The Effects of Human Overpopulation on the Environment “Can one apple slice feed the world?” If the world were an apple, farmland would only be one very thin slice. The growing population on this Earth has some serious questions that it needs to consider as a whole. How are we all going to eat with eight billion mouths to eat? Farmers have an interesting proposition, they need to feed a growing population with very little land. Overpopulation also has negative effects on the earth through pollution. Their bodily waste has minimal places to go, and garbage is an ever increasing debate as it goes in landfills, the ocean, lakes, and rivers. So what is overpopulation really doing to the planet we call home. [Effects of Human Overpopulation. (2013, November 20). In everythingconnects.org. Retrieved February 2015, from http://www.everythingconnects.org/overpopulation-effects.html]
Human overpopulation causes many other controversial subjects. These subjects include; global warming, environmental pollution, sixth mass extinction, chemical farming, and the consumption of water, fossil fuels, and arable land. The overconsumption of these natural resources are faster than the regeneration of these causing a plausible shortage in the near future. According to some recent statistics there is only 0.003% of fresh water readily available to human and animal consumption from the 75% that exists in the whole world. By 2030 a study suggests that nearly half the population of the world
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.
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 the human population exceeds the carrying capacity of Earth. Recent research shows the Earth currently is holding around 7 billion people and around the year 2050, the population will exceed to 11 billion. While there are organizations helping with people who are in poverty or saving species in the brink of extinction, the real cause of the problem is yet to be solved.
No matter how many people do claim overpopulation is not a relevant issue, it very much is because of the simple fact that starvation and pollution are very real and existing issues that are ultimately offset by overpopulation. In an article titled “Overpopulation Is Not the Problem,” author Erle C. Ellis uses the analogy “Like bacteria in a petri dish, our exploding numbers are reaching the limits of a finite planet, with dire consequences,” to argue that overpopulation is not a problem by stating the opposing claim. “We are nothing like bacteria in a petri dish,” Mr. Ellis solemnly asserts, “...these claims demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the ecology of human systems. The conditions that sustain humanity are not natural and never have been. Since prehistory, human populations have used technologies and engineered ecosystems to sustain
Throughout the last few hundred years, humans have built a foundation. Compared to all of the other animal species on Earth, humans are the most intelligent. We have built houses everywhere, developed a system to sustain ourselves, and now inhabit almost every piece of land on earth. Humans are smart, strong, and know how to fend for themselves. But, humans have a tendency to take it too far, and we have already done so. There have been numerous advancements over the past few hundred years which could ultimately lead to the downfall of the human race. The main issue is overpopulation due to the advancements in technology and general knowledge. The statistics from an article by Kenneth Smail show that “In the year 1900, there were almost 2 billion humans living on Earth. Throughout the 1960’s, the baby boom, there were 3 billion humans on Earth. Today in 2016, there are just over 7 billion humans living on Earth.” Currently, we have taken up just over half of all available land on this planet, and with increased amounts of people having kids, our population will only increase. Overpopulation is becoming a serious problem all around the world, especially in countries such as China and India. There are many global problems associated with overpopulation that are becoming more and more prevalent, which will all have dangerous effects on the foundation that humans have
This article is about the U.S. overpopulation and its effects on the environment. Our population grows by 285 people per hour. With this increase of 2,500,000 people per year our renewable resources are limited. The need for urbanization is depleting the land needed for growing food and the U.S. consumption of energy is continually rising. As a result, the population growth will contribute to more pollution, overcrowding, loss of open land, and the death of many species. Some of our much needed lakes and rivers are slowly evaporating, which means a limited supply of water for our nation.
