In his Essay on Population (1798) Thomas Robert Malthus’s (1766-1834) explained his theory of population growth. He argued that human populations tend to grow at a much faster rate than the rate at which the means of human subsistence can grow such as food, clothing, and other agriculture-based products. According to him, agricultural production grows only in a progression of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 etc. while population can grow in a progression of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 etc. In such a context, he argued for the need for preventing population growth. However, there are incidents in history that reject his way of seeing the growth of the population and its relation to resources. There are counter theories too which refute his observation and prove his theory as false.

According to Malthus natural calamities are nature's way of preventing population growth. What is the term he gave for this prevention?

Preventive checks. Arithmetic progression. Positive checks None of the above.

Positive checks

Preventive checks are checks by human beings. Arithmetic progression is the direction that Malthus finds for the growth of resources.