Botkin Environmental Science Earth as Living Planet 8th txtbk

1.2 Human Population Growth 7
FIGURE 1.6 Science and values. Social conditions affect the environment,
and the environment affects social conditions. Political disruption in Somalia (illustrated
by a Somalian boy with a gun, left photo) interrupted farming and food
distribution, leading to starvation. Overpopulation, climate change, and poor
farming methods also lead to starvation, which in turn promotes social disruption.
Famine has been common in parts of Africa since the 1980s, as illustrated
by gifts of food from aid agencies.
tific knowledge has led to increased agricultural production
and to a better understanding of population growth
and what is required to conserve natural resources. With
this knowledge, we are forced to confront a choice: Which
is more important, the survival of people alive today or
conservation of the environment on which future food
production and human life depend? 13
Answering this question demands value judgments and
the information and knowledge with which to make such
judgments. For example, we must determine whether we
can continue to increase agricultural production without
destroying the very environment on which agriculture
and, indeed, the persistence of life on Earth depend. Put
another way, a technical, scientific investigation provides
a basis for a value judgment.
The human population continues to grow, but humans’
effects on the environment are growing even faster.
14 People cannot escape the laws of population growth
(this is discussed in several chapters). The broad scienceand-values
question is: What will we do about the increase
in our own species and its impact on our planet and on
our future?
Percent of children
age