Overpopulation and Environmental Degradation Essay

2,000 years ago the world, in terms of population, was only the size of the United States of America, 300 million people. Today, the world’s population is at seven billion and counting. If the population rose at a steady rate from year 0, we would’ve reached 1 billion people by about 210 A.D. This, however, was not the case. We reached 1 billion people in 1800 A.D, which means that there had to be very odd growth periods for the population as a whole REWORD ME. From 0 to 1000 A.D. the population only rose about 10 million people, “and well into the second millennium, [the population] grew less than 0.1 percent each year” [1]. However, from the year 1800, with 1 billion people worldwide, to 1930, the world gained another billion people. We then reached three billion people in 1960, five billion in 1987, and 7 billion in 2013. One can clearly see that once we entered the 19th century, the world’s population started growing like a 14 year old boy going through puberty; rapidly, and without any warning. One thing that can explain this growth is called the Demographic Transition.The Demographic Transition is a theory that explains the growth.

The cause of human overpopulation is birth rates. The high amounts of birth rates are causing overpopulation to grow each year. Research shows in the year 2030, the population is expected to reach 8.5 billion people and 9.7 billion people in the year 2050. Developing countries is straining the already scarce resources. Intensive agriculture practices damage the environment through the use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and insecticides. As the population expands further, many natural resources such as fossil fuels, water, and forests continue to plummet. Lessening population will definitely solve many problems such as poverty, species becoming extinct, food shortages, water and air pollution, and even lower crime rate. High birth rates can be solved by spreading awareness, educate people about overpopulation, and increasing accessibility to birth control.

The article by Dennis Dimick brings up some very good points about the increasing population. He states that with our current population of 7 billion people, we currently do not have enough food to eat. With the population increasing day-by-day, we will face more shortage in the future. He also brings up the issue of natural resources. We are currently using so much natural resources that we will run out very soon. The use of natural resources tend to increase with increase in social standing (wealth).

It is obvious to see in today’s society that the world has changed so much compared to the last decade and the many years before that. As time moves forward, the human population also grows along with it. And as the population steadily increases, the environment also deteriorates and becomes heavily impacted by the negative effects of overpopulation. Humans are the main cause behind every damage inflicted upon the world. With the rise of overpopulation, along with the countless number of humans already existing, the world will inevitably suffer severe damages. The world, without a doubt, would be so much better off with a limited number of humans as more would only bring it its demise faster.

The human population has been growing rapidly for centuries. What is happening and, most important, what will happen to all of us and our planet if this continues? One of the most important properties of living things is that their abundances change over time and space. This is as true for our own species as it is for all others, including those that directly or indirectly affect our lives. for example, when providing our food, or materials for our shelter, or causing diseases and other problems. It is safe to say that human populations, like that of the United States, grow at an exponential rate, which means that the annual growth rate is a constant percentage of the population. The danger that the human population poses to the environment

The human population is growing rapidly, and Earth doesn't have enough space for it. In 1967, Earth had a population of 3 billion, and only about 50 years later, that number had doubled into 7 billion. There are many reasons why our population is increasing so fast, in so little time, but I'll only go over two. The first, and foremost the most recognised reason, is the birth to death rate ratio. Every minute there is almost twice as many births then there are deaths; 200 births to 100 deaths. There is an estimated 350,000 born every day with only 150,000 deaths, making there 4 births every second and 2 deaths every second. Overwhelming right? Well the second reason which goes hand in hand with the birth to death rate, is, over the last few hundred years, we have become more intelligent, and more self aware. Our knowledge on medicine has grown like no other, and our life expectancy has grown with it. With many more factors modifying our population rate, these two show it best. We are living longer and having more babies, but soon we’ll need to stop.

With 200 years past, much has changed since Malthus published his famous Essay on the Principle of Population. Nonetheless, his theories remain interwoven in modern discourse about the effects of our growing population, despite new evidence that challenges his ideas. Malthus argued that as populations grow exponentially, the linear production of food is unable to feed a rising global population. Malthus concluded that poverty emanates from this tension between population growth and food availability. He hypothesized that the earth could only sustain a certain number of people and that a series of positive checks—famine, war, disease—and negative checks—celibacy, contraception—that keep the population from surpassing its natural limit. Malthus

The Earth is dying. That is what environmentalists say all the time today. It shows up on the news now and then but proceeds to quickly disappear from people’s thoughts and minds. The experts warn and warn, but no one seems to listen. People are more concerned with cat videos than with the health of the one habitable planet they have. From a young age, people are told to think about the future, theirs, and this planet’s. Yet only a few people really do and actually care. The human population has grown uninhibited around the world and must decrease if the planet is to stay habitable.

Since our origin, worldwide human population has steadily been on the rise. We humans emerged as a species about 200,000 years ago. In geological time, that is really incredibly recent. Just 10,000 years ago, there were one million of us. By 1800, just over 200 years ago, there were 1 billion of us. By 1960, 50 years ago, there were 3 billion of us. There are now over 7 billion of us. By 2050, your children, or your children 's children, will be living on a planet with at least 9 billion other people. During some time towards the end of this century, there will be at least 10 billion of us.

Even though there has been an extreme increase on the world in generals population lately, in some parts of the world the population has actually decreased. An example would be Europe. Their population has been steadily decreasing with a population of 738 million people today and 646 million people in 2050. Other countries have been steadily increasing. An example would be Chad. Their population has been steadily increasing by 3.3% per year. Countries like Chad are having tons of problems because of their overpopulation. They have a huge strain on major resources, therefore conflicts over water are beginning to occur between

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

Life is a precious thing but when does producing life become a problem? Human population growth has been a topic of discussion, among one of the many concern the world faces now. Human population growth in the twentieth century has become a slow growth rate. And even though population growth rate has decreased does not mean we are in the clear. Human population growth issues are influenced: health concerns, accessing education and technology

Currently, the Earth has a population of about 7.5 billion people and the population is growing at rate of about 1% every year. A picture of world population in the very long-run fits the pattern of exponential growth (when a population grows exponentially the rate of growth is proportional to the size of the population). Yet an observation of how growth rates have developed in the course of the last century reveals that this pattern no longer holds. The annual rate of population growth has recently been going down. A long historical period of accelerated growth has thus come to an end; the annual world population growth rate peaked in 1962, at around 2.1%, and has come down to almost half since.

Overpopulation is often Times argued as one of the most severe, if not the most severe, environmental problem. This past year world population exceeded 7.3 billion and continues to grow at an alarming rate. By the year 2050 it is projected that world population will exceed over nine billion. Overpopulation puts a serious strain on the world and its resources and is a root cause of many environmental issues. Issues such as, climate change, diminishing biodiversity, and pollution, are all just some of the problems caused by overpopulation. In order to control the rapid population growth it is imperative that countries begin to further educate their citizens in family planning and responsible resource consumption.

It stands to reason that the planet we live on has a finite limit of resources: water, air, and land. More people mean more industry, which means an increase in the resources we consume and the more emissions we produce. There is also evidence to support theories regarding human contribution to global warming and climate change.