How Many People Can Live On Planet Earth?

Question 1

1. Give some examples of how quickly the world’s population is growing.

Answer 1

more than 2 people every second, 200,000 people every day

Question 2

2. What are some of the issues we are facing as our population continues to grow?

Answer 2

food, water

Question 3

3. What is one factor in every environmental problem that has been studied?

Answer 3

human density

Question 4

4. Not only the natural environment is threatened by population growth but it also threatens…

Answer 4

inequality and human suffering

Question 5

5. The UN estimates that by the mid Century the World’s population is expected to be?

Answer 5

9 billion

Question 6

6. The majority of this growth is not caused by people having large families. What is causing it?

Answer 6

a lot of teenager so a lot of babies in the future

Question 7

7. Where will populations shrink?

Answer 7

Japan, russia, germany, Eastern Europe

Question 8

8. How was human population kept in check historically?

Answer 8

by nature like animals

Question 9

9. What allowed the rapid growth since 1800 when we reached 1 billion people?

Answer 9

reduction of the death rate and the control of diseases

Question 10

10. Which resource is perhaps strained the most as we continue to grow?

Answer 10

food

Question 11

11. How much (%) of the earth’s available freshwater supply to humans appropriate?

Answer 11

2.5% and 1% available

Question 12

12. What uses do we appropriate this water for?

Answer 12

energy, built cities and food

Question 13

13. How many people already lack access to safe drinking water? In the coming years how much of the World’s population will live in water stressed areas?

Answer 13

1 billion and in coming years 1/2 of world pop

Question 14

14. What are some of the causes? ( of people missing water )

Answer 14

poor infrastructure, politics, poverty, and the environment

Question 15

15. What two uses consume the most water at the global scale?

Answer 15

industry and agriculture

Question 16

16. How much water does it take to make one cup of coffee? A bottle of beer? A cotton shirt?

Answer 16

coffee: 110L, beer:150L, cotton shirt: 3000L

Question 17

17. How will we double the amount of food we currently produce. Why is this approach necessary?

Answer 17

technology and increase productivity

Question 18

18. How have we done this in the past?( increase technology and productivity for more food supply )

Answer 18

technology

Question 19

19. How are the richest countries assuring their own future food security?

Answer 19

buy land from the poorest

Question 20

20. What region of the world is particularly popular with countries looking for agricultural land. Why is this problematic?

Answer 20

unpopulated and unagricultured areas of land. it is not profitable for the local

Question 21

21. How might the Rwandan conflict and genocide be partially attributed to resource shortages?

Answer 21

people didn’t have enough land to eat so they killed in the hope of having more

Question 22

22. Energy demand is expected to grow by how much over the next 2 decades?

Answer 22

40%

Question 23

23. What has cheap energy allowed us to do?

Answer 23

appropriated the earth to our needs without paying attention to the bad

Question 24

24. What are some of the examples of the damage that has been caused? ( cause by cheap energy )

Answer 24

10% of coral leaf degradation, 70% of all plant and animal threat of extinction

Question 25

25. What is carrying capacity? How is it calculated? Is it static or flexible?

Answer 25

calculation that say how many can a environment support. its total productivity of the earth divided by the population

Question 26

26. How much land is there for each living person, according to William Reese?

Answer 26

2 global hector each

Question 27

27. How many people can the earth support if we all consumed at the same rate as the average person in Indian? Rwanda? United States?

Answer 27

india: 15 billion, Rwanda: 18 billion, USA: 1 and a half billion

Question 28

28. What is overshoot?

Answer 28

consumption is more than the capacity of the planet ( when human demand exceeds the regenerative capacity of a natural ecosystem. )

Question 29

29. We need the earth to not only provide resources, but to also

Answer 29

take our waste

Question 30

30. Our current way of life requires ________ earths to support it.

Answer 30

1 and a half earth

Question 31

31. What is the implication for those of us living here in the developed world?

Answer 31

give up consumption

Question 32

32. What are the three ways we can reduce our impact on the environment?

Answer 32

stop consumption, change technology, reduce growth of population

Question 33

34. What is the current fertility rate in Kerala?

Answer 33

1.5

Question 34

35. What conditions have led to Kerala’s success in stabilizing the population?

Answer 34

education of women, they chose less children because they more educated, they also had less time to make big families because more education

Question 35

33. How did China manage to slow its population growth?

Answer 35

1 child policy

Question 36

36. What simple piece of medical technology is required for reaching population sustainability?

Answer 36

contraception

Question 37

37. What some of the glimmers of hope on the population front?

Answer 37

we saw the problem and we do something about it

Question 38

38. The number of people on the planet in the future depends on…

Answer 38

personal decisions