Why is Population Growth an Environmental and STS Issue?
It took from the beginning of time to about the year 1810 for the human population to reach 1 billion people. Just more than 100 years passed before the next billion were added, and the population doubled again to 4 billion people by 1974. By 1987, Earth was home to 5 billion human beings, and this number is growing. We started the 21st Century with 6 billion people. A society is not sustainable when it consumes renewable resources faster than they can be replenished. In other words, an overpopulated society clears forests and uses water supplies faster than they are renewed, or pollutes faster than the environment can adjust to sustain life. By these measures, the U.S. and most other nations of the world are overpopulated. Contrary to some people’s impression, the population explosion has not stopped. In 1990 another 95 million people were added to the Earth, more than in any previous year. At this rate, the world’s population would easily surpass 10 billion and could exceed 14 billio
