Overcrowding, overpopulating, limiting resources, worsening air and worsening water, dying species, paving of farmlands, deforesting our wilderness, and ultimately and eventually killing ourselves; our own people have such negative and false thoughts for this world and its’ resources. Why? Overpopulation and over consumption are only two of numerous false theories that people lead themselves to believe about our world. My conclusion: this world and we the people…are fine; things are not as bad as people exaggerate them out to be and we are neither overpopulated or over consuming. So many of the people of this world are spreading false ideas about population and consumption and their ideas could not be any less true.
“The world is getting
…show more content…
Although this world’s population is growing, it is not growing at a very fast rate. From 1950 to 2000, it was reported that the world population only grew at a rate of 1.76% (Morse, Mosher). 1.76% people. Morse and Mosher also reported in their article Debunking the Myth of Overpopulation, “Between 2000 and 2050, it is expected to grow by 0.77 percent” (More, Mosher). How can overpopulation actually be a problem when our world population is only growing by that small percentage? So, if overpopulation is not the problem then that means that over consumption is the problem, right? Not totally. Even with a growing population, which we now should not believe is a problem, food is not scarce nor will it ever be …show more content…
Think about this: if food were scarce and overconsumption was a problem, we would not have obese people and well-nourished people. Although hunger does in fact remain a problem in some parts of this world, and some people are in fact obese as well, does not mean that consumption is at all a problem. The problem is, again, the hearts of the human people. We have more than enough food, resources, and everything else that we need for all of the people of this world need to survive and live good lives. In the article by Mark Sagoff, Do We Consume Too Much?, Sagoff writes, “The world has the wealth and the resources to provide everyone the opportunity to live a decent life” (Sagoff). There are enough resources to provide for the entire population of this world and the problem is not overpopulation nor consumption; the problem is people and still then, we are not as bad off as people
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
As time passes, our population continues to increase and multiply; yet, on the other hand, our planet’s resources continue to decrease and deplete. As our population flourishes, human beings also increase their demands and clamor for the Earth’s natural products, yet are unable to sacrifice their surplus of the said resources. Garret Hardin’s work highlighted the reality that humans fail to remember that the Earth is finite and its resources are limited. Hardin’s article revealed that people are unable to fathom that we indeed have a moral obligation to our community and our natural habitat — that we are not our planet’s conquerors but its protectors. We fail to acknowledge and accept that we only have one Earth and that we must protect and treasure it at all costs. Despite all our attempts at annihilating the planet, the Earth will still be unrelenting — it will still continue to be present and powerful. Human beings must recognize that we need this planet more than it needs us and if we persist on being egocentric and covetous, in the end it is us who will
One of the most insidious “diseases” plaguing our nation is poor nutrition. While obesity is an epidemic, we focus too much on heavy people and not enough on all the others around them that are truly malnourished and yet don’t show any “traditional” signs. These other portions of the population shows their irregular nourishment through high rates of chronic illness and even possibly through mental illness. Just because someone is “this”, does not mean they are nutritionally sound. So while in 10 years’ time almost 50% of our population will be obese, a much higher percentage will be malnourished if we keep on this trend. Inevitably malnourished populations will continue to be a public health crisis through the rise in chronic disease and higher medical costs due to the burden these populations put on the healthcare system. This is why we need to focus on reducing food deserts, increase nutritional education at a young age, and create a culture of mindfulness around cooking and eating whole foods.
Americans are known for overconsumption. The stereotypical American is thought to be rather large, values money and possessions more than anything, and is frequently seen yelling about ‘Murica and freedom at the top of their lungs. We are thought to be the epitome of excessive consumption whether it is food or finances. However we aren’t the only ones that can be known for our over the top habits. According to the World Watch Institute, 12 percent of the world’s population lives in North America or in Western Europe but they account for 60 percent of private consumption spending (World Watch Institute). This is not just a simple, easy to fix problem, it’s an international crisis that effects our future. The overconsumption of the more affluent
Humans have greatly impacted the global environment. Throughout the course of history, human populations have rapidly increased. Especially in Africa, these numbers have reached extraordinary proportions. Out of all the continents in the world, Africa’s population is increasing the most. The type of growth here is exponential. “Overpopulation is a condition when an organisms numbers exceeds the carrying of its ecological niche.” The growth rate of a population is equal to the birth rate minus the death rate. Therefore, for overpopulation to occur, the birth rate must surpass the death rate (Wiley). The current population of Nigeria is estimated to be 155,215,573. Most of the population consists of the younger generation. More specifically, 41% of the population is between the ages of 0-14. 56% of the population is between the ages of 15-64. However, only 3.1% of the population is 65 and over. This age group represents a very small part of the population. (CIA)
Consequentially, overpopulation has many negative effects. Most of the critical environmental issues today are a result of over-consumption, which coincides and is caused from overpopulation. Issues like air and water pollution, global warming, resource depletion, and the biodiversity crisis are caused by overpopulation. A...
