Dipping our feet into the 21st century, ripe with knowledge and innovation, populations are multiplying globally. Overpopulation is a major issue, affecting both the earth and it’s inhabitants. The exponential rise of the human race directly affects the exponential downfall of the environment it rises over. Water is becoming polluted and scarce, land is shrinking, and extensive use of fuel is contaminating the atmosphere. Deforestation and global climate change are causing a downfall in biodiversity around the world. One can argue that overpopulation is the cause of all these phenomena, and one could argue differently. As with all scientific questions, results will be collected, questioned, and discussed. Does overpopulation globally impact the environment?
With the increase in population size, the increase in consumption, and the earth remaining the same size, future sustainability is uncertain. Sustainability relies on natural resources including land, water, and energy, as well as the size of the population consuming the resources. Based upon the Population Reference Bureau 2005, “the world population is projected to double its current number of 6.5 billion in about 58 years, based on the current growth rate of 1.2% per year” (Pimentel 2006:155-161). The global population is currently producing roughly 2.8 children per family. Even if a global policy was put forth, restricting families to only having two children, the world population would continue to grow for 70 more
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.
While there are plenty of infants being born every single day, do you ever wonder how the world will continue to sustain the growing population? The population of the world is continuing to grow at a dangerously, increasing rate. There are already at least 6.5 billion people on Earth. According to, Overpopulation ‘is main threat to planet’,
Overpopulation can damage or even destroy the environment. The need for resources will grow with the population, but natural resources will not be produced at a fast enough pace. Man may try to produce the resources they need themselves but will there be enough space? According to Young the average person needs a minimum of 100 square feet to feel comfortable in a living space (“How Much Space Do You Really Need?”). Using the estimated population size of 2050, human living space will take up 43.8 billion square feet. Assuming most of these people live in apartment buildings so there is room for farming. Farms will need to switch out crops every year to slow down the process of soil degradation.
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.
Human population has been growing at an exponential rate over the past century. The Population Reference Bureau released a report showing the significant change in populations around the world. In 1950, the world’s population was roughly 2.5 billion. Only 55 years later, the population had sprung to as high as 6.5 billion worldwide. If our population was to continue at this rate, the population would reach 9 billion in the year 2050. One may argue that growth in population increases competition amongst people; thus allowing for a better and potentially more innovative world, however, I will aim to challenge that view. I will explain how the population growth has had a negative effect on the world’s natural resources and other species as
The current world 's population is approximately seven billion people, and the amount of time that it takes for the population to increase by another billion is decreasing with each billion. According to the World Population Data sheet, there will be about eight billion people by the year 2020, and this is due to its continuation of growth (Southwick 159). A clear understanding of the causes and what might possibly happen is the first step to dealing with the population crisis.
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
When the human population rises to an extent exceeding the carrying capacity, it is called Overpopulation. In an environment that is overpopulated the number of people may be more than the resources available for survival such as water, shelter, and food. Overpopulation contributes greatly to environmental damages, poor quality of life or disintegration of the population. This paper will talk about the main factors of overpopulation and the effects it has on the planet. Population continues to grow around 81 million yearly, a big contributor to this is decline in mortality rates medical breakthroughs, increased birth rates and education, this can lead to overcrowding and poor quality housing. Overpopulation is the basis of most problems we face worldwide today, like global warming and world famine. A major problem in cities is crime rate. Overpopulation contributes greatly to crime rates as overcrowding leads to poor living conditions, young adults in particular may take desperate measures and turn to crime and drugs. Overpopulation may be the single greatest threat to our planet, to the environment and to our resources. Many developing countries are experiencing this currently Every day it is a struggle
Overpopulation is a concern as technology improves the quality of life for human beings. We are not increasing population because of births but because people are now living longer. With twice as many people now on Earth, our resources are depleting twice as fast. British Economist, Thomas Malthus, wrote in his essay in 1798, that by not reducing human population, a human would surpass agricultural productivity. However, his predictions never came true as innovative technology preserved food from spoiling and birth rates began to drop. After two centuries since Malthus’s claim, economists believed that the early predictions of 12 million people by 2050, seemed far-fetched. No longer does society need to limit population but learn how to support the population it has. No one knows for sure what Earth’s carrying capacity is as it greatly depends on what humans are willing to sacrifice to survive. It is estimated that the capacity is over a million and under a trillion. Today’s standard of living for most individuals far exceeds that of individuals 50 years ago. Technology has advanced our expectations and increased our carbon foot print. The population is slowing down in developed areas but growing in undeveloped areas. These areas population is growing at an alarming rate and will be unable to support the growth rate. Investment in education, family planning services and the status of women’s rights play a crucial factor in a countries fertility rates.
