YEAR 7 GEOGRAPHY: POPULATION

PESSIMISTIC & OPTIMISTIC VIEWS OF POPULATION

PESSIMIST:

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity” (Winston Churchill)

Population pessimists (called “Neo-Malthusians”) believe that population growth will cause unsustainable pressure on food and other resources.

OPTIMIST:

“An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” (Winston Churchill)

Population optimists (called “Anti- Malthusians”) believe that human ingenuity will enable us to find solutions to the resource shortages and problems caused by population growth.

PESSIMIST: Thomas Malthus (1766 - 1834)

Core ideas:

• Food growths arithmetically, population grows exponentially.

• Population will therefore outstrip food supply.

• Population numbers will be reduced through disaster (war, famine and disease) or through human choice to have fewer children.

Time

Popu

latio

n /

Food

Pro

duct

ion

Population

Food Production

The Malthusian View of Food and Population Growth

This graph illustrates the argument of Malthus.

The point at which population exceeds food is when disaster (war, famine and disease) sets in (Malthus called these “positive checks”).

If people chose to have fewer children through later marriage (children were typically born within marriage in Malthus’ day), which would reduce the time window in which women could have children(called “preventative checks”), population would remain in balance with food supply.

OPTIMIST: Ester Boserup (1910 - 1999)

Core ideas:

• When population grows and puts pressure on food supply, solutions will be found to increase food supply.

• Technology improvements and increased area of farmland will enable this increase.

• Population can continue to grow without any Malthusian positive checks.

Time

Popu

latio

n/

Food

Pro

duct

ion

Population

Food Production

The Optimist’s View of Food and Population Growth

This graph illustrates the argument of Boserup.

When population places pressure on food supply, agricultural solutions are found to increase food supply.

Each time population catches up with food production a new solution is found to ensure enough food is available.

OPTIMISTS PESSIMISTS

Click on the images above and they will take you to organisations that have either a positive or negative view of global population growth.