Human as a resource... hmmmm =)

Heyyy..! After reading the post, our group got inspired... and decided that our previous post was actually lacking in some information...! THe point made about human being a resource was something that we left out... what were on the post previous was mainly on physical resources such as food, water and land...

However, human should not be neglected as a resource in limiting population. Firstly, as mentioned by Tas, there are human services such as people providing healthcare services, such as caretakers, doctors, nurses, that are in shortage. This is the case in Singapore too. Due to the aging population, the increase in demand and need for these services actually pushes these resource to its limit. WIthout them, it is difficult to maintain the aging population.

Another point to be noted is that humans can be technically categorised into 'productive' and 'non-productive' resources. The younger and more able-bodied are considered to be a more productive resource, supporting the less 'productive', or the dependents in the country. Hence, we can say that the 'more productive' population is the valuable resource which the rest of the population depend on... however, the aging population in Singapore, decreasing the 'productive population', increasing the 'dependent population', is resulting in a limit to Singapore's population as well. There is a limit to the number of dependents in which one productive unit can support and this will eventually limit population size.

I hope this makes sense...! =)

Btw, below is a map of Singapore, showing the many competing land uses we have on our very small piece of land and the very small catchment area we have... =\

My take on population

Hi guys,

I'm really sorry about the late reply, I should have told you earlier but we had a lecture on populations today and I was waiting until afterwards to write to you so that I would have the best possible understanding of the topic.

Okay firstly, from our reading it is forecast that Australia will be able to support a population of 26 million. Seeing as we are at 21 million already and have a very high birthrate for such a developed and affluent country, 1.8% pa, it is forecast that we will be there by 2050.

The most significant resources limiting population growth in Australia are varied. One of these is certainly water. There is just not enough rainfall on this continent to support our massively expanding population, especially considering our agricultural and industrial needs. Another problem is arable lang. We have no problem with land in general, there is heaps of it, but the fact that it is economically useless limits the amount of land suitable for human habitation or agriculture. Another factor, as you have mentioned, is soil quality. Australia is the most stable continent in the world, meaning that there is little to no geological activity, and that means that there is little nutrients in our soils. The areas that have both sufficient rainfall and good soils are few and far between. Food is nowhere near as bad a problem in Australia as it is in Singapore, we produce much more wheat than we consume, we also produce a lot of beef and other meat, a lot of fish and a lot of our own fruit and vegetables, however sizeable amounts of rice, etc. are imported.

Our lecturer told us to think laterally when we were addressing the resources limiting growth and I think one of them is the shortages in some employment fields, especially in health. We are very short of doctors and nurses and this could affect the way that we are capable of maintaining our population.

Okay, they are my thoughts on the subject for the moment. You see, you guys are just so efficient that it is difficult to add anything valuable to discussions with you!

limits to population sustainability =)

HEY heyyy..! this is our Singaporean take on the population and resource limitation issue... hope to hear from you guys soon..! =)


2. Briefly substantiate your figure by listing (in order of importance) the most significant resources that limit the population Australia and Singapore can sustainably support.

