Thursday, 22 January 2015

A Summary of Joel E. Cohen’s “Human Carrying Capacity”

                The world is exceedingly getting larger in numbers. With the exponential growth in population that has significantly risen since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the world is getting much too crowded, and that may soon have drastic effects to its inhabitants. Cohen realizes that population growth is a highly complex issue, one that does not yield any definitive answers to an upper limit or point of no return. He warns us against those who say they can provide a concrete answer, and to assess this information with a critical eye.

                A useful way, Cohen argues, to examine the problem of population growth is to view the decline of Easter Island in relation to the problems we are facing here on Earth. Easter Islanders, most likely Polynesian peoples, have inhabited this part of the island from as early as circa 400 A.D. Where the original inhabitants might have numbered in the hundreds, the population slowly rose to maybe ten thousand at its peak. The collapse and decline of this society, who carved giant heads called moai out of volcanic rock, was exacerbated by the practices which lead to the ecological degradation of the land. There is plenty of evidence in favor of this hypothesis: decrease in pollen cores suggests that deforestation occurred at a rapid pace, which led to soil erosion among other things; introduction of a Polynesian rat species that feasted on forest seeds, preventing regeneration of the trees; increased hunting and fishing to stave off starvation. In simplest terms, the higher the population, the more mouths to feed, the more land that needs to be cleared for agriculture, more trees cut down for canoes, firewood, construction, more rope to erect statues, which leads to more degradation. The island eventually would be unable to sustain itself, which leads to more disputes concerning available land and more frequent infighting among the society. The Earth itself is an island, albeit one on a grander scale in the context of the solar system, and humans can very well use up the resources of this island similar to the way Easter Islanders have—so Paul Bahn and John Flenly’s assumption that “Easter Island was a microcosm which provides a model for the whole planet” (190) is certainly one deserving of merit.

                If there is an upper limit to human carrying capacity, it will certainly lie beyond the threshold humans are willing to tolerate. Humans can subsist off very little—it is only how much we are willing to sacrifice in personal well-being before there is a call to arms for change. Cohen suggests that we will be forced to make a change simply because we have to.

                Although there is no definitive answer to the human carrying capacity of Earth, we can still construct models to interpret quantitative and qualitative data to assess the situation. It would be highly complex, incorporating a variety of circumstances relating to the global economy, politics, and many other contributing factors. The capacity will be conditional on our choices and constraints—our needs and wants. The carrying capacity of Earth is a highly complex question which yields equally highly complex answers. There is no choice but to take caution when making decisions as humanity falls forward into the future.


Critical Thinking: In what sense does the Earth not have single carrying capacity for human beings?

                Scientists can constructs models as they please, and there will still not be a definitive answer to the question of Earth’s carry capacity. Circumstances are subjected to change. New technologies develop. Human ingenuity has proven its worth more times than once. It is a highly complex issue, and one which does not yield any direct results. Human carrying capacity incorporates many facets that factor in political policies on a global scale. The diversity of lifestyles and beliefs contribute to this complexity. What we decide as important will ultimately affect the limit in Earth’s ability to provide.


Works Cited

Cohen, Joel E. “Human Carrying Capacity.” Sources: Selections in Environmental Studies. Ed.                              Thomas Easton. United States, 2014. 189-192.

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