Human Population Growth and Extinction

The surge in the prevalence of people on Earth is known as population growth. Our size of the population was basically constant for most of mankind’s history. Power, food, water, and healthcare grew increasingly accessible and reliable as a result of invention and industrialization. As a result, the worldwide human population grew swiftly and continues to grow, causing significant changes in the global climate and biodiversity. As we adapt to and prevent environmental and climate changes, we will require technology and social creativity to assist us support the global population.

There are almost 7.5 billion people on planet earth, and 227,000 new people are born every day. The impact on wildlife is unmistakable. Most biologists believe that the Earth is currently experiencing its sixth mass extinction catastrophe. It’s due to our unsustainable human population increase and overconsumption this time.

These problems must be addressed before it is too late. We may lower our domestic population and demand to a level that is environmentally sustainable while also promoting human rights, reducing poverty and overpopulation, raising our standard of living, and allowing plants, animals, and ecosystems to survive.

30,000 species per year, according to Wilson

According to Harvard scientist E. O. Wilson, 30,000 species annually (or three species for every hour) are wiped out. When compared to the normal background rate of one extermination per million species each year, it’s easy to see why experts call it a crisis unlike any other in human history.

Unlike all others, the present mass extinction is due to a single species instead of a global or galactic physical event. When Homo sapiens travelled out of Africa 90,000 years ago to the Middle East, 40,000 years ago to Europe and Australia, 12,500 years ago to North America, and 8,000 years ago to the Caribbean, waves of extinction followed. Humans colonised Madagascar 2,000 years ago, and pushed elephant birds, hippos, and giant lemurs extinct soon.

The first wave of extinctions targeted large vertebrates hunted by hunter-gatherers

Large creatures hunted by hunter-gatherers were the first to become extinct. The second, larger trend continued 10,000 years ago, when agriculture was discovered, resulting in a population explosion and the need to plough wildlife habitats, divert waterways, and keep enormous herds of domestic cattle. The third and largest wave began with the invention of fossil energy in 1800 . Human population increased sharply from 1 billion in 1800 to 2 billion in 1930, 4 billion in 1975, and over 7.5 billion presently, thanks to abundant, inexpensive energy. If nothing changes, we’ll be at 8 billion by 2020 and 9 to 15 billion (most likely the former) by 2050.

In the history of mankind, no community of a large mammalian species has grown so huge, so quickly, or with such disastrous implications for its fellow humans. Scientists have proposed that the Holocene epoch be declared over and the current era (beginning around 1900) be dubbed the Anthropocene: the age when “global environmental effects of higher human population and economic growth” monopolise planet wide physical, chemical, and genetic conditions.

Humans consume 42% of the Earth’s terrestrial primary productivity, 30% of its ocean biological productivity, and 50% of its fresh water on a yearly basis .Human food production now occupies 40% of the planet’s territory, compared to 7% in 1700 .Approximately half of the planet’s total land has been converted for human usage. Humans now fix more atmospheric nitrogen than all of the other natural processes put together .When a species’ population outgrows its environment’s ability to support it, the environment’s capacity is reduced underneath the original level, resulting in a population crash.

“The population of people is a crucial component in species threats,” one of the study’s authors, Jeffrey McKee, said. “We are facing a significant threat to world biodiversity related to our expanding human population if other creatures follow the same trend as mammals and birds.”

Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems

The impact of humans on the planet is significant and expanding. Human activity has altered between one-third and half of the terrestrial area; carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration has increased by about 30% since the start of the century. The Industrial Revolution; humans fix more nitrogen in the atmosphere than any other species combined. More than half of all available surface fresh water comes from natural terrestrial sources. Humans use it, and nearly a quarter of the world’s bird species have been lost. Pushed to the brink of extinction By these and many other criteria, it is evident that we exist on a human-dominated planet.

Because of variances in biological richness, species diversity, climate, vegetation, ecosystem threats, invasive species, consumer habits, and enforced conservation efforts, predicting local extinction risk is difficult. Human population pressure, on the other hand, is a constant. The number of vulnerable birds and mammals recognized by the World Conservation union of Nature was predicted with 88 percent accuracy in a study of 114 countries . According to current population growth rates, the number of vulnerable species will rise by 7% in the next 20 years and 14% by 2050. That’s without considering the effects of global warming.

Conclusion 

The most catastrophic and permanent consequence of an unsustainable human population is extinction. Unfortunately, many studies of what constitutes a human settlement’s population level assume that the purpose is just to keep the human species alive by providing sufficient food and clean water. Our concept of sustainable development and ecological impact — indeed, our concept of a world is worth living in assumes that humans will provide adequate space and resources for other animals to live in, and that we will enjoy them ourselves.

So, how does wildlife compare to the world’s 7.5 billion people today? Worldwide, 14% of mammals, 14% of birds, 31% of reptiles, 30% of amphibians, and 37% of fish are endangered . There aren’t enough plants and animals to measure their worldwide threat level, but it’s high.

The most pernicious threat to humanity is a concept known as “extinction debt.” Any species, even those that appear to be thriving, will reach a point in their evolution when extinction is unavoidable, no matter what they do to avoid it. Extinction is frequently the result of a delayed response to habitat degradation. Species that dominate different species have different patches at the cost of others, which migrate elsewhere and are so spread thinly, are the most vulnerable. Humans occupy nearly the whole world, and we are dominating within it thanks to our absorption of a huge portion of the planet’s productivity. As a result, H. sapiens may already be a walking corpse.

The indicators are already there to those who are willing to look for them. The only way down is down when the environment degrades to the point where there are less supplies to go there; when reproduction begins to diminish; when the fertility rate falls below the mortality rate; and when natural diversity becomes restricted.