M2_B: Tragedy of the Commons

Thomas Robert Malthus

He said that, “The tendency of every species, including humans, is to increase at a geometric rate, while its subsistence increases at an arithmetic rate.”

Thomas Robert Malthus

postulated a universal tendency for the population of a country, unless checked by dwindling food supplies:

• to grow at a geometric rate (2,4,8,16,32,64, ...), doubling every 30 to 40 years.

• land food supplies could only expand at an arithmetic rate (2,4,6,8,10,12,14, ....)

Malthusian Theory of Population & Resources

Idea about population growth and its impact on resources.

Thomas Robert Malthus

He believed that a balance between population growth and food supply can be established through preventive and positive checks.

An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)

Malthusian Theory of Population & Resources is articulated by Thomas Robert Malthus in his influential work "__" published in __, posits that population growth tends to outpace food supply due to inherent biological and agricultural limitations.

Highlights the risk of overpopulation, Serves as a warning, Gives the importance of sustainable resources, Predicted that unchecked population leads to high level of poverty

Malthusian Theory of Population & Resources Strengths

Failing to account for technological advancement, Did not predict agricultural improvement, Assumes that population growth will always follow a rapid-uncontrolled pattern

Malthusian Theory of Population & Resources weaknesses

Neo-Malthusianism

Population growth will eventually lead to resource depletion and environmental degradation.

The Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

offers a historical and sociological perspective, suggesting that a country's population growth rate shifts over time as it develops economically.

Ester Boserup

Danish economist that offered an optimistic, anti-Malthusian perspective which talks about how population growth and density drive, rather than constrain, agricultural innovation.

The Boserupian Theory

As population pressure increases, people are forced to intensify agricultural production through new technologies and farming methods to produce more food on the same land.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

Alternatives to Malthusian Theory

Malthusian Overfishing

a situation where small-scale fishers in developing countries engage in “wholesale resource destruction” in their effort to maintain their income (Pauly 1993)

excess of fishers over available resources, inability of fishers to move to other forms of employment

causes of Malthusian Overfishing

Increased pressure on food resources, environmental costs and stresses

Effects of an explosive population growth to the environment

Crops and Livestock

Products of Traditional Agriculture

New Strains

refer to the products resulting from the following processes that aim at improving products from traditional agriculture.

Green revolution

Programs that led to the breeding of new strains of crops that had higher yields or better resistance to disease, or could grow under less optimal conditions.

Genetic engineering 

selective breeding; hybridization;  recombinant DNA or  gene splicing

Genetic engineering 

refers to the alteration of an organism's genetic, or hereditary, material to eliminate undesirable characteristics or to produce desirable new ones.

Genetic engineering 

is used to increase plant and animal food production; to diagnose disease, improve medical treatment, and produce vaccines and other useful drugs and even to help dispose of industrial wastes.

Selective breeding, hybridization, Recombinant DNA or gene splicing

process of genetic engineering

Selective breeding

only those plants or animals with desirable characteristics are chosen for further breeding(e.g. corn, wheat, rice, cattle, pigs)

Hybridization

(or cross-breeding) which is combining different strains of a species (that is, members of the same species with different characteristics) or members of different species in an effort to combine the most desirable characteristics of both

Recombinant DNA or gene splicing

is used by scientists to directly alter genetic material. It emerged as a response to combat one of the greatest problems in food production: the destruction of crops by viruses

Recombinant DNA or gene splicing

In animal food production, the technique has been used fishes (e.g. trout, salmon) and livestock (e.g. cattle) so that they will have better attributes such as increased disease-resistant and better growth.

Crop domestication

the development of new crops by domesticating species that are currently wild for the purpose of increasing production in marginal areas e.g. arid and semi-arid regions and increasing the production of non-food products such as oils.

Crop domestication

the development of new crops that are not only for human consumption; some of which are useful in the production of animal feed.

Aquaculture

This refers to the production of food from aquatic habitats – marine and freshwater through use of mostly enclosed structures such as ponds, cages, or pens (a.k.a. animal husbandry or livestock raising).

Aquaculture

This aims to augment production from capture fisheries to prevent the further decline of aquatic food from the sea, lakes, rivers etc.

Climate change, Increased incidence of environmentally induced illnesses, Increase in number of species being endangered, Greenhouse warming, Desertification, Eutrophication of lakes and streams

Environmental Costs and Stresses

Tragedy of The Commons

This is a concept by Garret Hardin (1968), which illustrates how a serious environmental catastrophe can be brought about

commons

It is any resource used as though it belongs to all. When anyone can use a shared resource simply because one wants or needs to use it, then one is using it

tragedy

is when a commons is destroyed by uncontrolled use (neither intent of the user, nor ownership are important). It is the destruction or ruin of the commons 

Garret Hardin

He said that, “Freedom in the commons brings ruin to all.”

food was necessary for life, passion between the sexes is a constant

2 key points in mathusian theory

geometrically, arithmetically

Mathusian Theory - Population grows__, while food supply grows __

economist that qouted “the rate of food production was directly proportional to the rate of population growth

exponential

pattern of population growth (doubles at a steady rate)

linear

fashion of food production (increases more slowly)