<P> Overshoot can occur due to lag effects . Reproduction rates may remain high relative to the death rate . Entire ecosystems may be severely affected and sometimes reduced to less - complex states due to prolonged overshoot . The eradication of disease can trigger overshoot when a population suddenly exceeds the land's carrying capacity . An example of this occurred on the Horn of Africa when smallpox was eliminated . A region that had supported around 1 million pastoralists for centuries was suddenly expected to support 14 million people . The result was overgrazing, which led to soil erosion . </P> <P> An attempt to apply this concept to human experience is Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change, by William R. Catton, Jr., which updates the 1974 book, The Limits to Growth . The Club of Rome study The Limits to Growth used a computer model which was based on overshoot and collapse . The Limits to Growth simulation showed in several scenarios how overshoot could happen based on an assumption of hard limits to resources, but did not deal with questions of substitution of limited resources with renewable resources . </P> <P> Depending on your world view, some believe, including Catton, that the Earth's population has already overshot its carrying capacity, by both overpopulation and overconsumption . This may include doomers and those within various degrowth movements . An alternative view is cornucopian including those who believe matter and energy will be obtained from beyond Earth . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What happens to the size of the population when it overshoots carrying capacity