Effects of Population and Capitalism on the Environment

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Effects of Population and Capitalism on the Environment

A rapid increase in population from 5 to 6 billion within the last 12 years is a growing concern amongst many environmentalists (Cunningham, Cunningham, and Saigo pp. 126). The underlying concern to this rapid change is triggered by facts that show the rate at which we are depleting our limited natural resources. Population and capitalism are closely connected. Sustaining a large population requires demand for more resources, which is accelerated by capitalists who promote larger sales for greater profits at the cost of the environment (Dauvergne pp. 1).

                                                        

Determinants of a population include birth rate, death rate and net migration. An increase in population occurs when the death rate of a region is lower than the birth rate or when net immigration exceeds emigration. When a population rises above the normal sustainable limit, since food supply increases slowly or is at plateau, it is predictable that there will be an outbreak of hunger and crime. With the accompanying violence, wars and starvation, the environment suffers disastrous consequences (Cunningham, Cunningham, and Saigo pp. 127). An increase in population leads to an increase in energy consumption. This increase in energy consumption accounts for the new housing, commercial areas, heating, cooling, cooking and recreation done by the increasing population. To accommodate an expanding population, more residential space is required. This space is made available by deforestation and land altering hence causing an imbalance in the ecosystems, loss of species, biodiversity and adverse changes to food chains. Farm crops and animals now have to be produced on larger scales than ever to feed the growing population. To make this possible more forests have to be destroyed to pave way for farmlands to promote agriculture leading to more resource consumption, escalating problems with waste disposal, increasing rates of disease transmission and disastrous effects on the environment, other animals and plants (Macdonald). The population growth of the less developed countries is increasing exponentially without limits offsetting the effects of declining or stabilizing populations of the developed countries. As a result there is a net increase in the global population. Most of the developing countries have a relatively smaller area and can sustain only a few millions of people. Population explosion forces many people, most of who belong to the middle class, to migrate to other parts of the world in search of greener pastures. This migration has a great potential to spread diseases across the globe sometimes leading to a global crisis. Moreover, to facilitate migration on land, water and air, more vehicles are being manufactured. Only a minute fraction of these vehicles will not release pollutants into the environment. Major contributors of the pollutants of air are the automobile and the airplane industries. Currently there are about 1 billion cars in the world (Macdonald), which is a ratio of 1 car to 5 people. As the population increases, so will the number of cars on the road and hence more pollutants and greenhouse gases will be released into the environment.

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The automobile industry has made a monopoly within every country and is usually backed up by powerful governmental bodies and policy makers who command and achieve what they desire to promote the sale of automobiles to the increasing population even though they know the environmental concerns associated with them.  Most of the manufacturers oppose the idea of public transportation and at times have even destroyed energy efficient transportation systems such as the electric trolley in the United States (Dauvergne pp. 6). A lot of time and money goes into advertising new products to a growing population, convincing them to ...

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