The simple question “Why do we over-consume?” will never be the question society will ask itself, mainly because it has become part of being human.
consumption and even further.” Our current global food system is not sustainable. It does not
Jacques-Yves Cousteau once said, “Overconsumption and overpopulation underlie every environmental problem we face today” (“Population,” Internet). With the current statistics, Jacques could not be more accurate. Every second, 4.2 people are born and 1.8 people die, which would be a net gain of 2.4 people per second (“Population,” Internet). At this steady rate, the environmental health is spiraling downwards, and it is safe to assume humans are responsible for this. As the population increases, harmful effects on the land, water, and air also do.
Since the beginning of mankind, we have reached many great achievements. We have developed many technologies and theories to solve and explain many of our questions and to improve human life. Through our years of evolution, we have severely increased our own survivability. This has been a great achievement for us, but in the recent decade, overpopulation is becoming a great issue. In the recent years, the rapid increase in population growth has troubled many in the field of political sciences. Scientists like Ehrlich have calculated and expected our population to grow even faster if we do not act upon the increasing rate of population growth. The birth rate of our planet is increasing exponentially, meaning that the birth rate has surpassed the death rate and that the rate of growth will only increase if left alone. The politics of population is a debate that involves both the fields of sciences and moral and ethical considerations. Science may provide an insight of
Seven and a half billion. Enough steps to walk around the globe a hundred and sixty times. Our planet is trying to provide and sustain for a colossal number of people which is expanding every single second. Now the concern that has been put forth by scholars come from the idea that the consumption and effects to our planet by our current society is an international security risk that greatly compromises the future generations. Confucius even mentions this at the earliest start of civilization by saying:
Though several people see large rapidly growing populations in developing regions as the primary culprit in environmental decline, we need to focus on the costly environmental outcomes of overconsumption among the gradually increasing populations of the developed nations. These differing emphases naturally point to fundamentally different solutions: slow population increase in less-developed nations or change destructive consumption and production patterns in the more-developed nations. This debate, however, assumes a one-step answer to the complex problems created by population pressures on the environment. Both population size and consumption ...
Humans have become a threat to our own way of life by consuming more resources than needed, blind to the consequences that we may face in the future. As of 2016 the world population is at 7.4 billion and it is estimated to be at 11.2 billion by the year 2100. However 10 billion is the maximum population that can be sustained in terms of food security, only one of the many factors to global sustainability. Due to the fact that human consumption exceeds the amount of resources available, the United Nations “recognizes that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge” in A/RES/70/1. Sustainable development is not only required to fulfill the necessities of the present but to guarantee the capability for future generations to satisfy theirs.
Overpopulation can be seen as one of the key factors responsible for the state of our rapidly decaying earth. Developments in medicine, agriculture and technology have allowed for the human race to take over all other species and be excluded from the natural food chain. Humans, particularly westerners, lead lives of extreme consumption that take huge tolls not only on the earth but also on certain groups within society. A great division has developed between the western world and the third world.
One of the most complex issues in the world today concerns human population. The number of people living off the earth’s resources and stressing its ecosystem has doubled in just forty years. In 1960 there were 3 billion of us; today there are 6 billion. We have no idea what maximum number of people the earth will support. Therefore, the very first question that comes into people’s mind is that are there enough food for all of us in the future? There is no answer for that. Food shortage has become a serious problem among many countries around the world. There are many different reasons why people are starving all over the world. The lack of economic justice and water shortages are just merely two examples out of them all.