In 2011, our world population reached a staggering 7 billion. Before then, our population was already concerned about limited resources and paranoia about the future. Many were and still are “going green.” Amongst coming to a population of 7 billion came the term overpopulation. The term basically speaks for itself, we might be over populated. But, is overpopulation a problem; if so, what can we do about it? Today, I will be presenting about overpopulation, including statistics, and the effects taken on the economy. Along with talking about the issue, I want to present to you possible solutions which may even take us back in history.
Overpopulation can be defined as the comparison of our population and the amount of resources used. We are overpopulated and have too many people for our amount of resources. “It seems we are running out of room on this planet of ours” (Flostro,1).
Our birth rates climb and we get bigger and bigger. We have our biggest issue, overpopulation. Many believe that expanding our areas and cities are the answer to any overcrowding issues. The more we expand the more natural resources we use. We are rapidly losing our natural resources (Flostro, 1).
On Earth our fresh water supply is disappearing. “There is more people consuming water, however, than being replaced” (Flostro, 1). Along with our fresh water disappearing so is our biodiversity. “As the population grows there is more demand for certain plants” (Flostro, 1). The damper on our biodiversity comes from the rapid demand for plants, trees, food, and crops. Landfills are also taking up lots of space and many communities are running out of room for their waste.
I decided to look into this theologically and read Kristen Johnston Largen’s article ti...
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...a major issue with balance and consumption. Solutions need to be taken into consideration. Whether it’s a defined law on population control, or simply having contraceptives readily available for those who can’t get access; something needs to be done. The solutions can be easy or hard but there is proof that their existence could work. We have options, now it’s time to do something about it.
Works Cited
Flostro. "Over-Population: The Most Serious Environmental Problem for Science." PlanetSave , July 2013. Web. 26 April 2014.
Kristof, Nicholas D. “The Birth Control Solution.” New York Times 2 Nov. 11 Web. 26 April 2014.
Largen, Kristen J. “The Theological Problem of Overpopulation.” Dialogue: A Journal of Theology 51.1(2012): 12-13. Web. 26 April 2014.
Xiaofei, Dang. “China Has Avoided Rampant Population Growth.” China Today 63.2 (2014): 24-26. Web. 26 April 2014.
The worldwide population is approaching 7 billion and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 (Baird). This projected population number is down from a once predicted 16 billion (Baird) and while some are not concerned, others are worried about any increase in population. Population growth is discussed in the articles “Too Many People?” by Vanessa Baird; “Population Control: How Can There Possibly Be Too Many of Us?” by Frank Furedi; and “The Population Bomb Revisited,” by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich. Baird and Furedi concur that a concern for population growth has been around since mathematician Thomas Malthus, in 1798, warned that overpopulation could lead to “the collapse of society” (Furedi). Furedi claims that too much human life is being used as an excuse, by population control supporters, for the world’s current and future problems. Baird tries to discover if “the current panic over population growth is reasonable.” For Ehrlich and Ehrlich the concern over population growth is very real, and they reinforce and support their book “calling attention to the demographic element in the human predicament” (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 63). While taking different approaches to their articles, the authors offer their perspectives on population growth, population control and the environmental impacts of a growing population.
Subsequently, the provided documents on the birth control movement did show the push and pull factors of the complicated and multifaceted debate. Americas push towards industrial growth, and technology demanded that the subsequent progressive reforms were needed for a society ushering in a new era. At the same time, fear and reluctance to abandon tradition and religious custom acted as the pulling factor. The birth control debate was a complicated and heavily charged debate teemed in religious, social, political, and racial rhetoric. Historical documents help shed new light on the things taken for granted today, even the most seemingly innocuous things like birth control were fought for, so that men and women today could be in charge of their own destinies.
