Causes And Effects Of Overpopulation

In recent years, Earth’s issues have become increasingly politicized, publicized, and economically important. When you examine how the environment affects us and how we affect it, it’s easy to see that overpopulation is one of earths most pressing environmental issues.

What is overpopulation? Overpopulation has been defined as a situation where the number of people in an environment exhausts all available resources weakening its needed support. (Morse &Mosher) For years there have been reports of how many people are expected to live on earth by the year 2050, 2075, and so on. However, the question remains as to whether everyone will have a secured spot. Today, in 2017 there have been plenty of fights with the scarcity of resources, where overpopulation becomes the topic of conversation. However, to solve this issue the option of abortion was brought to the forefront by scientists and advocates such as Dan Savage who mentioned that abortion should be mandatory for the next 30 years in or to control the

the population is said to reach 9 billion by 2050. The overpopulation of humans is causing destructive impacts on the environment and a high demand for resources. One destructive impact would be climate change because of the exceeding rate of humans, causing pollution in the air. While the Earth is having a tough time sustaining particular resources, the high demand causes the earth to force to get its nonrenewable resources. Overpopulation can lead to dangerous impacts of pollution, depleted resources, habitat loss, etc. Overpopulation is a controversial topic. While there are those who are not paying attention to its effects, the world is displaying its resources will soon disappear due to the depletion of nonrenewable resources such as water, oil, and soil. Addressing the problems and concerns of overpopulation now, can help save the lives of individuals in the future, LITERALLY!

Overpopulation, pollution, global warming, climate change, genetic modification, ocean acidification, water/soil pollution, deforestation, acid rain, and ozone depletion are among some of the main factors that have a negative impact on the planet. Overpopulation is one the most concerning environmental issues currently. Overpopulation is defined as the human population of a specific area exceeding the carrying capacity. Overpopulation can occur from an increase in births mainly or a decline in deaths. Also, other factors that affect overpopulation can be an increase in immigration or a depletion of resources. It was stated by the United Nations that the worth has a total carrying capacity of somewhere between 4 and 16 billion. Currently we hold over 7 billion humans on Earth. As of 2017 the UN has increased their population predictions to 9.8 billion by 2050 and up to 15 billion by 2100. Pollution we hear about every day.

“Overpopulation is an undesirable condition where the number of existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity of Earth. Overpopulation is caused by number of factors. Reduced mortality rate, better medical facilities, depletion of precious resources are few of the causes which results in overpopulation.” In today’s society most Americans have at least five children, this can include one person who has five kids that was from failed relationships, marriage, or mistakes. The amount of children that are born per year in the U.S is 3,999,386 last year alone. The U.S alone has over three hundred million people, making us the third largest nations. The U.s is the only population that is experiencing significant population growth. Its population may double before the end of the century. If the limitation of how much children each American can have decrease to two children then we can put a control on overpopulation.

The term overpopulation is a undesirable condition where the number of existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity of the earth or a country. Three countries currently that are suffering from overpopulation today would be: China, india and the United States. Three major Social issues that contribute to overpopulation are Poverty, Immigration and the lack of family planning. Poverty may be the leading cause of overpopulation because these people are likely to be uneducated on topics, such as family planning. In many countries having a big family is somewhat essential because of gender roles and how a male is valued more to a family then a female. The lack of fertility treatment and education leads to overpopulation because both male and female are uneducated on the topic. Without exposure or education on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies it leads to overpopulation.

Overpopulation is looked down upon. But why exactly should someone even care about this? Human overpopulation is one of the most pressing environmental issues to this day. This can be seen through the questionable factor of the rise of an upcoming mass extinction, as it is affected by population densities, and through a decrease in life expectancies for less developed countries.

Over the past 50 years the human population has grown exponentially, and as the world’s population continues to increase. A Lot of research has been done by climatologists around the world directly linking the effects of population growth to increased CO2 emissions. I will provide data behind the negative externalities linked with these increased CO2 emissions and how they are linked to overpopulation.

