OverPopulation : A Threat

Right now there are more than 7.5 billion people living here. People of different caste, creed, colour, religion and race. But they all have one thing in common - the planet they call Home.

Never in history have there been so many people on Earth right now.

       1 billion in 1800

       2.3 billion in 1940

       3.7 billion in 1970

       6.1 billion in 2000 and  

       7.7 billion in 2020*

Population grows by almost hundred million every 14 months expected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and 10 billion by 2050.

It took hundred years to reach 1 billion habitats yet in little over two centuries figure multiplied sevenfold.

The current rate of population growth is now a significant burden to human well-being. Understanding the factors which affect population growth patterns can help us plan for the future.

CAUSES:

Throughout history causes for overpopulation were numerous.

Decline in Mortality Rates:

Owing to the advancements in medicine, man has found cures to the previously fatal diseases. This has resulted in an increase in the life expectancy of individuals. Mortality rate has declined leading to an increase in population.

Rise in birth rates:

Thanks to the new discoveries in nutritional science, we have been able to bring in increase in the fertility rates of human beings. Medicines of today can boost the reproductive rate in human beings. Thus, science has led to an increase in birth rate. This is certainly a reason to be proud and happy but advances in medicine have also become a cause of overpopulation.

Migration:

Immigration is a problem in some parts of the world. If the inhabitants of various countries migrate to a particular part of the world and settle over there, the area is bound to suffer from the ill effects of overpopulation. If the rates of emigration from a certain nation do not match the rates of immigration to that country, overpopulation makes its way. 

Awareness:

Lack of awareness is another important cause of overpopulation. Those lacking education fail to understand the need to prevent excessive growth of population. They are unable to understand the harmful effects that overpopulation has.

They are unaware of the ways to control population. Lack of family planning is commonly seen in the illiterate lot of the world. This is one of the major factors leading to overpopulation. Due to ignorance, they do not take to family planning measures, thus contributing to a rise in population.

The problem of having too many people has made lasting solutions core challanging to find. It is also associated with negative environmental and economic outcomes...

Impact on Environment.

The relationship between overpopulation and environmental impacts are often interrelated and complex.

Shortage Of Water:

The demand for water increases faster than the population itself.

The growth of global population resulted in the pressure on water, the only valuable resource that has a finite rate of supply. In the past half of the century, humans used one half of the resource which signifies that a strict amount will remain available in the next half of the century. Water will no longer be available for indirect uses, such as watering the golf courses or filling up swimming pools, and many species may become extinct in severely dry areas. Nevertheless, the shortage of water is already experienced worldwide, as “more than one-third of all people on Earth live in areas where water is in short supply, and 1.7 billion people reside in regions where chronic water shortages hinder crop production and economic development”.

According to one report, around 15 percent of the world's population lived in "water stressed" regions in 2016, the amount has been projected to reach 50 percent by 2030. Another commentator expects 2/3 of the world's population to be living with water shortages by 2025, which attributes to population growth. Also consider that population growth is most rapid in part of the world where water is in high demand already, such as Africa, Southeast, Southwest, and Central Asia, and Oceania. 

Deforestation:

Human activity of deforestation will have a long-lasting impact on the environment. The end of nineteenth and the beginning of twentieth century showed that global deforestation significantly increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in atmosphere due to burning of fossil fuels, which count for an increase of more than three times the CO2 emissions. Since oil, coal, and natural gas are burned at a higher rate than before, there is a strong corelation between the use of global energy and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide at a rate of 6 million trillion tons of carbon per year, and these particles will remain in the atmosphere for at least 100 years. Decades or centuries are required for global processes to reach equilibrium (that is, to return to a stable state). The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is less than one percent, but it nevertheless has an impact on global temperature.

Despite the widespread debate and controversy about global warming as a potential threat to environment, experts provide statistics to show that Earth is in danger. Compared to the beginning of the twentieth century, global temperatures have increased for 1 degree Fahrenheit and 

they still continue to rise.

Food Problem:

The relationship between the number of people on the planet and the amount of food is 

direct. A growing agricultural base to feed an expanding world population comes with its own complications. As the global population increases, more food is needed. Such measures may be met through more intensive farming, or through deforestation to create new farm lands, which in turn can have negative outcomes. The lack of the cropland area and the drop of irrigation water 

per person as well as uneffective use of fertilizers are factors that contribute to a wide food gap. In the middle of the century, the cropland has increased by 19%, but the population globally grew 

132%. This has lead developing nations to lose the ability to feed themselves, and population growth managed to eliminate farmland from production.

Therefore, according to biologist Paul Ehrlich, “the race between population and food can never be won”. Although United Nations claims that the world produces enough grain to feed humans 3,500 calories every day, the statistics prove different. The global cereal crop in 2010 was the third highest ever, but  950 million people were desperately hungry, and over a billion more couldn’t get enough nutrients to support good health. Even more shocking, 60 percent of the world’s hungry people are small farmers and 20 percent are landless agricultural workers.

Impact on Economy

In 1798 Thomas Malthus predicted that "population growth would depress living standards in the long run".

Overpopulation does not depend only on the size or density of the population, but on the ratio of population to available sustainable resources. It also depends on how our natural resources are managed and distributed to the entire population. Overpopulation is one of the hazards and serious problem, which 

creates a great hindrance in the way of economic development.

The rapid growth of human population is putting extraordinary pressure on 

our natural resources available e.g. land, water, forests, ecosystem services etc.

Problem of Unemployment: 

Unemployment is one of biggest challenge for the World. Unemployment is mainly caused by Overpopulation. 

Large size of population results in large army of labour force in World. But due to shortage of capital 

resources it becomes difficult for a country to provide gainful employment to the entire working population. 

Open unemployment in urban areas and Disguised unemployment in rural areas are the normal features of 

an under developed countries.

Poverty:

Rising population increases the poverty in World. taking example of India,

United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) programme tells that 270 million or 21.9% people out of 1.2 

billion of Indians lived below poverty line of $1.25 in 2011-2012. People have to spend a large portion of their resources for bringing up of their wards. It results into less saving and low rate of capital formation. 

Social Problems:

Overpopulation give rise to various social problems. It leads to movement of people from rural areas to the urban areas and causes the growth of slum areas. People live in most unhygienic and insanitary conditions. 

Unemployment and poverty lead to frustration and anger among the educated youth. This leads to robbery, beggary, prostitution and murder etc. The terrorist activities that we find today in various parts of the world are the reflection of frustration among educated unemployed youth. Overcrowding, traffic congestions, frequent accidents and pollution in big cities are the direct result of overpopulation. 

Viewing the issue of increasing population optimistically, one may say that overpopulation means the increase in human resources. The increase in the number of people is the increase in the number of productive hands and creative minds. But we cannot ignore the fact that the increase in the number producers implies an increase in the number of consumers. Greater number of people requires a greater number of resources.

Not every nation is capable of providing its people with the adequate amount of resources. The ever-increasing population will eventually leave no nation capable of providing its people with the resources they need to thrive. When the environment fails to accommodate the living beings that inhabit it, overpopulation becomes a disaster.

There are issues aplenty to overcome. Clearly, initiatives to switch to clean energy sources such as solar, improve agricultural practices, better manage water resources and fully embrace the principles of the circular economy will help us mitigate the impact of population growth. At the other end of the spectrum, policies that encourage family planning, education, gender equity and other measures to help slow population growth will help reduce pressure on the planet. Take time to understand the issues.