Cover Letter

Cover Letter
For my final portfolio I chose to do project two and revise my blog entries and add two additional entries and annotated bibliographies. I decided to use one article that would explain the consequences if we do not recognize the importance of overpopulation and a second article which described the exponential growth of human kind over the past 200 years. Next according to my grading sheet I needed to work a bit on my annotated bibliographies so I did exactly it said; do less summarizing and more analysis. Finally I needed to touch up on my previous 6 blog entries, since I did well with the tone the first time around I did not change the way of that, I just went in to more detail in many places.
Over the course of the semester I learned many new things about the whole writing process, probably the single most important thing was that all papers need controversy and argument and without them, there simply is nothing to write about. This proved to make the whole writing process significantly easier. Now instead of just stating fact after fact, you can see two sides to the story which allows the audience to develop their own opinion about the issue.
Of course as a good writer you want your audience to be on your side about the issue. As Mellisa would always use for example the OJ Simpson murder case, investigators found a bloody glove in the bushes at the Simpsons residents. Oj’s lawyer turned the impact of the glove completely around because they embraced the fact that undoubtedly there was a bloody glove, but that glove didn’t fit Oj therefore he couldn’t have been guilty. Just like we do with our writing where the authors bring up the side of the story they don’t agree with and say how can I contradict that argument with facts supporting my side of the story.
Also as a writer you want to carry a great deal of ethos, I like to think of this as having a lot of street cred. Ethos is the author’s credibility and ability to write a flowing paper with proper citations and convey their message to the audience appropriately.
As a whole I learned a lot more from this class than just writing. Some of my favorite classes were having discussions about getting into the real world and establishing yourself as a person. I found Mellisa really connected with our class mainly because she understands where we are at and has been through it all before. She knows a lot about a lot and could offer advice on probably any topic known to man(or woman). Anyshways I had a very good semester and hope all goes well!

Effects of Overpopulation

The authors of this article explain the possible economic and environmental crisis's we face from overpopulation. There view is a futuristic perspective on the things we would not plan for resulting from overpopulation. They explain that with overpopulation there will be a higher rate of unemployment because there simply would not be enough jobs. They go on to stretch the idea that with high unemployment eventually leads to higher crime rates.

Regardless if the crime rates would increase or not the concern is still lingering because no one knows what will happen when the time comes. What we do know is that with an exponentially growing population we are for certain forced to consume more resources to sustain the population. Annually humans consume over 16 million hectares of arable land with 2 billion(ha) already destroyed, 1 hectare is equivalent to 10000 square meters of land.

The United States and China have already consumed 51% of the earths fossil fuels. This means that less than half remains for everyone to use. With India as the most rapid growing country this number comes under even greater threat as we approach the turn of the century.

Overpopulation: The Human Crisis

The author of this article, James Hopkins, begins by discussing a literal way of expressing exponential growth. By cutting a piece of a paper in half and stacking it on-top of the original 100 times over, the stack will become higher and higher at a quicker rate.
This is the exact problem with overpopulation, it took thousands of years for the number of humans on earth to reach 1 billion in 1804, and then only 123 years later in 1927 this number had doubled to 2 billion. Today the population has reached 6.8 billion people and if the current growth rate proceeds, we are expected to surpass 8 billion within the next 18 years.

Something needs to be done to curb the growth rate or human beings and all other forms of life will not survive. The problem is just as much about the resources individuals consume as it is the number of humans on the planet. This is because the faster the resources are consumed the less humans earths carry capacity can sustain. Americans account for only 5% of the total population but consume 26% of the worlds total energy. Therefore even though our population size remains stable, we are still individually destroying this planet as much as almost 28 third world people do annually.

Overpopulation #1 Enviornmental Problem

Faculty at the SUNY college of Environmental Science and Forestry ranked overpopulation as the biggest environmental problem the world faces today. Dr. Charles A. Hall an ecologist at the university, thinks that overpopulation is "the only problem with the environment." He thinks because of overpopulation we have things like starvation, deforestation, and global warming.

Dr. Hall is exactly right, all signs point to overpopulation as being a very bad thing. The continued growth and disregard for our planet is not the negative attitude we need to have. Things need to be done before it is too late, as with the Malthusian Growth Chart we do not want to reach our carrying capacity because then the population will begin to "stable out."

Overpopulation could be people, planet problem

Overpopulation is not only a problem for the less developed countries with not enough food. The problems effect humans, animals, and mostly the environment. By 2050 India will surpass China as the biggest country in the world and is predicted to have 1.8 billion people. This sounds like a ticking time-bomb, as India starts to grow and develop as a nation they will have a much larger middle class. With a bigger middle class and more money to spend on not only food to survive but luxuries. They are going to "live the dream" and want bigger and better things which means more using renewable and nonrenewable resources.

Can we blame them? As Americans we have the largest ecological footprint of any nation. Surprisingly as much as damage to the environment and the atmosphere from our waste, the biggest concern is lack of fresh water, says Lawrence Smith president of the Population Institute. Smith says by 2050 there will be nearly 2.4 billion more people on the planet, and 97 percent of which is in developing countries, many of which do not have enough fresh water today.

Ishmael

Ishmael originally written in 1977 by Daniel Quinn tells all the ways humans are destroying the planet and are completely blind to the fact. He believes the biggest mistake made by mankind was the agricultural revolution and being able to grow unlimited amounts of food, and stay settled in one area. This led to the growth of populations and the ability to maintain a higher carry capacity. The problem is that with the use of this land and growing populations we are decreasing our carrying capacity, which is defined as the amount of species in a population which can be sustained with the given resources. Once carrying capacity is reached we will reach the breaking point, and our populations will begin to stable off, by means of nature such as starvation, war, and other natural tragedies.

The book has been turned into a novel since the original copy. Now is turned into a book about a student who learns how to have an "earnest desire to save the world" from a Silver Backed Gorilla, named Ishmael. He teaches the narrator about the balance of life, and how every animal has obeyed the rules of life until the humans. The humans came and believed they were better than the gods created them to be. This false belief is what is predetermined in everyone and that the earth was made for humans and is here to do what we please.

The Population Control Controversy

The main message in this article is weather or not people have the right to create life? China's one child policy, or the United Nations educating Africa about birth control and pregnancy prevention are both efforts in curbing the population growth. Well what about the people being controlled? Woman in China have fled the country in order to avoid forced abortion. On an individual scale no one wants to be told what to do, but if the parents can not provide for their families, then they should use pregnancy prevention.
The chart was designed by Thomas Malthus about population sustainability and the carrying capacity. Carry capacity is defined as the maximum number of species that can be sustained in a given area.The factors which stabilize the economy are food sources stripped, endemics, and war. Which is true in nature but with advancements in technology we are able to provide for way more people than can be stable. This means that every year we consume resources we lower the maximum carrying capacity and at the same time continue to increase the population.