What Technologies Have an Impact on Population Growth Rates?

Although many people expect to live to a ripe old age today, only a few hundred years ago the average person did not live very long by today's standards. Scientific breakthroughs are at the forefront of human longevity, and an important reason why the world population has continued to exponentially increase since the 19th century. This population explosion may create serious consequences for the environment and mankind.

• Long lines.

Nutrition

• The world population grew steadily until the 1800s, at which point the numbers started exploding. It took several centuries before the human population finally surpassed the 1 billion mark in 1804. In a relative 123-year eye blink it doubled to 2 billion. And a mere 60 years further on, the planet is now forced to sustain 5 billion people. Current estimates project the earth's population to max out at 9 billion in 2050.

Agricultural Improvements

• To increase a population you need to provide them some basic resources. Food is essential for the life of any creature. According to the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, increases in agricultural technology have drastically improved food production, while decreasing the amount of labor needed to produce food. Commercial fertilizers allow greater yields, and pesticides prevent the destruction of crops by parasites.

Public Health

• While large surpluses of basic necessities increase the population capacity of society, population growth also requires improving the safety of water and food sources. Waterborne illness such as cholera plagued mankind for centuries. Before 1990, less than half of the world's population had safe drinking water, that number now hovers around 75 percent. Improvements in technology such as water filtration and water heaters easily purge contaminants from water and cuisine.

Medicine

• The suppression and sometimes elimination of diseases since the early 19th century has played perhaps the biggest technological role in population growth, according to the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. The infections and disease that once ravaged humanity, such as smallpox and polio, are now easily prevented using vaccination. We also now know that an infection stopped in one person can prevent it from infecting others.

Theories/Speculation

• While individuals may enjoy longer and healthier lives now, overpopulation is a critical concern for the environment, according to the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. A larger population needs more natural resources and more living spaces. Dr. Thomas E. Amidon of SUNY warns that the Earth cannot sustain the current population, and that an overpopulation crisis not effectively addressed will eventually result in the end of mankind, or the destruction of the planet.