Subjects:
. . .
In China, it is common for a woman to feel that her main role in society is to pass on her genes by bearing many children; this must be changed if the ?one-child policy? is to become successful. This means that the ecosystem is already being impacted by humans; if the population is too overwhelming to be supported by freshwater supplies, then the ecosystem has a lesser chance of surviving. She also estimated that five to twenty times this amount is needed for agriculture, industry, and energy production per day. Although it may sound brutal, it is the only way to control the population enough to have a good economy, and healthy population and environment. This also creates a lower annual birthrate in a country. A Swedish hydrologist named Malin Falkenmark estimated that 100 litres of water per person per day is roughly what a basic household needs for drinking, bathing, and cooking. If women are not urged to become educated, they tend to focus mainly on the benefits of having children. In China?s case, the alternative is anarchy. Agriculture industries need water to keep the food growing to feed the country and if there is not enough water then the soil in which the food grows in experiences a drought. The UCS and PAI also says, ?Slower population growth protects aquatic ecosystems. The growth of Algae in China stemming from human, agricultural, and industrial wastes has impacted the freshwater rivers so much that reduced oxygen levels in the rivers has made it so that only five out of the fifteen rivers tested near cities could support fish. Brown, ?Although one hundred million tons appears to be an enormous quantity of grain , it represents a mere eight percent of annual world grain consumption, or less than one month?s global needs - clearly an uncomfortably small working reserve and a perilously thin buffer against the vagaries of weather and plant disease? (Brown, 59). Women in China can no longer choose how many children they want to have or whether they want to be sterilized or not. Charles Darwin said, ?Survival of the fittest?, which may also be applied to the situation in China. According to the SSI Population-Environment Linkages Series, there have been predictions by Population Action International that the percentage of the world?s population living in water-stressed countries with increase by a threefold by the year 2050.
Essay's Topics
All research is for reference purposes only.