Population Growth, Resource Management, and Sustainability

Fundamental Ecological Concepts

Population growth, technological advances, and other factors drive a growing consumption of natural resources, the generation of greater environmental impacts, and increasing environmental risks. An ecosystem is composed of all living beings that inhabit a given area, the interactions that develop between them, and the environment in which they live. The set of all ecosystems is the biosphere, i.e., all parts of the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere where life develops. A carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals that an environment can sustain on a regular basis.

Population Growth vs. Resource Availability

The economist Thomas Robert Malthus argued in his Essay on the Principle of Population that while the human population grows according to a geometric progression, the ability to utilize the planet's resources grows more slowly. Malthus predicted that the continuous growth of mankind would exhaust the planet's resources, leading to a disaster. However, he failed to account for technological developments, so his prediction did not materialize.

Modern agricultural techniques incorporate the use of fertilizers, water management systems like drip irrigation, and new, more resistant and productive genetic varieties of plants. All this has made agricultural production capacity reach levels far beyond those imagined in Malthus's time. Malthus's pessimism contrasts with a current of thought known as technological optimism, which argues that human ingenuity is limitless and that it will overcome any difficulty.

The Challenge of Resource Depletion

Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources

Natural resources can be classified as renewable or non-renewable. Renewable resources include energy sources such as wind, solar, and biomass, as well as material resources like water. In the latter cases, they are actually potentially renewable resources, as they need a renewal period to complete their cycle. When consumption outpaces renewal, resilience decreases, and resources can become exhausted, a process known as overexploitation. Most of the material resources and energy sources used today are non-renewable; once exploited, they cannot be recovered.

Energy Sources: Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power

The main non-renewable energy resources are fossil fuels. These include:

• Oil
• Natural Gas
• Coal

Together, they provide 85% of the energy consumed in developed countries and 58% in developing countries. Nuclear fuels provide a large amount of energy from small amounts of radioactive material, but their waste poses long-term environmental pollution problems that can endure for centuries.

Mineral and Agricultural Resources

Mineral resources must be found in sufficient concentrations to make their extraction profitable. Agricultural productivity has been improved through the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and new varieties of genetically modified plants.