Overpopulation
Definition:
Is an undesirable condition where the number of the existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity or Earth
What causes it?
A little bit less than 800 million people populated the earth in the 18th century now there are 7.5 billion people. The population is supposed to continue growing up until 2050. Human have been on earth for more than 4 million years. What happened in recent history to cause the number of people on earth to spike? The tipping point was expected to be the industrial revolution, but there are many smaller revolutions that contributed to population take-off which have brought the earth to its current dangerous overpopulation. Overpopulation is caused by a number of different things.
One of the major reasons is the falling mortality rate, mainly due to medicine. The industrial revolution brought the world of medicine. Scientific progress allowed us to, therefore, continue to progress in the field of medicine and overcome diseases that previously could only end in death. The invention of vaccines and the discovery of antibiotics saved many lives and were a key factor in unfettered population growth. When the number of deaths started to fall and the number of births began to rise the population increased.
Exhaustion of natural resources is another one of the main effects of overpopulation. The earth has a limited capacity to generate raw materials and each year the natural resources decrease. We use the resources at a faster rate than the earth is able to make them. Consequently, in developing countries, overpopulation causes controversy over natural resources. This can even lead to war because there can be conflicts over water supply.
Effects:
Loss of fresh water is one of the big effects of overpopulation. As many of us know the earth is made up of 75 percent water, 97.5 percent of that is oceans and the other 2.5 percent is fresh water. According to Everything connects 70 percent of freshwater is divided into glaciers and ice caps and the remaining 30 percent is surface water. The Global Outlook for Water to the Year 2025, it is estimated that more than half of the world’s population will be facing water-based vulnerability. This is because of the fast-growing population we have.
Depletion of natural resources is a struggle when it comes to overpopulation. As the human population begins to spike, valuable natural resources, like fossil fuels, fresh water, arable land, coral reefs, frontier forests, continue to plummet. This puts huge stress on the basic life-sustaining resources and leads to a diminished quality of life.
Video
Some people believe overpopulation isn’t a problem.
(opposing viewpoint)
“Draconian measures driven by xenophobia are not necessary to slow the expansion of our numbers. Nor do we need pandemics, famines or wars to cull our numbers. So long as we continue to invest in education, public health, access to contraception and global trade, our numbers are likely to decline naturally and painlessly”
According to Lyman Stone, Our net agricultural exports account for about 25 percent of the physical volume of agricultural production, which suggests that if we redirected those exports internally, the US could probably support approximately 25 percent more people. That’s assuming current technology and current diets and current land use. I am personally with Stone I believe that overpopulation is not a relevant issue. I think that there are more pressing matter elsewhere that are a little more serious than a nonexistent problem.
Some people also believe that overpopulation isn’t the problem, they think that the problem is too few babies. Their argument is that “Nearly one-third of the 59 countries with “sub-replacement” fertility rates — those under 2.1 per woman — come from the ranks of developing countries. Several large and important emerging countries, including Iran, Brazil and China, have birthrates lower than the U.S”. They believe that in the short run this could be a good thing. But in the long run, if there are no babies then the workforce will get smaller and the people will get older and there will be more elderly to take care of and fewer people to work.
This problem is already happening in Japan and most of the European continent, including Greece, Spain, Portugal, most of eastern Europe., Scandinavia and Germany. Adults over the age of 65 make up more than 20 percent of these countries population. Compared to the 15 percent United States their numbers could double by 2030 according to the researchers Emma Chen and Wendell Cox.
MLA Citations:
Overpopulation Isn’t The Problem: It’s Too Few Babies
Forbes
April 19, 2019
January 01, 2012
Overpopulation: Causes, Effects and Solutions
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-overpopulation.php
Conserve Energy Future
April 19, 2019
April 12, 2017
