POS 120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Garrett Hardin, Environmental Security, Overfishing
19 Jan 2018
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Rational actions by self-interested individuals may destroy the collective interest. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest. (garrett hardin) The study of population changes, their causes and their effects . Carrying capacity: maximum number of humans and other species that can be supported by a given territory. Growing by about 130 million a year. English clergyman in 1798 wrote essay on the principle of population . Prediction: overpopulation will lead to famines, catastrophes, and wars. Malthus was wrong, because he did not understand the power of technology. Population has grown by a factor of 6. Energy use has grown by a factor of 150. Fertility rate: average # of children born to a woman during her lifetime. Rate of growth is declining in the north. Fertility rates peaked in 1990-1995 and are failing today. Total population of the planet may stop growing by 2050. Least developed countries will continue to grow.
