L.A.: now serving 4 million mouths...

California’s population became roughly equal to the entire country of New Zealand’s in January, 2007.

If you live in the state, look around. It may be crowded, traffic may be at a stand still and lines may be long.

Southern Calif. is especially impacted by the population explosion. Major cities like Los Angeles and Irvine have seen substantial growth since the 1950s.

Edward Soja, a professor of urban planning at UCLA, is concerned that Southern Calif. is not currently structured to provide for so many people.

In an L.A. Times article Soja said, "I would say never before is it more needed to have some form of regional coordination, whether we are talking about housing and homelessness or transportation and airports or environment and pollution."

Imagine though, how such a dense population can impact the environment for both humans and other organisms.

From a biological standpoint, competition among members of a species is fierce, namely when resources are scarce. This applies to Homo sapiens too.

This same L.A. Times article cites that the newspaper used to celebrate milestones for the state, such as the 1 million mark in 1923 and the 1.5 million mark in 1940. But, like an older woman, California’s not celebrating the population growth.

National Geographic highlights the repercussions of urban sprawl and overpopulation in cities. Read the link, see if the shoe fits.

National Geographic article:

http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/urban-threats2.html

L.A. Times article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/la-me-population2may02,1,6032019.story