Oil Prop Simulation: The Problem Of Overpopulation

Did you know that the United States alone has used ⅓ of the world's resources? We are overusing natural resources and action needs to be taken to address this problem that is becoming more life-threatening over time. Overpopulation is a crucial factor in this problem. Natural resources are provided by the environment; they support life and satisfy everyone’s needs, but not the environment itself. The way that resources are retrieved and used is unacceptable and very harmful to our environment; the problem is that most of them are nonrenewable (Oil Prop Simulation- I will show the class how oil is retrieved). They will be gone forever after they are used, which is why their use and more importantly, their extraction should be limited and maybe completely stopped. To begin with, the earth’s population is growing at a fast rate that we cannot handle. Overpopulation plus overuse of resources equals a funeral for the earth in the very near future. By the time we get to “2050, human beings could devour an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year – three times the current consumption
It is almost like a cancer that does not stop spreading and growing. It would be really hard to limit the number of children that people have, but that is the only reliable way to solve the problem of overpopulation, which will solve the overuse of nonrenewable resources. Overpopulation causes desertification, contamination, disease, environmental damage, unemployment, and war (Alder). We need to find a solution because overpopulation is a bigger threat than we know. The earth will be destroyed not so far in the future and the only way to sustain life on earth is for the population to get smaller because there haven't been any recent discoveries of life on other planets. Smaller population plus slow usage of resources and using alternative energy equals a better future for the