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Negative effects of rapid population growth on the natural environment
Effects on overpopulation essay
Effects on overpopulation essay
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“If we do not voluntarily bring population growth under control in the next one or two decades, the nature will do it for us in the most brutal way, whether we like it or not.” - Henry W. Kendall. This quote is just a small factor of what overpopulation around the world is doing. Each and every single day more and more people are born into this world, and the population increases rapidly every second. For example, the population right now in the United States is approximately 325 million people. The population in India today is about 1.25 billion people. The country with the largest population in the world right now is currently India, with 1.35 billion people, and China is not that far behind. With overpopulation in the world, there are less natural resources around the world, because all of the farmland is being taken up by new housing, buildings, and factories. Another problem it causes is air pollution. With all the factories being built, so many …show more content…
When each and every person is born each day, that causes for more houses to be built, and factories to produce life needed goods, life needed products, and food for every person living on Earth. In hospitals, a lot of space is taken up and the doctors do not know how to treat every single person. Many more hospitals are being built, but it can take a few years or even more to build a huge hospital with all of the machines and medicine being brought in. Building more shops and factories to store things also takes up a lot of space because they are just taking up more land. Cutting down trees, cutting down grass, clearing beautiful land for roads and buildings is a waste and is tearing the world apart. Human overpopulation does affect the space on Earth, and many people are trying to change that with technology and trying to discover different and new ways of life. Lastly, human population can try and be controlled in some
The worldwide population is approaching 7 billion and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 (Baird). This projected population number is down from a once predicted 16 billion (Baird) and while some are not concerned, others are worried about any increase in population. Population growth is discussed in the articles “Too Many People?” by Vanessa Baird; “Population Control: How Can There Possibly Be Too Many of Us?” by Frank Furedi; and “The Population Bomb Revisited,” by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich. Baird and Furedi concur that a concern for population growth has been around since mathematician Thomas Malthus, in 1798, warned that overpopulation could lead to “the collapse of society” (Furedi). Furedi claims that too much human life is being used as an excuse, by population control supporters, for the world’s current and future problems. Baird tries to discover if “the current panic over population growth is reasonable.” For Ehrlich and Ehrlich the concern over population growth is very real, and they reinforce and support their book “calling attention to the demographic element in the human predicament” (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 63). While taking different approaches to their articles, the authors offer their perspectives on population growth, population control and the environmental impacts of a growing population.
Population continues to grow and is expected to reach an all time high in future years. There are tons of different reasons for why population is rising so quickly. In document d, it says, "Every second 5 people are born and 2 people die, a net gain of 3 people. This fact from document d shows one reason why population growth is at all time high. Document d, also states "At this rate, the world population will double every 40 years and would be 12 billion in 40 years, 24 billion in 80 years, and more than 48 billion in 120 years." This will create tons of difficulties, like the amount of food and supplies needed for the world, which will make it nearly impossible for supplies to keep pace with the population growth. Document a shows
In, The Population Bomb by, Paul R Ehrlich, he explains the problem of population increase, and how there are people everywhere! The feeling of feeling over populated. He talks about how if there are more people then there is more food that needs to be produced then ate. He explains on the rich people becoming wealthier and the poor are going to be even poorer and there is going to be a starvation. Population is doubling every year and how our energy is turning into
One of the most obvious problems from an over populated earth is lack of space; both for living and for agriculture. A Cambridge University-backed report suggests that the UK could run out of land for housing and agriculture as soon as 2030, and an extra 7 million hectares would be needed to support its growing population. But even now, we can see Britain starting to struggle to house its growing population. A report by the Guardian suggests we need to
Population growth affects the earth just as much as it does the people. With the population continuously growing at an alarming rate, earth can’t keep up with the resources needed to survive. Eventually we will run out of oil, land to build houses, and air. The reasoning behind running out of air is if the world is covered in houses, there is no room for trees – which supplies our oxygen. The factors effecting population growth are: fertility rates, life expectancy, migration, and death rates. More and more people are migrating to North America because of the high life expectancy, average fertility rates, low mortality rates, and of course, job opportunity. Even though population growth isn’t as high as it used to be, overpopulation can still
Have you ever wondered why there are 7 billion living on earth today? According to Webster’s Dictionary, population is the total number of people inhabiting a country, city, etc. (Merriam-Webster). There are a lot of people in the world and the earth doesn’t seem big enough to sustain the growing population of the earth. Having this many people on earth is too much so something must be done about it because it can cause a lot of problems in many countries especially in less developed countries. There are many ways of making the world a better place and overpopulating is not one of them. Even with the knowledge of its history, causes and effects, it is still a topic that is a major concern today.
The human population passed the 7 billion mark in October of 2011, and will pass 8 and 9 billion probably before the middle of the century. All these people will need resources such as places to live, food to eat, and water to drink, and they will use energy and create waste. Essentially, human population growth can effect all other causes of extinction. For example, more people on the Earth means more people contributing to global warming and pollution. More people also means more clearing of land for agriculture and development.
