Walsh

Imagine yourself living in the year 2050, the population has increased to 8.9 billion people from the 6.7 billion that it is today, and our essential resources have grown significantly scarce. This really could be our reality as the US census bureau reported by 2050 we are projected to be near 8.9 billion in population by 2050. Overpopulation is a major problem we face and it has created problems not only for our environment – but for the human race as well.

So let’s ask ourselves – what is overpopulation and what are the main causes?
Overpopulation is when the earth is at the brink of becoming overcrowded. The danger of this is that if we have too many people on this planet; we cannot sustain enough of our key resources to live. There are three main causes of overpopulation. The first cause is the rapid boost in birthrate. The second cause is the significant drop in the death rate due to advances in modern medicine. The third cause is the absence of education in many third world countries which results in illiteracy directly linking to the family planning and sex education.

The UN reports that countries that are underdeveloped such as India, Libya, and Zimbabwe are projected to have the biggest growth in human population due to their high birthrate which is caused by having minimal to no education provided to them about family planning. BBC reported in their article “UN Sets out Challenges” that The UN has expressed concern that in many poor countries. Such as in sub-Saharan Africa, the speed of population growth could hold back economic development and trap future generations in poverty and hunger.” So just how serious is this problem? Well take a look at this graph representing fertility rate in sub-Saharan Africa compared to the rest of the world. The birth per family ratio is a whopping 5 in Africa compared to 2.5 for the rest of the world.

One key factor to overpopulation is to understand that the planet is not going to expand and grow new land that will create space to produce resources for more individuals.
Forests are "disappearing”, and the global unpolluted fresh water supply is in danger while the air in most big cities is littered with pollution. Another problem that has arisen from overpopulation is the misuse and overuse of our key resources such as water, animals, produce – to name a few.

Now that we have a clear understanding of the problem, we must ask ourselves how we can begin to fix overpopulation and is there a concrete solution. Nobody knows if there is a legitimate solution to the problem but I personally believe it starts with the education of family planning, especially in third world countries. Alon Tal of the Huffington post wrote “Many third world countries adopted policies that motivate small families, make birth control available, provide better social security and most of all -- empower women, and the results were remarkable.”

In the end we face many economic and environmental issues in the world today but if we don’t begin to find an answer to treat over population our list of problems will keep growing. Stanley Gehrt – Author of Diversity Stated “Although human overpopulation is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and indeed to our continued existence-it is a low priority for most people.”
We must face facts - This is not something that can be resolved overnight but if we keep choosing to turn a blind eye to this, we will face an abundance of hardship for generations to come.

Biblography

Gehrt, Stanley D.. "The Human Population Problem: Educating and Changing Behavior." Conservation Biology 10.3 (1996): 900-903. Print.

Population seven billion: UN sets out challenges." BBC News. BBC, 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 May 2014. .

Tal, Alon. "Overpopulation Is Still the Problem." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 29 May 2014. .