“Mouths multiply more quickly than our ability to feed them- yet we’re still feeding them”, written by the famous English economist Thomas Malthus, describing the rate of population increase and the disregard to the economy and resources correlated with the increase by the world today. Overpopulation is the population of the country in excess of the availability of resources to sustain without hurting the environment. As the population continues to increase, the environmental impact does was well. The general equation used for environmental impact is population × consumption × technology. These three factors provide a large importance to the existing overpopulation and reasoning for lack of action taking place to fix them. Environmental impact is defined as the effect on biodiversity, natural resources and ecosystems. Without these, people around the world would lose the many privileges, opportunities and enjoyment in our world today. Countries around the world contribute to the massive population growth were beginning to experience. Although some nations are larger or denser than others, the world as a whole continues to be in jeopardy. Each country adds or contributes various supplies and resources to the planet, where if one country’s resources expire, it would affect the entire world. The threat of overpopulation involves scarce resources, family size, quality of life and immigration. Overpopulation is a serious problem that will lead to an extremely negative impact on our country and our planet.
Natural Resources construct large components of the world and economy in the past as well as today. The ecological footprint of the world is increasing or becoming larger at a dramatic rate. An ecological footprint...
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... CFC’s, are found in various industries and is a type of chemical that destroys the already depleting ozone layer. The ozone layer is a vital aspect to the Earth and human lives because without it, the sun would burn the Earth and cause danger to human lives. Childhood asthma rates have risen in the past twenty years due to high industrialization and automobiles. Along with chemicals, viruses and diseases are spreading at an uncontrollable rate. Viruses need a dense population as a fuel. The behavior of people has become a concern to society. It is observed that people in small towns, tend to be more friendlier than those in larger cities. The article, “Overpopulation: Environmental and Social Problems” conveys, “For every ten percent decrease in population density, the likelihood of residents talking to their neighbors at least once a week jumps by ten percent.”
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.
In 1994, the world population was 5 602 800 000. This population had a doubling time of only forty-one years (De Blij and Muller, 1994, p.527). The massive amount of people has had highly destructive impacts on the earth’s environment. These impacts occur on two levels: global and local. On the global level, there is the accumulation of green house gases that deplete the ozone layer, the extinction of species, and a global food shortage. On the local level, there is erosion of soils (and the loss of vegetation), the depletion of water supply, and toxification of the air and water. The earth is dynamic though, all of these aspects are interrelated, and no one impact is completely isolated. All of these destructive elements can be traced to our enormous population. As the population increases, so do all of the economic, social, and technological impacts.
Overpopulation is a real significant reason why today's current environmental status is in such critical condition. A few of the issues that overpopulation contributes to are things such as global warming, water shortages, ocean depletion, and even food shortages. Another major effect that world overpopulation displays is acid rain, which can be caused by air pollution. Air pollution is usually created from the burning of fossil fuels which operate in things like planes, cars, and also trucks. So by burning the fossil fuels and deforesting, the earth ends up turning up the gas levels in the greenhouse. This then creates a major increase in the air and starts to heat up the earth, which potentially could lead to an abundant of dangerous effects such as the depletion of the ozone layer. Also,...
The population of the world is nearing eight billion people. The population is taking over the world, and the food is diminishing. The population is growing too large for the planet to sustain. There must be rules about the growth of the population if the human race is to survive and grow together. If the race that is humanity wishes to survive, population control must be in effect.
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
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.
The first consequences for the overpopulation is the over consumption of the global resources and this includes the Earth’s fresh water, fossil fuels, food, arable land, energy, and frontier forests. According to Norwich University (n.d.), by 2050 and 2030, the world will experience water, food, and energy supplies, which means 66% of the global population will live with a lack of water so they need more water, more food, and more energy (p. 2). The deficiency of resources will lead to competitions between countries for natural sources, which is a reason for having wars. Another effect by overpopulation is that expensive life which leads to poverty and unemployment people. As Norwich University (n.d.) noted, “If the threats of overpopulation are not solved 3 billion people will be living in poverty” (p.
and is existing surely because of humans themselves- overpopulation. “Overpopulation is the problem” and causes other externalities such as pollution, deforestation, and a greater handful of biodiversity losses. In addition, overpopulation causes economic and political factors such as more consumption per person and the reduction of resources that can be provided per person. This contributes to the strain on ecological systems and the economic and population growth. With overpopulation, many resources become finite and an umpteen amount of ecosystems are being destroyed. Overpopulation relates to the impact of humans on pollution. Obviously with more human life, there is more necessity for jobs such as factories that give off fumes, automobiles, and the use for burning fossil fuels. In greater extent, this leads to an environmental factor in that it accumulates chemicals in food chains such as mercury, arsenic, and copper. It can lead to political problems as well, when trying to interact with other countries and stop the problem of global pollution and eventually endin...
“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.
Overpopulation has become an issue around our world without ever being properly addressed; until now. This issue needs to be addressed and solutions for it proposed now and that is what I am here to do. Overpopulation is depleting our already low resources and creating issues among the poor by putting more of a strain on them. Along with the poor, the wealthy are also being affected due to their world and the world around us running low on resources and space to put us all.
Stancheva, Tina. "Effects of Overpopulation on the Environment." Human Nature, Technology & the Environment. Swarthmore College Environmental Studies, 6 June 2003. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Of all of the environmental issues we perceive on the planet today, overpopulation is one that can be easily overlooked. Challenges such as pollution, climate change and global warming all seem to take priority in coverage, education and discovering solutions, but the majority of key environmental issues flow from the very fact that humans are over populating the globe. Overpopulation is the rapid increase of the human population, which is gradually exceeding the capacity of the globe.
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 in 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 then we can produce. This leads to the lack of resources in many areas. When expanding we create a lot of pollution in the air, water, and land. The pollution affects many humans health. Overpopulation is doing more harm than any other environmental issue. Overpopulation also causes many of the other issues we are dealing with. This is very dangerous to not only us humans but the planet. Even though many wealthy countries are not affected by this overpopulation, I feel like they should help the cause. There is always two sides to an issue like this. Some people don’t think that overpopulation is a big problem and the ones who say it is an issue that needs to be dealt with.
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