lncreasing population doesn't just put a strain on the room available.How do we get enough food to feed more and more people?
Science has increased the food-producing ability of humanity many times over.'All kinds of machinery have been introduced to the farm so that more food can be pro- duced per farmer. Chemical fertilizers have been used to increase the yield of the soil. Insecticides have been used to kill the insects that would otherwise destroy much of the plant products man needs.In the last ten years. new strains of wheat and rice have been introduced to produce a "green revolution." These hardy, high-yield strains produce more food for the same labor.
All these advances have their dark side, too. By intro- ducing machinery on the farm, fewer farmers are needed. and that starts the flood of farm people into the cities. Fertilizers wash into the water system and help change the chemistry of rivers and lakes, usually for the worse.' Insecticides are eaten by animals other than insects and some of them are badly affected.
Even the new strains of wheat and rice, which supply more food and cut down the death rate caused by malnutri- tion, are not the solution.' If population continues to in- crease sharply, pretty soon all the increase in food will be used in feeding many more people. All will be hungry again in another generation, and there will again be a food shortage.
What's more, as mankind must concentrate more and more on feeding himself, more and more land must be given over to the plants and animals he feeds upon.Plants and animals he can't use must be killed off. Weeds are des- troyed : wild animals are killed.
This means that as population goes up, more and more species of plants and animals that are not useful will dwindle in number and finally be extinct. The wilderness throughout the world will disappear. Not only will this make earth less beautiful and k-is interesting, but in the end, since all species of plants and animals depend on each other, it may become increasingly hard for man to maintain his own life and health.