Singapore, being a very small country with extremely limited land area, LAND, is definitely the most significant resource that limits the population size Singapore can sustainably support. Land encompasses many other resources. Firstly, living space is directly related to land area. With a small land area, population density becomes extremely high (6814/sqkm, pushed upwards by our most prevalent type of housing, the HDBs, high rise flats), increasing congestion and hence making it difficult to maintain a high standard of living. When looking at sustaining a certain level of comfort and high standards of living, population density cannot be too high. With the effect of congestion already starting to be felt at the present, a sustainable population size in Singapore, for a good standard of living, should not exceed our current population by too much.
Next, associated to the small land area, Singapore faces WATER CONSTRAINTS. Singapore does not have any natural freshwater lakes; hence most of the water comes from rainfall. However, even though Singapore has a high rainfall, she has limited area for water storage. Singapore’s reservoir can only support about 67% of the domestic water needs. The others are supplied through importing from Malaysia, desalination, and recycling of waste water. Even though technology has helped in easing the water constraint, these methods are extremely costly, and cannot be entirely depended on at the moment.
The next important resource that limits Singapore’s population is FOOD. With a small land area, the many different competing land uses (eg. Urban areas, housing, businesses) diverts land resources away from agriculture and food production. Furthermore, Singapore has little arable land due to poor soil quality as Singapore’s soil suffer from serious leaching due to high rainfall, high temperature, and high rates of removal in vegetative cover. Besides that leaf litter is constantly cleared, coupled with high bacterial activities, which oxidises any leaf litter left, soil nutrient in the top soil is extremely bad. With that Singapore cannot survive on food products produced locally.
Singapore has extremely little resources of her own. Hence, Singapore is heavily dependent on imports. Therefore, one must take into considerations the resources that limit the importing of other resources into Singapore. One of them will be oil. Oil fuels the transportation eg. Aeroplanes, ships, which brings in resources such as food products, into our country. Being a finite resource which is rising in price, oil prices directly affects the price of imported food brought into the country. Whether we can afford to import depends directly on the availability of Oil and fuel.






3. What are some similarities and differences between the resources that limit Australia’s population to that of Singapore?

There are resources that limit Australia that does not limit Singapore vice versa. Being in 2 different climatic belts, with extremely different land size, it is natural that there are differences in the limits to population of the two countries.
Singapore and Australia are different in many ways. Firstly, in terms of land area, Australia, being an entire continent on its own is about 10 times larger than Singapore. However in terms of population density, it is much 3 times lower in Australia as compared to land scarce Singapore. However, one must also note that the population density in varies spatially in Australia too. About one third of Australia is covered is desert, which is almost unpopulated. However, even so, in terms of living land area, Australia can support a greater population as compared to Singapore.
Next, Australia, being located in the 15 to 40 degrees South on the globe, it is subjected to certain climatic events which brings about many problems that Singapore, which is located at the equator does not have to endure. Firstly, the falling limb of the Hadley cell at about 25 degrees North South, extremely dry conditions are prevalent in this high pressure region, resulting in the formation of deserts and dry seasons. Singapore, located at the equator is in a low pressure region, on the rising limb of the Hadley cell, with cumulonimbus clouds formation frequent, and high rainfall.
Lastly, as mentioned above in question 2, with land scarcity and competing land uses, food production and agriculture is extremely low in Singapore. Hence, being unable to produce enough food to sustain her own population is a problem in Singapore. Whereas, Australia, with the abundance of land has a thriving food production sector worth about $24billion.
However, both countries face similar problems too. Firstly, water scarcity. In both countries, less than 1.5% of the land area is water. However, the water scarcity is a result of different reasons and causes in both countries. In Singapore, it is due to the lack of water catchment areas, and storage areas due to the lack of land. Whereas, in Australia, it is due to the dry climatic conditions.
Lastly, the lousy soil quality found in both countries are also limits to population the country can sustain in terms of food production. However, the reasons for bad soil quality in both countries differ too. In Australia, it is due to the dry conditions, resulting in low vegetation cover, high surface runoff, dry soil, and eventually low nutrient content. As for Singapore, it is due to soil leaching, whereby the high temperature and high rainfall encourages the rapid decomposition of the surface litter, and the rapid infiltration and permeation of nutrient in to the deeper layers.

Hi everyone, this is the final set of questions already ! Hurray !

Your responses to these questions will form the basis for our tutorial discussions:

1. Your estimate of what population you think Singapore can sustainably support. (4.84 million currently according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore#Population)
* ANU students will think about a sustainable population target for Singapore. (Hehe)

2. Briefly substantiate your figure by listing (in order of importance) the most significant resources that limit the population Australia and Sinagpore can sustainably support (e.g. land, water)

3. What are some of the similarities and differences between the resources that limit Australia's population to that of Singapore? (commonalities and dissimilarities?)

4. Come prepared to discuss and defend your sustainable population target for Singapore. The ideas presented in lectures, readings and collaboration discussions with ANU may be helpful in supporting your views. (ZzZz haha)