Ehrlichs Population Bomb :: essays research papers

Ehrlichs people Bomb     "People are realizing that we can non forever continue to multiply and chagrin the earth without losing our standard of life and the natural beauty thatmust be part of it. these are the years of decision- the decision of men to staythe overwhelm of man." Ehrlich here explains the one of the most pressing problemsfacing man in the 20th century. In Population Bomb, Ehrlich explains thatpollution, shortages, and an over both deterioation of the standard of living isall due to over people.     In chapter one Ehrlich explains the pressing problems facing modern acculturation and how these problems are directly or indirectly linked tooverpopulation. Ehrlich explains situation utilize various examples of how massstarvation is inevitable if population continues to increase the direction it iscurrently. In third world countries their food supplies are becoming progressively scarce be precedent of their increase popu lations. In these thirdworld countries the rich-poor gap is increasing creating the potential for largeparts of the population to starve. Paraphrasing Ehrlichs ideas in chapter canbe explained as there is only so many resources and as population increasesthose resources will soon be depleted. Ehrlich uses historical populationresearch to eliminate to the conclusion that in 90 years the population could be goodover the earths carrying capacity. In third world countries where populationcontrol is seldom used population, pollution, and scarcity are becoming everincreasing problems. nigh 40% of the population in third world countries arechildren 15 years or old. Ehrlich explains that if population growthcontinues at this rate older generations will find themselves without adequatefood and medicine. Near the end of the chapter Ehrlich explains the cause ofthe massive increase in population growth as he explains that science andmedicine have decreased the death rate exponentially whil e the birth rate hasnot decreased. In "Too superficial Food" Ehrlich starts off with the assumption thatabout 50% of the people in the world are in some degree malnourished. He usesstatistics from " radical Republic" and the Population Crisis Committee to purge thenumber of deaths to around quatern million people dying each year of starvationalone, not disease caused by starvation. Ehrlich explains that sometime around1958 population growth exceeded the useable food supply. When this happenedthe laws of supply and demand took over and caused massive inflation in foodcosts and causes marginal farm land to be put into production. All of thesesigns caused a period of time with severe shortages in food. In 1966 alone theworld population increased by 70 million while food production remained