As much as we direct the environmental dialogue on fuel emissions and renewable energy, we shift focus from a topic that is mother to all of ecological issues: the earth wasn’t intended to sustain the human population as it is and definitely not as it would be according to most estimates. Although talks of curbing the population through widespread viral pandemic or mass extinction maybe a slightly radical yet efficient approach, a serious discussion on overpopulation and its ecological effects needs to be had in the near future. An article on the state of the world by Wuliam Halal and Michael Marien, titled "Global MegaCrisis: Four Scenarios, Two Perspectives," appeared in The Futurist magazine for May-June 2011. It paints an impending global crisis, a perfect storm resulting from a congruence of the problems afflicting the world today, including climate change, environmental destruction,
Did you know that around 200 years ago, it took 90% of the U.S. population living on farms to produce food for the country? How about the fact that now only 2% of our population supplies all the food in our country? The biggest factor leading to this drastic change is fossil fuels along with advancing technologies. They have made it possible for much larger ranches and farms and enabled jobs to be done with a fraction of the personnel once required to operate them. There has been a downside to this technology though; fossil fuels, chemicals, erosion, etc. have degraded the overall health of our ecosystems. Additionally, farmers and ranchers did not realize until much later that these practices were damaging the environment. In reading William
Think about a sign that says EARTH Max Capacity 10 billion. Based on what they have the human population plans out parties. They have a lack of space and resources. Anyone who would plan these parties would have to take in account for the amount of people that would have to scrunch in with each other, and how many people would not have enough food to last the party. Which basically makes it so the guests are down to a certain number. Our planet is a close similarity to the already mentioned party. Just like how a large room can only offer a certain amount of resources. Despite this idea, the concepts of overpopulation, and resource degradation still are at large and are a risk.
There are many viewpoints and opinions on topics such as global warming and the role the human race plays in damaging the environment. With that being said, it seems as if often times there are many dead end questions about what causes these things and what some solutions may be. On the other hand some people believe these issues do not actually exist. The fact of the matter is, these many issues are very real but there are many solutions if the human race is willing to pursue them.
Advancements in science such as medications and vaccines have caused birth rates to surpass mortality rates resulting in overpopulation. According to Population Paradox, an academic article by Mairi Macleod, an evolutionary biologist,“It took until 1800 for our numbers to reach 1 billion. Now the human population exceeds 7 billion and is set to reach 10 billion by 2085” (Macleod). Overpopulation is having detrimental effects on the planet 's ecosystems, which was discussed in the provided stimulus, The Struggle To Govern The Commons by Thomas Dietz. It stated that “In the absence of effective governance...the environment is in peril from increasing human population, consumption, and deployment of advanced technologies…” (Dietz). After
It may not be something you think about often, but human population growth is a big issue in our world today and this problem needs to be solved in the future to save our planet. Overpopulation is a condition that will be in effect if the population exceeds the carrying capacity on Earth. The carrying capacity is the peak population that can sustain human life on Earth. It is uncertain what Earth’s carrying capacity is for the human race because of our technological advances and such, but we need to solve this issue before we do find out our carrying capacity in a catastrophic way. There are many different aspects that contribute to overpopulation and a heavily populated Earth causes a lot of problems. I believe that this issue is solvable along with many other people, but it will take a lot of effort to tackle this problem. According to an article titled “Scientists more worried than public about world’s growing population”, a Pew Research Center survey revealed that 38% of American’s do not think that population growth is a problem. More awareness for overpopulation needs to be put out there to decrease that percentage. There are multiple strategies that need to be put into effect to halt population growth. The problem that arises from overpopulation can be solved and needs to be solved for the future of this planet.
Overpopulation is arguably the world’s most serious environmental problem, because it exacerbates all of the others. The global population grew from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion in 1999, an increase of 100 percent in just 40 years. According to current projections, the world population will expand to 9 billion by 2040,
As time passes and our world’s population continues to grow, overpopulation is becoming a very serious issue deserving of the upmost acknowledgement and consideration. Throughout history crowding of the earth and the overuse of the world’s natural resources has hardly been a main concern. Today however, with a population of 7 billion people and counting, the diminishment of the earth’s resources has become a more serious issue than ever before.