Safwat Khan
Our planet is currently serving as the home to over 7 billion people, and with global population increasing at a rate of 1.08% each year (82 million people), that number isn't going to be decreasing anytime soon. While the fact that human life has burst into abundance so quickly is something that we, as a species, may find a source of pride in, the fact of the matter is that we are currently facing a crisis in regards to overpopulation that is depleting the amount of natural resources in our environment.
On its surface, the issue may present itself in the disguise of not being as severe as it actually is. One may be inclined to believe that we're simply using resources faster than we can replenish their supply, and that the solution is to start gradual reliance on renewable resources. While that is a valid solution, the problem of overpopulation runs much deeper than is commonly perceived. Another resource that is being depleted fairly quickly besides the standard fossil fuels is water, and in turn, energy. Professor of earth and planetary sciences Robert Criss has been on record stating that, "we cannot expect to sustain exponential population growth matched by increased per capita use of water and energy." The rapid increase in population within the U.S. alone has resulted in the increased use of groundwater, most of it being non-renewable. In turn, groundwater extraction has resulted in depleting water levels in some regions and saltwater intrusion into others. In some coastal, the invasion of saltwater into a supply of refined groundwater has rendered much of the water supply undrinkable.
On the contrary, many may argue that overpopulation is not as large an issue as some may present it to be as it will inevitably subside. Given that global birth rates have dropped in the last few years, it is evident that eventually, the world's population will decrease after a peak that is predicted to take place in 2070. This, however, is an ignorant stance to take on the issue, as it must be asked: How much of the world's current resources will be left for future generations by the time the year 2070 rolls around? The key is to begin practicing sustainable use polices to combat the negative effects of overpopulation that are currently plaguing our society.
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20 comments:
What a thought provoking article, thank you. Primarily, I agree completely that overpopulation would be a strain of our resources and our planet, and that human beings have reached a dangerous level of population, but there is actually less reason to panic than initially expected. As you stated, the overall arch of population is expected to steady in the next century, and it is at this point that policy may come into play where we could effectively manage our resources. Taking advantage of more genetically modified organisms for example may be helpful. But the biggest combatant in the fight against overpopulation is economic freedom; when a family is more economically independent they are more likely to have smaller families. This freedom also included the freedom of family planning, educational resources, and a safe environment, which is why as the population levels out, it is the job of the international community to assure these freedoms for the betterment of humanity and the mitigation of future resources. Thank you for a great post!
Interesting topic. I believe that Earth's growing population is of huge concern. People don't truly understand the amount of resources we are using to satisfy Earth's population as of now, so once it runs out and can't provide for the even greater population of the future, there is going to be huge problems. It is essential that we prevent this and reuse different substances as to not totally deplete our resources.
I have never given much thought to our world population unless in history classes that show graphs about the increasing trend. Now, though, I see it is an issue that needs to be addressed in order to provide for future generations. We need to be able to find a solution to feed our increasing population or else risk losing many to starvation in the near future.
Overpopulation has always been talked about as one of Earth’s biggest problems over the last couple decades. The amounts of resources will not be available to future generations due to the increasing population. But, as we have talked about in class, the population is starting to reach carrying capacity. The number of individuals has stayed around the same number over the last ten years or so which means that we may have reached our capacity. There is numerous amount of outcomes that could happen, but I believe we should focus more on other problems rather than overpopulation.
Overpopulation is definitely a threat to our planet because the more people that exist in the world, the higher the demand will be for resources, meaning more fossil fuels will burn, more trees will be cut, and more habitats will be destroyed. This is proven due to highly populated countries causing the majority of pollution, such as China and India. Fortunately, however, like your post said, people are currently having less children (at least in the United States), so this problem could slowly but surely decrease.
This is a difficult subject being that, regardless of our habits, there is no true solution. That is, in effect, the major reason why overpopulation is such an issue today. It’s true that if we were able to somehow influence every single person in the world to start living more sustainably, overpopulation would not be AS BIG of an issue but it would still be an issue nonetheless. After all, the human population, once it exceeds its carrying capacity, regardless of habits, will not be able to be sustained by the environment, especially if it continues to grow. Plus, influencing the entire global population to act sustainably is a reach to say the least. Furthermore, even if the human population begins to drop in 2070, it will still dwindle far above the Earth’s human carrying capacity for years after before it begins to even out. However, as much as this problem requires a solution, there appears to be no humane, reasonable solution available at the current time.
