Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Regarding overpopulation and carrying
capacity
Below are selected demographic data for two honest-to-goodness countries. If I showed
only the first two rows of data and then asked which country could be considered over-
populated, I suspect most people would say Country Y. After all, it has about 50 percent
more people than Country X, and has a population density (people per square mile) that
is more than 47-times greater than its counterpart's. But when you throw in the last three
rows of data, a different picture emerges.
Women live twice as long in Country Y, and infant mortality is nearly 25-times
less
preval-
ent. Also, per capita GNI data suggest personal income is astronomically higher in Coun-
try Y. The implication, therefore, is that citizens of Country Y are generally well off while
those of Country X are not. This leads to consideration of carrying capacity — the num-
ber of people a country can sustain (carry) at an acceptable level of well-being. Review
of the data suggest Country Y has a high carrying capacity. Though densely populated,
it clearly has the capacity to carry its relatively large population at a high level of well-be-
ing. The opposite might be said of Country X. Even though the country is lightly popu-
lated, it appears not to have sufficient resources to sustain its population at a high level
of well-being. Therefore, one may argue that Country X has exceeded its carrying capa-
city. What is certain, however, is that overpopulation cannot be determined simply on the
basis of a country's population or its density. By the way, Country X is Niger, and Country
Y is The Netherlands.
During Malthus's time, agricultural technology offered limited prospects for improved harvests.
Thus, the only real option, as Malthus saw it, was for humans to have fewer babies. Artificial means
of birth control were available, but Malthus opposed them on theological grounds. He preached re-
straint, but conceded that human passions were not likely to be held in check by “Just say no.” Thus,
he saw no solution save the grim reaper. Population would continue to increase faster than food sup-
ply until, ultimately, large-scale famine and starvation rectified the imbalance.
