Causes of Population Growth

Causes of Population Growth

There is an ultimate carrying capacity for the human population and limiting factors
will come into play to cause populations to stabilize. However, unlike populations of otherkinds of organisms, human populations are also influenced by a variety of social, political, economic, and ethical factors. Humans have accumulated knowledge that allows for predictions about the future and can make conscious decisions based on the likely course of events and adjust their lives accordingly. Part of that knowledge is the certainty that as populations continue to increase, death rates and birth rates will become equal. This can be accomplished by allowing the death rate to rise or by choosing to limit the birth rate. It would seem that controlling human population should be a simple process. Once everyone understands that lowering the birth rate is more human than allowing the death rate to rise, most people should make the “correct” decision; however, it is not quite that simple.