Will the earth be able to sustain us if we keep increasing our poulations?

Question

What is going to happen...will we run out of room, will we move to another planet??

I sincerely apologise for the spelling error.

I do not see humanity on an inevitable path to destruction, I think we have become very short term thinkers.


Would we also have to invent new methods of food production too?

If our population is in actuality diminishing who will sustain the aged and infirmed?

Answer 1

Nature will step in as it does to any animal overpopulation. Lack of resources will lead to disease, plague and only the fittest will survive.

Answer 2

Everyone else has given you good answers. But the true answer depends on defining your terms- We're at six billion today. If the population increases to seven billion, I'd say the answer is yes. But you didn't define your term, you just said "keeps growing." Everyone assumed you meant "infinitely" and you didn't. (see below for more)

When newly-evolved homo sapiens threw rocks to catch dinner, we were part of the environment. We were as much prey as predator. Now that we dominate the earth, it's questionable what will happen.

Will we survive global warming? I dunno, let's climb into our Lincoln Navigators and hit the A/C and think .... But without the environmental changes we're doing to the earth, your question might include the amount of arable land that exists. Once we hit 100% cultivated land, gotta ask, "Where will the popluation live? Not on arable land." Can we farm the oceans? Maybe. That would allow us to have more people on the dry parts of the earth. Can we colonize the oceans? Again, maybe. Then we could put more and more humans on the surface of the earth , both wet and dry surfaces. How many more? The upper limit seems to include a calculation of how much energy each of us uses, compared to how much energy the earth receives from the sun. Big numbers there, and I haven't got answers to those questions.

One last implication- "Will the earth continue to support us?" implies "within MY lifetime." And the short answer is, IMHO, "Yes." I don't think we'll destroy the environment in the next 50 or 75 years. But are we taking the corporate bean-counter approach to this question? Should we preface all our decisions on "Will this act make my quarterly bottom line better?" and forget what will happen to our children and grandchildren's earth? You decide.

This was a good question- sounds like science, but is inextricably involved with philosophy.

Answer 3

Earths resources are not infinite so eventually we will run out of the neccessary things. For example, it is believed that at current population levels living the way we are now we would need 3 earth's to sustain us. We are moving closer to that point of collapse and we dont know when it will come in 5, 50, 500, or 5000 years, but the increase in population is putting much more stress on the system

Answer 4

Currently every inhabitant of the entire world would fit into the state of Texas and there would be room for each to have 1000 square feet of space. Obviously Texas would not support all of these people but there is that much space. That should put into perspective the doom and gloom we're all gonna die mentality of the zero population people. Actually most of the developed countries are experiencing a population decline of late that could result in their ultimate demise.

Answer 5

Well, no. Eventually the resources produced are far exceeded by the number of beings trying to be supported by said environment.

Well... plague is rather common. Do you have a handy planet in mind? And a way to get there?

Answer 6

Yes
Path of evolution would make us live by making us follow good and efficient practices.
The fittest would survive and it would always be evolution by natural selection.
By this I mean new ways and means would evolve for survival.
New and efficient means of energy, food, shelter and work etc.
thnks

Answer 7

Clearly not.
Earth's resources are not infinite.
We will be forced to colonize space.
Maybe that was our destiny anyway.