The Problems that Our World Faces Today
The earth is considered as one of the most beautiful planets in the universe. It is the only planet in our galaxy that has enough water to support life. Unfortunately our planet is suffering due to many problems which should be solved before it is too late. The major problems that are facing our world today are population, pollution and animal extinction.
One of the problems facing our world is population. It began about ten thousand years ago when the humans settled and began farming. The farming provides more food for the people thus making the population grow. Now we are about 6 billion in population and in a few years we will be around 10 to 11 billion. Therefore, our population will almost double in size. This means that we will need more food to support us. A study in 1986 by Peter Vitonesk, a Stanford biologist, showed that the humans are already consuming about 38.8 of what is possible for us to eat. Thus, if the population keeps increasing, the percentage will increase also, making us closer and closer to the biophysical limits. By studying the earth's capacity, Dr. Cornell, another biologist, believes that we are already crowded for this would. He believes that our world can only support two million people. Not only this, but population can cause complicated problems to the countries with very high population. These countries will need more schools to educate its people, they will need more hospitals and public health to take care of their people, and they will need more water and more soil for farming to feed all the people. In order to solve the population growth problem, the people should be educated. Once the people are educated they will be aware of the problems they ca...
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...he present century and for sure will be greater in the century we are approaching. More rational use of resources, more effective remedy of pollution and more scientific family planning will surely change the pessimism to optimism in out beautiful world. To conclude, all nations, rich or poor, have great responsibility to challenge the problems that confront our world. Indeed it is a healthy sign that nations meet and discuss policies and strategies, but the most important element in the whole process is the implementation of what has been agreed upon. In order for earth to support us, we have to support it first.
Bibliography:
· Before the Next Doubling, by Jennifer D. Mitchell; February 1998
· A Special Moment In History by, Bill Mckibben; May 1998
· Internet: http://www.polaris.nova.edu/WWWBOARD/farquhar/envstud/messages/1142.html
In, The Population Bomb by, Paul R Ehrlich, he explains the problem of population increase, and how there are people everywhere! The feeling of feeling over populated. He talks about how if there are more people then there is more food that needs to be produced then ate. He explains on the rich people becoming wealthier and the poor are going to be even poorer and there is going to be a starvation. Population is doubling every year and how our energy is turning into
In today’s society that we live in, there are countless of environmental problems that we face, such as global warming, fishing, pollution, and many other topics of that matter. These issues have affected our environment for the worse and have caused problems physically and economically. Yet, out of all the issues that effects our world on a daily basis, it is shown that overpopulation is one if not, is our biggest issue in our environment that is only getting worse due time, especially due to the rapid growth of the human population and the limited resources that are left on earth that we absolutely need to tend to our growing population. Even Dr. Charles A. Hall, who is a systems ecologist, states that, “Overpopulation is the only problem, If we had 100 million people on Earth or better yet 10 million, no others would be a problem.” Which helps prove that overpopulation is a major issue that we must act upon if we want to save our world.
The human population has increased by 4.5 billion since the last sixty years (Engelman 1), this tremendous growth in the human population has startled numerous individuals. As a matter of fact, the biosphere’s population of humans is expected to grow additional, resulting in a total of nine billion by 2050 (Pearce 1). Some individuals may see this as a concern for the planet, whereas others assume that there are other more imperative hitches that humans should deal with. Although Erle C. Ellis agrees that overpopulation is not a problem for this planet, conversely, Fred Pearce and Joel Kotkin argue that there are other more vital problems to mend; unlike Ellis, Robert Engelman disagrees, proclaiming overpopulation
Having a population size that is not dangerously large is the limit where the population size is acceptable and understood as the defined carrying capacity for humans1. Population size and consumption can create stress on the environment through resources and social systems so that the quality of life declines. However some believe that resources can be created by humans and not all need to be replaced and reinvented once depleted, so resource availability may not be declining after all2. Although population growth increases economic growth in further investments of natural and renewable resources, consumption, increased population and limiting factors of carrying capacity will decrease the Earth’s ability to support and sustain us humans.
