Notes

William Catton has a new view on population growth. To
explain his theory, Catton starts with a factual outlook. Catton
believes that the overpopulation Crisis began in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. He refers to this time as the
"age
of exuberance." According to Catton, the age of exuberance
was a time where there was tremendous progress in
Revolution within Society. Due to the progress and
Revolution, the earth's carrying capacity grew. During the
Industrial Revolution, the earth's carrying capacity went
through. Of the time of even more growth,
the Industrial
Revolution caused the use of non-reusable resources,
Catton
refers to these resources as finite resources. Catton believes
that these resources are exploited by one generation and then
needed but unavailable to the next generation. According to
Catton's theory, the industrialization and technology that have
helped us develop a phantom carrying capacity will cause us
to overshoot our permanent carrying capacity since we are
living beyond our means. After these increases in population
growth cannot believe, we will suffer from severe failures in
our life support systems, which will cause the population to
decline rapidly. According to Catton's Theory, the population
levels will return to be on par with the carrying capacity over
time. However, because of the damage done environmentally,
it will be a much lower carrying capacity than the one that