This pill “eliminates the external causes of death” by protecting the user from all known forms of sexually transmitted diseases, providing an unlimited libido, and extending youth and by serving as a “sure-fire one-time-does-it-all-birth-control pill” for men and woman (294). In sum, it “was designed to take a set of givens, namely the nature of human nature, and steer these givens in a more beneficial direction” (293). The pill would take everything about a human’s nature and change it in a way to benefit society and create a beneficial society or a utopia
Garret Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons” is an article that identifies the nation’s current problems and predicaments that can’t be resolved through the use of technical solutions. Hardin’s work heavily focuses on overpopulation, a prominent and unceasing issue that significantly distorts and affects the stability of the Earth and the abundance of the planet’s resources. In his article, he mentioned some reasonable and important solutions to overpopulation, but he also explained its downside and how the said solutions may not be ideal and practical. “Tragedy of the Commons” revealed that the human population will continue to flourish and how it will be greatly detrimental to our society unless individuals get the education that they need and
During the whole of the 21st century, the subject of birth control has become a trending topic throughout various news reports. The debate on whether or not birth control should be required and distributed by all health plans has caused much controversy throughout the population. However, there was a time in our history when contraceptives, much less birth control, was available for the public. It was through the perseverance and determination of Margaret Sanger to make birth control legal for all women that it is accessible worldwide today. She was the leader of the birth control movement, which was conceived during the Progressive era of United States history.
In the 1940s, China viewed promoting a larger population as a positive improvement for political strength and to improve economic development. Consequently, in the mid-1950s, China realized it “hindered economic development.” They then concluded the government of China must regulate population control in order to solve a majority of their problems (Rile...
Birth control is an affordable basic preventive health care measure that is critical to achieving
...e where it belongs – on men” (Tone, 246). The social landscape at this point in America seems to be a stark contrast from where women were when Sanger and McCormick began their fight. In fact, Sanger and McCorkmick were adamant that contraception be entirely in the hands of women (May, 109). The whole purpose was to provide women with the ability to decide when and if they wanted to conceive, and that they should otherwise have a safe and effective means to prevent it. Women had come along so far in their right to be heard that what the pill had done to liberate them and give them control of their bodies was no longer enough in and of itself – it should be men who suffer the side effects just as much, if not more than they. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort; a safe, non-permanent male contraceptive was researched and tested quite extensively, but to no avail.
Have you ever wondered why there are 7 billion living on earth today? According to Webster’s Dictionary, population is the total number of people inhabiting a country, city, etc. (Merriam-Webster). There are a lot of people in the world and the earth doesn’t seem big enough to sustain the growing population of the earth. Having this many people on earth is too much so something must be done about it because it can cause a lot of problems in many countries especially in less developed countries. There are many ways of making the world a better place and overpopulating is not one of them. Even with the knowledge of its history, causes and effects, it is still a topic that is a major concern today.
Mall, Janice. "Public Favors Birth Control Messages." Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext): 3. Nov 17 1985. ProQuest. Web. 19 Mar. 2014 .
Stancheva, Tina. "Effects of Overpopulation on the Environment." Human Nature, Technology & the Environment. Swarthmore College Environmental Studies, 6 June 2003. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
“It frees the woman from the burden of involuntary childbearing that has traditionally made her a poor risk to employers and assigned her a secondary role in society. Now, three out of five working women are married” (Marks). Nonetheless, birth control allows couples to plan for the conception of children and take charge of their lives. Birth control has brought about positive cultural change in society. Women are now able to consider having careers and attending college, rather than worrying about raising a family.
Since the beginning of mankind, we have reached many great achievements. We have developed many technologies and theories to solve and explain many of our questions and to improve human life. Through our years of evolution, we have severely increased our own survivability. This has been a great achievement for us, but in the recent decade, overpopulation is becoming a great issue. In the recent years, the rapid increase in population growth has troubled many in the field of political sciences. Scientists like Ehrlich have calculated and expected our population to grow even faster if we do not act upon the increasing rate of population growth. The birth rate of our planet is increasing exponentially, meaning that the birth rate has surpassed the death rate and that the rate of growth will only increase if left alone. The politics of population is a debate that involves both the fields of sciences and moral and ethical considerations. Science may provide an insight of
The greatest threat feared is simply the devastating result of overpopulation. With a consistently growing
Overpopulation is a growing problem all over the world. This is a very important environmental issue and needs to be dealt with. This environmental problem is affecting many countries around the world, but mostly the poor and impoverished countries that don’t have the resources to help deal with these issues. It also affects the environment like plants, animal life and air quality. When the population of people expands we need more natural resources from the environment, so we consume more than we can produce.