Overpopulation and its Impact on the Enviornment

Overpopulation: A condition where the total population of a particular region far exceeds the carrying capacity of that region.

Over the past few months my blog has been centered around changes in the environment and what causes these changes. I have discussed everything from rising water levels to how our pets effect the planet, now I'm going to conclude by talking about how the planets growing population is impacting the environment around us.

There is no doubt that one of the leading causes of climate change is distributing harmful greenhouse gasses into the air. We do this on a daily basis by driving cars and heating our homes (as well as many other things). Although many people have realized that their daily activities are harming the atmosphere and have begun to reduce their carbon footprint, it doesn't really help when there are constantly more feet being brought into the world! Every child born in the U.S. will add about 9,441 metric tons of carbon dioxide to the carbon legacy of the average parent. That's a lot when families now have and average of three children per household.

Earth is becoming overpopulated because of many reasons: a drop in death rates, a rise in birth rates, migration and a lack of education on this subject. Modern medicine and a higher standard of living are the main reasons for the drop in death rates and the rise in birth rates. Over the years we have been able to find ways to keep people alive longer (which is a good thing) by finding ways to treat many diseases. Medicine can not only prevent death, it can aid in conception as well. The migration of people from one area to another also effects the population growth as well; when certain areas become overpopulated, their resources are depleted faster. Many places are unaware of the quickly rising population because they are not educated about it. People in less developed areas are not taught about birth control and family planning so they continue to bring children into the world that they can't even take care of.

Overpopulation begins to take place when families have more than two children (their replacements). Having more people than the world can handle creates an environmental issue because there will soon be a scarcity of living space and resources that the human race needs in order to survive.
Resources:
1) Water. Right now only 3% of the water on Earth is available for drinking, and with a population increase of 1.2%, we will run out of this valuable resource very quickly!
2) Land mass. Our available land will also begin to disappear with more people being added to the world. More people means the will need more homes to raise their families. This not only means that we will have closer neighbors but it means a, increase in pollution, deforestation, and a loss of animal habitats.

We need to stabilize the amount of people that there are in this world; but how do we tell someone that they can't have more then two kids? Sure, we can educated them about the impact that it has on the planet but chances are that won't stop them. I think that all we can do is educate the upcoming generations about this problem through health and ecology classes but we shouldn't deny someone the right to have a third child. What do you guys think?

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campagins/overpopulation

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-of-overpopulation.html

How Green is Your Pet?

Heyy everyone! I thought this was interesting, I'm not really sure if I believe it or not but let me know what all of you think about pets having a carbon "paw-print."... Robert and Brenda Vale are two architects that specialize in sustainable living. In their new book, Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living, they compare the carbon footprints of popular pets and other live style choices (cars). The Vales' say that cats and dogs impact wildlife populations, spread disease and add pollution just as bad as our gas guzzling SUVs. How is this possible you ask? It is all based on the type of pet food we feed them! The Vales' calculated that a medium-sized dog eats 90 grams of meat and 156 grams of cereal a day. (this means that your dog eats 361 pounds of meat and 209 pounds of cereal in a year!) It takes 43.3 square meters to generate one kilogram (7 pounds) of chicken per year and 13.4 square meters to generate a kilogram of cereal...this gives your dog a carbon footprint of 0.4 hectares (a hectare is equal to 100 ares, or 2.471 acres.) To complete the footprints of cats and dogs, the Vales used a Toyota Land Cruiser. They based their results on someone who drives 10,000 kilometers a year. The results showed that the Land Cruiser's footprint is about 0.41 (less than half of a medium-sized dog!) Another huge issue that is harming the planet, has to do with pet feces. A study was done that proved that faces cause high bacterial levels, especially after heavy rain. Along with making the water un-drinkable, the high bacteria levels starve waterways of oxygen and kill aquatic life. Cat feces have been found to be the cause of brain disease in sea otters, dolphins, and whales. Okay, so how can we reduce our pet's carbon paw-print? The easiest way to lower their impact is to change their diet; you can cut your pet's impact almost in half by feeding it many of the same foods that you eat. This reduces the eco-paw print because our foods are less protein-rich than most dog foods. Robert Vale also recommends buying a pet that serves a duel purpose.

check out this link to find more ways to reduce your pet's carbon footprint:
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/questions/how-do-i-reduce-my-pets-carbon-footprint

(source sited: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427311.600-how-green-is-yur-pet.html?full=true)

Climate change is impacting coral reefs

Global warming is not only effecting land animal habitats but it's also proving to have an enormous impact on water habitats too! The Coral reefs around the world provide homes to many different marine organisms. These habitats are in danger of dying because of the rising water temperature. In October of 2000, Indonesian scientists said that 25% of the world's reefs have already been destroyed because of global warming.

In 2002 it was recorded that 60% of Australia's Great Barrier Reef suffered from bleaching. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon that occurs when stressed or diseased coral expel the algae that gives them their bright colors. Bleaching can kill coral if it happens over a long period of time. Rising water temperatures causes bleaching and makes the reefs more susceptible to disease.

Biologists have also discovered that coral is dying off in the U.S. Virgin Islands that have existed since the voyages of Columbus. The Global Coral Reef Alliance described this problem as an "underwater holocaust." These losses have caused scientists and biologists to believe that many of the existing reefs may be dead within 50 years because coral cannot heal in a hostile environment.

Climate Change is affecting the lobster industry!

As you all know, the lobster has been a symbol of Maine for a very long time. There are many people that rely on them as a source of income, and now, the industry is declining. There are less and less lobsters to be caught so many Maine families are losing money. How come this is happening? Some believe that it's because the lobsters are being over-fished, while scientists are finding that their scarcity may be linked to global warming.

The lobster's habitat ranges from Long Island to the Bay of Fundy. They are cold-blooded creatures so when the water temperature rises, they must use more energy for respiration, leaving less energy for feeding, growth, energy storage, immune response, and reproduction.

The lobsters' habitats fluctuating with the rising water temperatures. It takes less energy for them to do their daily activities in cold water, therefore they seem to be migrating towards the Bay of Fundy, where the temperature are cooler. Researchers have found that when the water is over 69 degrees, it increases the rate of respiration to a point where their demand for oxygen is higher than the supply.

Have you ever seen a lobster with a funny shell? Well, scientists are also seeing evidence linking water temperature to the rise in shell disease. This is because the heat is causing them to row slower and not shed their shell as often, which gives the bacteria more time to grow.

www.neaq.org

Eniornmental Changes

If the Earth's climate continues to warms up, the environment will gradually change in its appearance. One specific change that has already started happening is that the water levels are rising. This is happening because the air is warming up which is melting the ice and forcing the water to rise. According to a report done by the IPCC sea levels have risen by 10 to 25 centimeters over the last 100 years. If this trend continues, the water will become higher than the land and we will start to lose land mass which will force everyone to move further inland.