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Environmental problems
World overpopulation David Pimentel
Effect or results of overpopulation
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Overpopulation is becoming a pressing issue in the world we live in today. According to the report World Population to 2300 done by the United Nations, the human population grew from roughly 2.5 to 6.1 billion from 1950 to 2000. The report projects that the human population will grow to over ten billion by 2050 (DESA, 5). The size of our large, and growing, population is putting stress on our planet's finite resources.
The amount of available fresh water is declining and is being made worse with a growing population. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) states in their study Atlas of population & environment that all continents are experiencing declines in water tables. The AAAS estimate that by the year 2025 forty-eight countries and thirty-five percent of the world population will have water shortages. This issue of water shortages becomes even more severe with the deterioration of the quality of water caused by industrial waste and sewage pollution (AAAS, 51).
A growing population also puts a strain on food supply. A 2001 World Population Monitoring report by the United Nations states that 790 million people in less-developed nations, 8 million in industrialized nations, and 26 million in countries that are in economic transition are suffering from malnutrition (World Population Monitoring, 16). The report goes on to state that population growth is the main reason for driving up the demand of agriculture (World Population Monitoring, 38). This demand is also causing issues for marine fishers.
Fish provided about six percent of humans total diet in 1996 which was roughly fifteen percent of all animal protein. From the 1950s to 1960s marine fisheries throughout the world increased their production b...
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...& Environment. 1st ed. N.p.: University of California, 2001. 51. Print.
Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division (DESA). World Population Monitoring. New York: United Nations, 2001. Print.
Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division (DESA). World Population to 2300. New York: United Nations, 2004. Print.
Despommier, Dickson. The Vertical Farm: Reducing the Impact of Agriculture on Ecosystem Functions and Services. N.d. Essay. Columbia University, New York.
Finer LB and Zolna MR, Unintended pregnancy in the United States: incidence and disparities, 2006, Contraception, 2011.
Gold, Rachel et al., Next Steps for America’s Family Planning Program: Leveraging the Potential of Medicaid and Title X in an Evolving Health Care System, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2009.
WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
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.
The world’s population is rising rapidly from seven billion to the estimated nine billion in 2050 (Ellis, Overpopulation is Not the Problem). Every human being adds stress to the Earth’s resources. Numerous places like Africa and China maintain a copious amount starvation and poverty. There are days when people go without food, water, or shelter. There is even such happening in the United States. In such places, it is difficult to find contraception, or birth control, which leads to unplanned pregnancies. These situations are rooted down to overpopulation, which is when there are too many humans. However, there is a multitude of ways to reverse such negative effects. Population control is a necessary act that will benefit the world through sparing natural resources, decreasing famine, and controlling unplanned pregnancies. A worldwide effort would have to take effect in order for a successful future.
3. Chandra A; Martinez GM, Mosher WD, Abma JC, Jones J (November 2005). Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S.Women: Data From the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. Hyattsville, Maryland: US Department of Health and Human Services. pp. 17, 90. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
?Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050? U.S. Census Bureau 26 April 2012. Web 8 April 2014 .
Fish protein has been a mainstay for the human diet for centuries. However, aquaculture, which is the practice of raising fish such as salmon in controlled conditions, as opposed to the commercial fishing industry, which is procurement of wild fish from their natural environment, made its debut in the United States as a commercial enterprise in the late 1970’s according to the Eco - Justice Marketplace Project.(n.d.). This mode of salmon procurement began to develop in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, as a response to the declining populations of native wild fish such as salmon and trout.
There are many impacts that fishing and land animal farming have on the ocean, which are detrimental to ocean ecosystems as well as many other aspects of the environment. Overfishing, killing fish at a much quicker rate than the fish can repopulate, is one major problem. Three-fourths of the world’s fisheries are either fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted (Cowspiracy). Researchers have estimated an end of all viable fisheries by 2018 if the current trends of fishing continue (Mason). According to the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch, hundreds of thousands of animals die every year as bycatch, with one of the worst offenders being shrimp fisheries, catching up to six pounds of bycatch per pound of shrimp. Endangered species are also caught, including predators which are important in keeping the balance in ocean ecosystems (Smith). While many organizations such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommend consumers to eat more “sustainable” fish, this will not stop the massive environmental impacts. Sustainable fishing for one does not account for the natural flux in the population of species of fish; what is considered a sustainable amount of fish to harvest one year may deplete the fishery in another year (Smith). Sustainable fish also are becoming even less sustainable as companies that label sustainable fish must find more For example, after Wal-Mart pledged to selling Marine Stewardship
Levine, D. 2010, ‘Current Population’, World POPClock from US Bureau of the Census, viewed 27 April 2010,
As the world population grows and consumption per person increases, the demand for food is rising. To an extent, fossil fuels have made an increase in food production achievable, but the finite supply is rapidly depleting. Over the last 50 years, global food production has tripled (Mosier et al. 2004). Despite this, an estimated 870 million people were undernourished in 2010-2012 (FAO 2013) while in 2008, 5...
Overpopulation has become a drastic issue, for no one knows how many people the earth
According to the population explosion theory, after the start of the Industrial Revolution, the rate of population growth began to increase at an alarming speed. By the end of the century, the world's population was estimated at just under 1 billion. At the turn of the 20th century, the world's population was about 1.6 billion. By 1940, this figure had increased to 2.3 billion. Overpopulation issue has drawn a lot of c...
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
Clean and safe drinking water resources are becoming scarce as the population grows. The world is facing many problems, but the most important thing needed to survive, is water. Water is getting low in many countries, therefore residents are suffering the misfortune of not having the reliable source of clean water. Today many countries are having water shortages meaning rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater are not enough to rely on for supplying water demands. For example, California is facing a drastic water shortage, the natural water resources are not enough to fulfill their water demands.
Overpopulation remains the leading driver of hunger, desertification, species depletion and a range of social maladies across the planet (Tal, 2013). If you look at the world, most of the countries that are dealing with these problems are due to overpopulation. Impoverished countries do not have the money or resources to help them overcome this issue (Tal, 2013). Impoverished countries also do not have the medicine or technology to even prevent the most common of illnesses (Tal, 2013). Malnutrition is also affecting humans in impoverished countries....
The problem of water scarcity has increasingly spread throughout the world as of yet, The UN reports that within the next half- century up to 7 billion people in 60 countries which is more than the whole present population will face water scarcity (Sawin “Water Scarcity could Overwhelm the Next Generation”). As well the demand for freshwater has tripled over the past 50 years, and is continuing to rise as a result of population growth and economic development. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
Freshwater in the world makes up only a small portion of water on the planet. While the percentage of water in the world is nearly 70%, only 2.5% is consumable. Even further, only <1% is easily accessible to basic human needs. According to National Geographic, “by 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change.” With this current trend, water will become more immersed in environmental, economic, political, and social changes. Many of these in later years shall need to be addressed as tension rises: