Population Growth and Earth's Human Carrying Capacity
- 21 July 1995
- journal article
- review article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 269 (5222) , 341-346
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7618100
Abstract
Earth's capacity to support people is determined both by natural constraints and by human choices concerning economics, environment, culture (including values and politics), and demography. Human carrying capacity is therefore dynamic and uncertain. Human choice is not captured by ecological notions of carrying capacity that are appropriate for nonhuman populations. Simple mathematical models of the relation between human population growth and human carrying capacity can account for faster-than-exponential population growth followed by a slowing population growth rate, as observed in recent human history.Keywords
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