking site, she finally reached her tipping about online sexual harassment. A portion of the message read that â€Å"I think you are beautiful and I and interested to hear more about your modelling experience. Have you ever thought about being an executive assistant? I make a lot of money and travel to some amazing places. I would take good care of you. One question though, are you single?† Quite clearly, for a professional networking, which people used to build business connections, this message did not only cross the limit of acceptability but also creepiness. There are no doubts about the fact that sexual harassment (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2012, pg. 74) is a serious issue and that even before the advent and mass proliferation of social media, employers and managers had always been facing a difficult time in combating with ever increasing sexual harassme nt at workplace. Now that social networking sites have become an imperative aspect of the lives of people, it appears that they have provided a new medium and breeding ground for harassers (Trevino & Nelson, 2010, p. 42; Ferrell, et al., 2012, p. 74). This paper makes an attempt to understand the issue of sexual harassment as discussed in the article Casserly (2013) from the perspective of business ethics, provide recommendations for combating with this problem and identify its impact on the stakeholders. Discussion Dynamics of Sexual Harassment and Online Sexual Harassment Much of the online sexual harassment on is â€Å"quid pro-quo† in nature (Devettere, 2002, p. 467). Quid Pro-Quo refers to an arrangement of giving something in return for something else. In most cases, the victims are likely to receive a message from someone with a higher position, authority and influence with a dreamy but conditional offer; the condition being their willingness to provide sexual favours or entering into a sexual relationship with that person. The immorality of these messages is massively apparent as it coerces the subject into doing something that he or she would not have done in normal circumstances (Trevino & Nelson, 2010, p. 42; Ferrell, et al., 2012, p. 74). As mentioned earlier that the business ethics issue highlighted in this article is that of online sexual harassment as faced by Hatcher, the case in focus, and several other women highlighted in the article from LinkedIn, specifically and several other online networking sites as well. There are several definitions of sexual harassments. In fact, legislators, experts, researchers and policymakers from different parts of the world have taken different approaches to define sexual harassment. Furthermore, sexual harassment might take different forms but one singular, common and defining element of sexual harassment is when the victim feeling being excessively â€Å"uncomfortable†. This is exactly what ha ppened in the case of Hatcher, as argued in this article, that this invitation or message from Marcus was so disturbing and stressful for her that she no longer felt safe and comfortable regarding the same. Although, the data about the victims of sexual harassment (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2012, pg. 74) reveals that both the genders have been