There are over 7.5 billion people alive on earth right now with a 1.11 percent population growth rate (World Population). Harvard University sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson, estimates on calculations of the Earth's available resources, that the earth can only support ten million people, a number to be reached around 2050 (Wolchover). With new medical knowledge and technology, people are living longer than ever. The overpopulation the world faces today poses large risks for the environment and economy. A change needs to be made soon in order to stop this population increase. A population control method that limits a family to two kids and mandatory birth control needs to be implemented in the world in order to save the environment and economies.
The global rate of human population growth peaked around 1963. However, the number of people living on Earth and sharing scarce resources like water and food has grown by more than two-thirds since then. Population growth causes multiple environmental problems, such as the clearing of rainforests, the loss of thousands of plant and wildlife species, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. In our class, we addressed few philosophical positions and arguments about population and environment issues from each author. They tried to find out root causes of population growth and solve the problems behind. In this paper, I would like to discuss two main arguments of environmental issues that caused by population growth.
Every single decade, the population grows at an exponential rate. As of today there are approximately seven billion people on this earth. Every time four babies are born at least two people die. (SciShow, 2012). At this rate, there will be approximately 9 billion people populating the earth by the year 2050 (Hoffman, 2012). However, Earth can only be home to so many people before it reaches its limit. With the population growing at such a fast pace, the environment will not be able to keep up with the population. The rapid population growth will cause natural resources to become extremely scarce. In other words, the more people there are, the less resources there is and there will also be fewer animal species. This issue is being addressed by two genres that talk about how the environment will pay the price in the future due to human overpopulation. In Piper Hoffman’s article, Human Overpopulation Threatens Our Survival, says how the rising numbers have caused climate change, rising sea levels, expanding deserts, and even wildlife extinction. In the YouTube video, The Science of Overpopulation, the issue of overpopulation is also explained, as well as how the population has increased in the past decades. Both of these genres will be analyzed by their structure and delivery, audience and purpose, and rhetorical Issues.
Overpopulation is an undesirable condition where the number of an existing organism exceeds the carrying capacity of the earth. It is simply when the world has more than the number of an organism it can support. Human overpopulation is one of the most pressing environmental issue, and still, our population is growing at an alarming rate. “About twenty years ago, Population Reference Bureau (PRB) estimated the world’s human population to be 5.84 billion.” Today, the population of the world has risen to about 7.6 billion and according to the United Nations predictions, it is expected to reach 9.7 billion people in the next 33years.
Gioietta Kuo discusses overpopulation as the main problem causing all of life’s problems on earth today. Moreover, if the problem is not rectified, the world faces extinction from a shortage of resources such as food, water, and land. Furthermore, the implied message is that overpopulation needs to be addressed, because without reducing the inhabitants in the world, humanity will run out of the means to sustain even the current population. This article relates to “Connecting the Dots between Species Extinction, Overpopulation, and the Use of Resources” by Marshall Marcus, because Marcus also believes that the extinction of any species can be traced back to the increase of the world’s population. Additionally, both authors feel that overpopulation is the cause for many of earth’s problems such as environmental destruction, climate change, and food shortage to name a few. With all the data, facts and references, I feel this article credible. Using this information in my paper will help argue my opinion on overpopulation.
Population changes can occur for a few reasons which include birth and death rates and people moving from one area to another. Over the last few centuries the world’s population has continued to rise at an average of 84 million people per year (Macionis, 2014, p. 630). This can be attributed to the all of the studies of new medications, vaccines, and the learning of healthy lifestyles to expand one’s life. While the world has this huge population, not every country or state is equally populated. Per Macionis (2014) some people will migrate from area to another for many different reasons such as lack of employment, cost of living difference, and some are forced to move due to lack of available resources in their area.