Chapter 4 Resources and the Environment Malthus and Population Pessimist Carrying Capacity will be reached We have to produce x which is our carrying capacity Food crises and famines in Africa as a result of overpopulation Optimists believe in saving grace of modern technology we continue to find ways to produce things more efficiently Resources and Reserves Resource what we can get our hands on right now with the technology that is available to us oil from Texas ground Reserve we know it s there we re not taking it out yet oil in Alaska Projected Reserves we continue to find new reserves so this is projected findings of new reserves don t rely on them Copper Mines Strip mines destroy a whole mountain to get to reserves environmentalists won t let us do this anymore projected that they would be able to mine it from 1800s for 50 years but they found new technology ionization to process it way quicker Nonrenewable resources resources that are running out Renewable resources yielding output indefinitely without impairing production Tragedy of the commons Public resources are frequently ruined by the cumulative isolated actions of individuals in that overuse is practiced rather than conservation thus ruining resources held in common Problem generated by individual actors who behave rationally and collectively create an irrational and self destructive outcome Even though things are renewable we use them up too fast to be renewable Food Resources Production of grain produced right at the amount at which it is consumed Government subsidizes farms to not grow food so that the price will not be driven down through overproduction North America and Europe South America is well fed Africa is not able to produce enough high caloric foods leading to malnutrition