Abstract
World population has doubled in the past 40 years and is now 5 billion. It is estimated to double again in the next 50 years, reaching 10 billion. On the other hand, the annual extension rate of arable land is below 1 %, a rate of growth much lower than that of the population growth. And the yield of cereals had been growing steadily from 1970 to 1985. Since the areas harvested have been constant for this period, the increase in the yield must le attributed to growing productivity. The growth rate of world population is lower than that of world GDP. Consequently, the impact on the global environment by human economic activities is much stronger than the population increase.
This study deals with the role of satellite remote sensing for monitoring the global environment on a global scale, and the analysis of world vegetation, potential arable land area and potential food production. Based on the above results, the total population the earth can feed will be calculated. And we try to consider the relation between global environment and population.
