AP Human Geography, Malthusian Theory, Unit 2.6

The theory that mass starvation is inevitable because food supplies grow at the same rate while population grows exponentially, leading to the population being much higher than the food supply can handle.

English economist; believed poor families should have fewer children to preserve the food supply. In 1798 he wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population; opposite of Rousseau. Author of the Malthusian Theory

People that believe in the Malthusian Theory and have adapted it to modern conditions.

Book written by Paul Ehrlich predicting worldwide famine in the 1970s-80s due to overpopulation. Advocated immediate action to limit population growth.

Author of The Population Bomb. American biologist and professor at Stanford University. Received Sweden's Crafoord Prize

Malthus did not anticipate the development of powerful new vaccines for diseases like small-pox and equally powerful advances in public health infrastructure like modern sewage systems and so forth.

Faster growth in developing nations than he anticipated due to more access to the medical care→ LARGER resource gap than anticipated. Food is not the only thing running out→ other resources are too.

Food production has grown faster than NIR since 1950. India→rice production followed Malthus' predictions, but wheat production has increased twice as fast. According to some, distribution is the problem, not the amount of food. POPULATION PREDICTIONS=MOST INACCURATE