There are lots of causes of overpopulation, but the ones that are the most concerning are decline in the death rate, better medical facilities, less wars, and immigration. Decline in death rate contributes to overpopulation because if there are less wars, diseases and other things like that there are far less people dying compared to people being born. Before many vaccines and when there were many wars, population was more balanced. Better medical facilities contribute to overpopulation by helping to decrease the death rate from illness. Less wars also help decrease the death rate. Immigration causes overpopulation because “Many people prefer to move to developed countries like USA, UK, Canada and Australia where best facilities are available in terms of medical, education, security and employment. The end result is that those people settle over there and those places become overcrowded”. Like Rinkesh said, people from less developed countries move to the more developed countries and they become overcrowded.

Overpopulation, in my belief, is becoming one of the foremost problems facing human civilization. This complex, permeating issue will likely prove to be a problem of paramount importance for all people in the future. Overpopulation is a serious global issue that is often overlooked by most people. This is likely due to lack of knowledge and fast paced distracting lifestyles we embrace this day and age. While it is not a common problem or subject we speak of, it is a problem, in my opinion, that needs to be addressed and solved immediately. In the past 50 years the world population has doubled and our planet now provides for over 7 billion people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). We need to understand the detriments of such rapid growth in population and what it could mean for our future as a species and the planet as a whole. Problems that occur due to overpopulation could lead to an epidemic that would ultimately wipeout the human race. Although we as humans feel it is our right to procreate, we must look at the bigger picture and realize that everything we are doing in the present will affect the entire planet in the future.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, overpopulation is “the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash” (“Overpopulation,” 2017).

In the year 1 A.D., the Earth’s population was 300 million. In 1850, after many decades of consistent population growth, it eventually surpassed one billion. From that point on in history, the world population began to climb rapidly (Haub). Each year, the world population surpasses what any scientist has ever thought possible. Some would consider this expansion as a sign of success considering the causes of a rapidly growing population include improved health care, new technology, progressive eras such as the Industrial Revolution, and an overall developing human race (Kinder). However, the current world population no longer signifies progression; it signifies regression. Today, the Earth’s human population is approaching overpopulation. Overpopulation is more than just a crowded planet. The definition of overpopulation is, “…too many people for the amount of food, materials, and space available…” (Cambridge Dictionaries). This means that overpopulation will impact crucial aspects of the planet and not just increase city sizes. Robert Kolb suggested in the Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society that the Industrial Revolution is one of the main causes of the spark of rapid population growth. When industry developed, family sizes expanded, economic health boomed, and populations spiked all over the world. Since the Industrial Revolution, the Earth’s number of inhabitants has been consistently growing, which could lead to overpopulation. Overpopulation will affect every

The question does not concern whether or not overpopulation is an environmental issue. The evidence is clear, the majority of researchers address this established issue with their own reasoning behind what the biggest cause or effect is. Overall, Hardaway (2014) found that around every one third of a second, the world creates room for one more human. Creating room for another person requires 3.2 tons of carbon, 2,000 square meters of fresh water, and 207 gigajoules of energy (Hardaway, 2014). This takes up more room and resources that the earth does not have. With this rapid growth in population, by the year 2050, the earth would need to have another living area the size of Brazil to accommodate for all the people (Kuo, 2012). With the lack of land availability, overpopulation will be impossible to survive off current natural resources. Researchers focus on why and how overpopulation is effecting the earth such as pollution, consumption, lack of resources, and overcrowding (Kuo, 2012; Wutich and Brewis, 2014). Overpopulation has numerous effects on the environment, and there are many different views on what is causing the biggest effect on the earth.

There are many causes for overpopulation than just increasing numbers of people. Modern technology, improved medicine, more opportunities to get out of poverty, low fatality rates, immigration, and the "lack of family planning" (Rinkesh); all lead to overpopulation.

There are currently seven million people inhabiting earth. By 2050, it is predicted that population will reach up to 10.63 billion and by 2300 it is predicted to be 36.44 billion. In less than 300 years, population will grow by more than 30 billion people. The earth is meant to hold about six billion people and since humans have already already exceeded its limit, it is crucial for strong actions to take place in order to prevent overpopulation or else serious, irreversible problems will occur. The damage that overpopulation does to people and to the earth is unknown to many, but there are simple ways to control and prevent overpopulation. People have been debating the topic of