I can’t help but relate overpopulation to carrying capacity. Could we as humans soon be reaching the maximum population the Earth can hold or are we still on the road to immense growth ? As mentioned, there are many factors that demographic differences from today such as the fact that women are giving birth to less children. I believe that there are enough resources to sustain our population and our growing population but we need to take care of our resources.
I think the problem isn't what the human carrying capacity is but what will happen once we hit it? Overpopulation may not be a permanent issue and could take care of itself, but it is likely to be catastrophic when it all goes down. Personally I think there are too many people on the planet, or at least we (and our resources) are extremely unevenly distributed, which we cannot continue. Even if the population doesn't spiral out of control, our carelessness when it comes to distribution of people and resources will not end well for us.
I believe that overpopulation will soon not be as big of an issue as it is now. As countries reach their developed stages in their demographic transition their will be less people. Although, it is interesting to think that maybe by 2070 resources will run out and the best way to ensure that happens is to make sure we practice sustainability. Informative post!
I definitely think overpopulation is a big issue. That’s why we need to conserve resources now so that future generations have resources to work with. It’s interesting to think about because by 2070 some of us may be alive to see the consequences of overpopulation.
Very interesting article. In my opinion I do believe that over population is a problem simply because at some point non renewable resources will be outweighed by the us and strain that humans put on it. This could lead to disastrous effects on the environment on Earth as well as the atmosphere around Earth. I try not to think about by what year people estimate that all resources will run out becaus I believe that this problem is a big enough one that all countries will address and hopefully solve in the coming years. Till then, it is best to keep pushing to recycle and try our best to not waste or miss-use certain resources, and as technology advances hopefully a soulution will too.
I believe that overpopulating the earth is the most significant problem that we will experience. However, as you stated in your blog, if we were to find a way to not be so dependent on certain resources it is possible to minimize the effects of the situation. Even though this helps the problem it doesn’t diminish it. I believe we must not reproduce more than the death rate in order to help the problem.
Human nature is always drawn to benefit themselves and innovate in ways that can help them right now. These tendencies have caused a mindset that the future state of the world doesn’t matter and having what they want is what matters. The rising issue of overpopulation on our limited space has sparked the movement of sustainable practices among our population. Our resources are limited and in order to preserve the human race, we need to have a change of mindset.
This generation is very lazy and selfish. So they don’t really care to help the environment because they’ll be gone once it really starts to affect them.
Overpopulation is a major cause of the envorinment’s problems, and much like you stated, it will not decrease for some time. Sustainable practices may help with some environmental problems, but it will be difficult to persuade others to pursue a different life. Increasing populations have affected the ecosystem beyond repair. Over time, we may be able to help the environment, but it will feel impossible with so many people producing emissions and overusing the environemnt’s resources.
Wow, this blog was so fascinating because I never really thought about how overpopulation could be threatening to the environment. I never knew that the population increases at a rate of 1.08% per year. But with growing numbers from countries such as China and India, the population tends to be very crowded with lots of pollution. I find it interesting that scientists have estimated that the population will drop after 2070. I think that this is more of a reason that we should take more care of the environment and regulate the population in order to not reach carrying capacity and decrease.
This was a great article! I do think that overpopulation is a big issue that is affecting the environment. Although this is not that big of a problem in the US, other countries around the world are facing huge problems with the resources available to them. We need to figure out solutions to save our environment so that the future generation will have enough resources.
This is such a great article on overpopulation! While many people don’t really consider the effects of having a large population, it has a detrimental effect on the environment. People need to consider this situation in areas like China and India who have a large population and therefore face many impacts.
Very interesting read, The whole is refusing to face the problems of overpopulation. I had no idea overpopulation took this large of an effect on the environment. China and india have a real problem but we need some kind of solution to help the world.
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