Earth Carrying Capacity

There is no doubt that today’s society is pushing the limits of Earth. Through oil drilling in the Middle East to the increasing amounts of pollution found in China, it is only a matter of time when the citizens of Earth will begin to feel the effects of reaching our carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is limited to the maximum population size and resources an environment can hold and sustain indefinitely. For example, the movie, Human Population Dynamics discusses the idea that all 6.5 billion people on Earth could live and be sustained in the state of Texas (The Habitable Planet: Human Population Dynamics). Carrying capacity includes the availability of food sources, living areas, clean water and air, and other required means of survival.

As more and more people are born, more resources are used, and we approach our carrying capacity. Along with the rise of Earth’s population within the last 20 years, there has also been the rise of technology. Due to the increase and advancements in technology, it has increased Earth’s carrying capacity and what people are able to do with those resources. Therefore, new technological advancements and discoveries postpone Earth reaching its carrying capacity because we are learning how to be more sustainable. There are many differing opinions about the idea of Earth and reaching its carrying capacity. This is because a carrying capacity could define one city, state, or in this case, one planet. Also, technology and finding new ways of doing things are always changing. Thus, this has led scientists and environmentalists to many possible times of when Earth’s resources will be depleted. Beyond Earth’s population being the leading cause of reaching carrying capacity, many others believe that food, weather, and clean air are all factors that contribute to the rising carrying

The death rate is the number of deaths (per 1,000 people) in a particular area during a specific time. Life expectancy is the average time a person is expected to live (per 1,000 people) in a specific area and time. Many scientists believe that America’s recent population growth is due to longer life expectancies. This is caused by improvements in the quality of life and scientific discoveries. Emigration is to leave one’s country to live in another, foreign one. Immigration, the opposite, is coming to another country to live permanently. According to Riche, in today’s society, immigration “only accounts for maybe half of population growth” (The Habitable Planet: Human Population Dynamics). To first understand how all of these terms relate to population dynamics, it is important to be aware of what population dynamics is. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines population dynamics as “a branch of knowledge concerned with the sizes of populations and the factors involved in their maintenance, decline, or expansion.” Rates such as the birth and death rates are included in the population dynamics to determine how many people are “entering” and “leaving” a certain area. This movement is done through birth and death. The idea of emigration and immigration is similar to “entering” and “leaving” but with this process, one country’s population