The world as we know it is slowly being depleted of its natural resources. Habitats are being destroyed, and wildlife animals are facing extinction, these are just a few of the effects of over population. Over population not only affects nature and the planet but the human way of life. Imagine a world where the water is polluted, the soil produces no crop and the air is so toxic that we can’t breathe; this is where the world is heading. Due to the fast growth of people, humanity itself faces great danger. There are solutions to over population such as Family planning and sexual education.
The past many decades have revealed a dramatically large increase in the global population. For example, the population increased from about 2.5 billion in 1950 to over 7.3 billion in 2015. This huge increase in population resulted in a need for many changes to be made in society. Global population growth is leading to deep changes in the demographics, economies, ecology, health, and governments of the world.
Overpopulation remains the biggest and toughest problem that needs to be solved because of the future consequence that it may produce such as lack of resources to feed the people. Today’s population rise could be traced from as early as the stone ages to as late as the industrialization era (Penfound, 1968). The population before Jesus Christ took 40,000 years to double with a 2% growth rate. In 1850, the human population was at one billion people and then rose to two billion just eighty years later in 1930. Three decades later in 1960, it reached three billion, and in 1975 it ballooned into four billion people (Howard, 1969). Paul R. Ehrlich, author of the book, “The population bomb” said in 1992 that the earth will be facing “the need to support at least twice its present population of humans whether the earth’s life support systems’ uncertainty of sustainability” (Daily and Ehrlich, 1992). He also projected that in 2025, the population of Earth will be at 8.5 billion, and eventually level off to 11.6 billion in 2150, based on “positive assumptions of contin...
The human population growth rate is an alarming issue that brings with it irreversible consequences, that will likely effect the way of life for future generations to come. With the serious incline in population statistics comes catastrophic processes such as global warming and deforestation that have major ‘knock on’ ramifications. It’s issues such as these that need to be considered when we think about the growth of the human population, and we must take into account why these issues are occurring. We must also explore the options available to us that may assist in limiting the problems, or eliminating them all together, to provide a better place, not only for us in existence now, but also those who will walk this earth in the future decades and centuries to come.
“If we do not voluntarily bring population growth under control in the next one or two decades, the nature will do it for us in the most brutal way, whether we like it or not.” - Henry W. Kendall. This quote is just a small factor of what overpopulation around the world is doing. Each and every single day more and more people are born into this world, and the population increases rapidly every second. For example, the population right now in the United States is approximately 325 million people. The population in India today is about 1.25 billion people. The country with the largest population in the world right now is currently India, with 1.35 billion people, and China is not that far behind. With overpopulation in the world, there are less natural resources around the world, because all of the farmland is being taken up by new housing, buildings, and factories. Another problem it causes is air pollution. With all the factories being built, so many
Experts worldwide are warning that the current global population has exceeded Earth’s carrying capacity, and that current population growth trends are already leading to overpopulation. According to these experts, the effects of overpopulation could exacerbate poverty, unemployment, urban sprawl and lead to serious food and water shortages. As well as stating his position, this author will briefly explore these claims.
The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in human population. For many thousands of years people lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Population sizes were small, and life-supporting tools were simple. Most of the energy needed for work was provided by the worker and animals. Since about 1650, however, the human population has increased dramatically. The problems of overcrowding multiply as an ever-increasing number of people are added to the world's population each year.
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
at least try to get a job. If there are more people like this, the country
Overpopulation of our planet has many negative connotations associated with it, defined as “the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash” (Merriam Webster). In 1798, Thomas Malthus, an English Economist, published his theory of population, claiming that the number of inhabitants of Earth will soon outstrip the food supply, causing wars, pestilence, and famine, known as the Malthusian checks (Textbook). However, he failed to take into account the power of human intelligence, which has allowed the human race to flourish in the last 200 years and keep food production levels above population. In the late 20th century, Esther Boserup had published her own
One of the most complex issues in the world today concerns human population. The number of people living off the earth’s resources and stressing its ecosystem has doubled in just forty years. In 1960 there were 3 billion of us; today there are 6 billion. We have no idea what maximum number of people the earth will support. Therefore, the very first question that comes into people’s mind is that are there enough food for all of us in the future? There is no answer for that. Food shortage has become a serious problem among many countries around the world. There are many different reasons why people are starving all over the world. The lack of economic justice and water shortages are just merely two examples out of them all.