“Human population is growing like never before. We are now adding one billion people to the planet every 12 years. That’s about 220,000 per day.” Overpopulation is one of the worst problems the world is facing today because we’re running out of resources; it’s increasing poverty and increasing pollution. At this rate of population growth,
Overpopulation is excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration. A huge problem that comes with overpopulation is depleting resources. As the population is now, “one out of every seven people alive, go to bed hungry.” and “About one billion people lack access to sufficient water for consumption, agriculture and sanitation.” As our population grows those statistics are going to get worst and worst and so will our quality of living. The air quality is also decreasing. “Childhood asthma rates have risen dramatically in the past 20 years”. The more people there are the pollution and waste. Many other vital resources are decreasing such as: oil, gas, and other fuel.
There are many different causes of overpopulation but one of the main ones is a decline in death rate and an incline in birth rate. If the number of children born each year equals the number of adults that die, then the population will stabilize but since our medicine has become so advanced and because of other factors people are living longer and more children are being born. It is all way out of proportion. Another cause is religious beliefs. Some religions believe that procreation is essential and therefore families have as many children as they feel they could care for. One more cause is the lack of knowledge. Facts about reproduction, protection and birth control are lacking (especially among young adults).
Right now overpopulation doesn’t seem like a big problem but if it stays on the path that it is on it will be a huge problem that our great grandchildren will be forced to face head on. Resources could become scarce which could also lead to conflict between countries and possibly war. The amount of pollution could increase so much it could cause serious environmental destruction. Also the cost of living will go up which will cause unemployment, which will lead to more poverty! Natural habitats will disappear along with the millions of species living within them just to provide more living space for humans. The whole world could become one hugely populated, poverty-stricken, resource less, polluted city if nothing is done.
There are ways people can help stabilize the world’s population. One is to better educate people about this global problem and also about reproduction. “Imparting sex education to young kids at elementary level should be must.” Also, tax benefits should be given to married couples that have single or two children. Raising awareness about the effects of overpopulation could help lead to ZPG (zero population growth). ZPG is the main goal and if we all come together more aware we can little by little help save the world. Overpopulation is a global problem; lets start treating it like one.
