Enclosed is a narrative piece that I wrote that helps illustrate a new perspective about overpopulation.

It represents a voice about overpopulation and the effects it has on people all over the world. The population is growing at a much faster rate than ever before. This gives rise to overpopulation being a major issue facing the world today. As the population growth spirals out of control policy makers and governmental officials are finally starting to see the big picture behind overpopulation. When population rises, resources and the environment are the major impacted factors. Is civilization more important than nature? Nature must be destroyed in order for humans to survive. It is the purpose of our civilization to survive and find ways to adapt to our surroundings. Controlling the population is a very difficult task. China has implemented a one child per household policy. This policy limits the freedom of families but helps sustain the quickly depleting resources. However, with these types of policies there are draw backs. The disparate gender ratio that has been developed along with aging population has proved that this method is not as beneficial as it was first assumed. Ted Turner stated that population growth is analogous to a plaque of locusts. What we have on this earth is a plague of people. This quote depicts just how people feel about the current issue facing the people both now and in the future. Without implementing a method to help control this major issue, the world will turn into a place of people competing for the little water, food and resources that are left. The population continues to rise worldwide but the majority of the growth comes from poverty stricken countries like India. These nations do not have the resources or man power to tackle such a large worldwide issue. 7.3 billion people inhabit this earth, this number is continuing to grow at a faster rate each year. By the year 2050 it is estimated that the total

population will be roughly 11 billion. The population is growing by around 200 million people per year. There will be nine countries many of which are poverty stricken nations that will account for over half of the total projected population increase. Some environmentalist and economists feel that due to the increases in population taxes and more strict regulation on water supply will be put into effect. Population growth is one of many concerns that will affect the environment. A model called IPAT represents the total impact on the environment from population increases. Increased population intensifies the impact on the environment as more people take up space on the earth. Resources deplete, waste accumulates and species become extinct. Technology advancements can help prolong this inevitable situation through enhancing efficiency in exploitation of minerals and fossil fuels. Technology to decrease smokestack emissions and harness renewable energy will help decrease the overall impact of an overpopulated earth. Overpopulation does more than just effect the environment we live on, it affects food resources. The ability to access and deliver the proper amount of food to people all over the globe will be a major issue with overpopulation. Space to grow the food for the amount of people will become a major economic concern. There wont be enough food to support the life on the earth. All people at all times have both physical and economic access to basic food. This requires not just enough food to go around. It requires that people have readily access to food. With the growing number of people demanding their basic needs of food, manufactures and farmers are finding that the space and time needed to provide significant amount of food to the world is going to become a factor in the near future.

Our ongoing population growth has resulted largely from the technological advancements, innovations, increased sanitation methods, better medical care and increased agricultural output. The decline in death rates and infant mortality play a major role in the increase in population. Thomas Malthus and many others feel that this is a good thing that people are being kept alive longer. Overpopulation would not be an issue if finding new resources to replace the ones being used up became a reality. Environmental scientist recognize that the resources being used up cannot be replaced by people. They also state that people cannot replicate the functions of the ecosystem or regain any species or organisms living on earth that may have become extinct due to the growth of human population. The topic about overpopulation brings up an interesting concept. The tragedy of the commons is a perfect representation of how population can destroy the very life we promote. The way the story goes is a farmer who has several healthy sheep in a pasture begins to see how he can increase aggregate output by adding more sheep. The more sheep he has the less space and resources he can section off to each sheep. As the farmer progressed forward he gradually noticed more and more sheep becoming sick and dying. During times of economic turmoil and resources scarcity having healthy livestock is what this farmer needed to maintain his family. As more sheep entered the equation the quality of the livestock depleted, leaving him without any sheep at all. In retrospects the Commons story associates well with how overpopulation is destroying the world and people in it, by limiting space to grow and by using resources that are already scarce. Even if there were ways to continue with life on earth with population reaching numbers beyond the earth capacity, the quality of life become less desirable. Even if resources

were able to keep up with the demand from more people, space will become limited. Less food to eat, less water to drink and less material wealth than an average person has today. Even though the government sees over population as a concern the lack of regulations is clear. Without a prcised plan to help limit growth in the world, the human race will begin to suffer. Lack of fresh water and food will become not just a poverty issue or a developing nations issue it will be a worldwide epidemic.

Notes Page Narrative I chose a narrative piece to give an interesting viewpoint of overpopulation. Facts and ideas are implemented into the Genre to help explain the major issues surrounding population. A narrative piece is a story but I critiqued it a bit to help extenuate the issue in the world. 1: I gathered information about human population growth and why its become an issue. This came from the book Essential Environment The science behind the stories by Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan from page 117. 2: I used information about why overpopulation is becoming a problem. This came from the book Essential Environment The science behind the stories by Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan from page 118. 3: I used a paraphrase about the resources that are being used up and why technological advancements will not be the plan to fall back on. The less space humans have the less resources, food and water that will be available. This came from the book Essential Environment The science behind the stories by Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan from page 119. 4: I gathered a paraphrase about the factors pertaining to the environment and what impacts overpopulation will have on the ecosystem. It addresses the magnitude of the situation and what environmental impacts are concerning to scientists. This came from the book Essential Environment The science behind the stories by Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan from page 119. 5: I used information about how technology can help increase efficiency and decrease smokestack emissions along with improve manufacturing efficiency to lessen the impact. This came from the book Essential Environment The science behind the stories by Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan from page 119. 6: I used information about the food issues that will face the world will overpopulation. I put into my narrative the impact the food industry will have will the amount of people on earth. This came from the Scholarly article Food availability and access in lesser-industrialized societies by Stephen Scanlan. 7: I used a quote All people at all times have both physical and economic access to basic food. This requires not just enough food to go around. It requires that people have ready access to food. This came from the Scholarly article Food availability and access in lesserindustrialized societies by Stephen Scanlan. 8: I used information about the anticipated amount of people in my narrative to give an idea of where the world may be without implementing a plan to help slow growth. 11 billion people are expected to be on earth in 2050. This came from the Wikipedia article Population.

9: I used information about how the world population is increasing by 74 million people per year to help put a number behind my facts about overpopulation. This came from the Wikipedia article Population. 10: I used information about how nature must be destroyed in order to allow human to live. It shows the impact humans have on planet earth. This came from the book Ethics Theory and Practice by Jacques Thiroux and Keith Krasemann from page 400. 11: I used information about how the government may end up taxing and regulating water supplies to meet the demand from the growth of the population. This came from the Newspaper article on CNN.com by Ann Hoevel.