nergy: Higher Trophic Levels
On land, one species, Homo sapiens, commands about 40% of the total terrestrial NPP. This has probably never occurred before in earth's history. Human "carrying capacity" on earth is hard to estimate, because it depends upon affluence of a population and the technology supporting that population. But at present levels of affluence and technology, a population 50 to 100% larger than we have today would push our use of terrestrial NPP to well over 50% of the available production, and the attending degradation of ecosystems on earth (e.g., air and water pollution) would be of major concern.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published a study on the food production outlook through the year 2010. The FAO forecasts that production increases can, in fact, accommodate effective demand and rising world population, although malnutrition will become an increasing problem in developing countries. It is also assumed that continuing substantial investments in agricultural research are essential.
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