Human Intervention
Human activity can impose far-reaching effects on an ecosystem. As earth’s human population grows, the more fuel, water, food and we need.
Currently world population is growing at about eight million people each year. In 1999, the world’s population officially reached six billion and as a result of such growth, organisations like the United Nations are suggesting that by 2030, the global population will be over eight billion.
Population growth puts enormous pressure on Earth’s natural resources, as every day we generate more waste, use more resources like land and fresh water. But in many cases, it’s ecosystems that suffer from our growing needs.
Deforestation and desertification have been linked with population growth and their effects on two main ecosystems are described on the following pages.