With Australia’s population rapidly nearing 23.5 million people, the issue of sustainability and the number of people Australia can allow to live comfortably without significant damage to the surrounding environment is extremely important. The misconception that Australia is underpopulated with plenty of room to accommodate the worlds rising population is widespread. With the majority of Australian land being arid and inhospitable, finding available land and resources to accommodate a rising population is placing a huge amount of pressure on the Australian environment. Australia’s population growth consists of two main components; births minus deaths and net migration. While Australia’s birth rate sits at 1.9, lower than the 2.1 needed to replace our aging population, our expanding population comes from overseas migration accounting for around 60 per cent of our growth (Department of Immigration and Border Protection). Currently the total migration rate is set at 210,000 people per year making Australia’s population quickly on the rise. This poses an important discussion regarding the impacts of such a rise and if there is a specific number that constitutes a sustainable Australia regarding population. The issues that may come to pass as a result of overpopulation are great and varied. These include and are not limited to; resource shortages, social conflict, overcrowding, pollution, habitat and biodiversity loss and a lowering in national health standards. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has put forward arguments opposing a rising population due to the predicted environmental damage we would face as an outcome. A few of the main problems associated with an unconstrained population are outlined in this essay.
On May 11, 2000, Astha (Faith) was born in the Indian capital on New Delhi.[1] Her birth was not only a significant occasion for her parents, but for the entire Nation of India. Astha’s birth was designated the official point at which the Indian population crossed the one billion human beings mark.[2] India was thus officially inaugurated into the very exclusive one billion inhabitants of one nations club, and the world was left to ponder the repercussions of such a development. Stepping over the one-billion line brought into question all the policies, efforts, and difficulties that the Indian government had implemented and fought for over a half a century in order to prevent just such a joyous occasion from happening.
There are approximately 6 billion people on our planet now and by 2050 that number is expected to jump to 9 billion people. (http://www.prb.org/datafind/datafinder5.htm) Picture yourself driving down a crowded street or stuck in a traffic jam, have you ever wondered how it is possible for that many people to live all on the same planet. I have had those thoughts several times and believe that overpopulation is one of the biggest problems in the world today. Overpopulation has become a major crisis in the twenty-first century and it's detrimental effect on our living standards, environment, and much needed resources. The problem is not the number of people in this world, but the way people choose to live. The dilemmas created by overpopulation affect people of all races and social status. This is why we as the ?human race? must work together to preserve our planet and necessary resources before it is too late.
Overpopulation and social problems go hand and hand in today’s society and there are many reasons and factors as to why these problems exist. Factors that lead to overpopulation that causes social problems are the increase in the number of single mothers in poor neighborhoods opposed to the decline in birth rates in the more efficient parts of the country, how the death rate is at a steady decline because of medical advances in rich and poor countries, the effects immigrants have on an environment and the population growth that occurs, the influence parents leave on children, and what is being done to help prevent the spread of AIDS because this is a deadly disease which is lowering our population but causing many social problems.
At the time of the agricultural revolution, nearly ten thousand years ago, the population of the globe was no more than ten million. Today the world population is estimated at over six billion. In the last hundred years the population has more than tripled. With the population rising at an enormous rate of 1.7 million a week, the world as a whole is being drained of its resources. (Southwick, 1996) Different theories have prevailed on what will occur as the population continues to explode ranging from the Malthusian apocalypse to absolutely no effects at all. Over the last two centuries as agricultural and technological advancements came about, the planet's overall carrying capacity increased dramatically. It is estimated that the world could support over twenty times its current population living at 120 per square meter in 2000-story buildings. (Dolan, 1974) Overpopulation not only adversely affects the "environment," or nature, but also has a large impact on human societies today.
Overpopulation is a growing problem all over the world. This is a very important environmental issue and needs to be dealt with. This environmental problem is affecting many countries around the world, but mostly the poor and impoverished countries that don’t have the resources to help deal with these issues. It also affects the environment like plants, animal life and air quality. When the population of people expands we need more natural resources from the environment, so we consume more than we can produce.
Resources are limited. Does the influential problem of ‘illegal migration’ should be further allowed to worsen the overpopulation issue of India? India, the 2nd most populated country on the planet evidently has a high growing rate in terms of its population. As we go according to the recent stats of 2011 census and the Report by United Nations Statistics Division the country has a birth rate of above forty thousand newborns per day, while the death rate lags far behind it. But, is this issue of overpopulation just related to the birth and death rates? Well reports say differently, according to them, the birth rate though having a prominent effect on the population growth rate remains an issue of less concern with the regular fall in the fertility
The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in human population. For many thousands of years people lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Population sizes were small, and life-supporting tools were simple. Most of the energy needed for work was provided by the worker and animals. Since about 1650, however, the human population has increased dramatically. The problems of overcrowding multiply as an ever-increasing number of people are added to the world's population each year.