Enduring Issue Essay 1

11/2/18

Going from a Paleolithic lifestyle to neolithic in 10000 BCE was a huge turning point in agriculture, innovation, and prehistory in general. Though there were many factors in order to maintain a neolithic lifestyle, especially without modern tools or technology. One factor, for example, would be providing enough surplus to keep up with the now at hand growing population. Population growth is an enduring issue that is a side effect to the success of settlements or civilizations because it causes struggles such as; not being able to keep up with the production of surplus, controlling the flow of water,  etc. within the settlement/civilization.

The side effect of population growth has affected early river civilizations and many others throughout history to now. In early river civilizations, as stated in document 1, From Food Gathering To Food Producing, the change from food-gathering to a food-producing economy initiated. The next step, now that they’re a food-producing economy, was to keep a consistent amount of product needed for the population. If the population grew, the amount of food-produce would also have to grow, which was a struggle in part because of sudden flooding or droughts in the area. From document 3 based on Larry W. Mays, Irrigation Systems, Ancient, specifically in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt; “During very high flows, the dikes were washed away and villages flooded, drowning thousands. During low flows, the land did not receive water, and no crops could grow.”

An example of how population growth has endured over time was shown in document 4, How did planting seeds change in the 1700s. Before the Agricultural Revolution, farming techniques were lousy and ineffective. A man named Jethro Tull invented a horse-drawn seed drill that drilled holes for three rows of seed at a time to the correct depth, planted the seeds, and covered the dirt all in one action. “Tull’s seed drill increased the amount of food grown five times,” which ended up temporarily reducing the level of struggle within population growth side effects during the 1700s.

Another example of how population growth has endured overtime was after World War II, outside of Europe and North America. From document 5 according to James Killoran, The Key to Understanding Global History, “there was a concern that agricultural techniques used in the regions with the greatest population increase would not produce enough crops to keep up with demand.” Though during the “Green Revolution,” which began in the 1960s, “the production of crops increased drastically as a result of new technological advances, such as, mechanical equipment, new farming techniques, and chemical fertilizers,” which also temporarily reduced the level of struggle with population growth side effects in those regions. Though new problems in the world and its environment, such as environmental degradation, struck due to the newly designed mechanical equipment, farming techniques, and chemical fertilizers that were presumed to benefit.

Attempted temporary solutions to side effects of population growth all started in Egypt and Mesopotamia during early river civilizations. Solutions then, like canals for irrigation, did not have a negative impact on Earth’s environment. Similarly, in the 1700s, temporary solutions to population growth side effects did not have a major impact on Earth’s environment. Though the closer we get to modern-day, during the Green Revolution for example; negative impacts on Earth’s environment skyrocketed. In this case, the benefits to innovation at the time did not outweigh the cost because the struggle to feed, clothe, house, and educate accumulating numbers of people continued. There are countless examples of how population growth has impacted the present-day world. A few examples are overusing and consuming Earth’s resources eventually to the point where we don’t have anything left. According to the article World Population Right Now, retrieved from http://www.theworldcounts.com/counters/shocking_environmental_facts_and_statistics/world_population_clock_live, we are already overusing at 160 percent, and if we don’t start radically changing the way we consume the planet, we will be heading for a complete collapse of our consumer society. There are over 7 billion people on Earth and we are deeply in need of a new industrial revolution, where economic wealth goes hand-in-hand with environmental and social sustainability, and fast. We are reaching critical tipping points beyond which it will be too late to reverse negative trends. What little things could we start doing in our own households and communities to help prevent a complete collapse in our consumer society?