Overpopulation

Over-population occurs when there are not enough resources on the earth to support its population. Over 2 centuries ago, world population was lower than a billion people. Nowadays, there almost 6.7 billion people currently occupying this world, whilst each year the world population expands by around 80 million (World Population Guide 2011, [Online]). All connoisseurs are warning about this issue. Critics declare that we are getting dangerously close to the sustainable capacity of earth. The optimal carrying content of this world is only 2 billions people (Bruges, 2007), why are people still able to live comfortably in this world? Problems such as severe food shortages, pollution, poor economy country, poor health and increasing crime rates are not just related to living in a bad neighborhood, they are the result of overpopulation. There are many factors leading to this population explosion. This problem can only be reduced by lower birth rate and higher death rate.

Illiteracy is the major reason of overpopulation. Those who lack education are unable to realize the risky effects that overpopulation has and fail to understand the need to reduce the population growth. This is not just an individual problem, it also can happen on a family unit level. Families who are illiterate do not take family planning measures. Most illiterate people consider an extra child as one more hand to earn but they forget that it is also imply one more mouth to feed. For example in Pakistan, the common Pakistani has been brainwashed to believe that birth control is a heinous sin. It is normal for men in this country to aim for ten children and to seek medical treatment if they cannot achieve this goal (Lakhani 2007, [Online]). Nowadays, the improvement of medications also has declined the number of deaths. New innovations in medications have brought in treatments for dreadful diseases and impact in an accession of life assurance, lead to longer lifespans. Another factor is the new findings in nutritional science, which enable a development in the fertility rates of humans, also becoming a cause of overpopulation. Medicines today can increase the reproductive level and may help in conception, which can reduce the number of miscarriages and as well as increasing the body’s fertility rate.

Active population growth creates a big change of social altercation, economic and political upheavals. Western industrialized nations are overwhelmed with expatriates (either legal or illegal) who move to lands, which have more discretion and convenience. Sometimes the pull is economic, sometimes the pull is political and sometimes it is based on the search for fundamental human rights. The effect on economy, when countries are overpopulated, is to have enough food to support themselves, never mind the hope of having a surplus to sell. This can contribute to a low GDP per Capita. In an attempt to save the people from starvation, the government will most likely have to rely on foreign debt, with this the economic level of the country in the eyes of the world will fall. Furthermore, when a country is overpopulated, there is a high rate of unemployment because there are not enough jobs to support the population. This results a high level of crime because the people will need to steal things in order to survive. The growing gap in ideal of living, access the chance of warfare, also the chemical or nuclear war, it because of despair bring about by the weariness of nation’s capability to nourish its citizens and provide them with the substances they require for survival (Klare, 1992).

Overpopulation does not just affect the standard of living, but also the environment. The environmental impact of overpopulation has been excessive, such as, the quality of millions acres of land have decreased because of the wind and water erosion, ozone layer becomes thinner, much irrigated land is too salty for food production, rain forests are threatened by peasants who use slash-and-burn technique to convert forests into short-lived farms, forests at the upper hemisphere are damaged by acid rain, and global warming. As time goes by, the quality of life demands for automobile are also polluting air and water (Peterson, Wunder and Mueller, 1999). Severe of food shortages is the effect of overpopulation too. In developing countries, almost 60 percent of the citizens still reside on the land, but almost all the best farmland is already used (Peterson, Wunder and Mueller, 1999). The rise of population does not come together with the increasing of food sources, where as they are inversely proportional. More people in the world means that more land required for living, thus the lands for farmlands are reduced, as a result people become malnourished and malnutrition.

In order to reduce world population, the governments can offer lower income tax rates or tax deductions to parents who support the government’s program for family planning and do not have more than two children. Whereas, married couples who have more than two children are heavily taxed. Sex education is also a good solution for overpopulation. Because of sex education, teenagers know how to use basic contraceptive and birth control like condoms and birth control pills. If teenagers don’t have knowledge about contraceptives, they are likely to get pregnant. The last is health care. Parents actually think that their children will die at young age and therefore many parents prefer to have more children. So by providing health care to new mothers and their children, the scare that babies will die will be removed.

To sum up, the enormous increase in the total of people in this earth, leads to many global social problems, environmental, economic, political, racial and also ethnic problems. In my opinion, the world’s population will continue to expand as long as birth rate exceeds the death rate. Whether we want to admit it or not, our failure to stabilize population will cause a bad impact on our live and our world. Clearly, overpopulation should be addressed on a global level as soon as possible.

Reference List:

Bruges, J., 2007. The Big Earth Book. London : alastair sawday publishing.

Disinvestment Supporter, 2007. The Effect of Overpopulation on the Environment. [online] Helium. Available at : http://www.helium.com/items/688078-the-effects-of-overpopulation-on-the-environment [Accessed 20th September 2011].

Lakhani, S., 2007. Illiteracy and Overpopulation: Pakistan’s Major Problems. [online] Chowrangi. Available at : http://www.chowrangi.com/illiteracy-overpopulation-paksitans-major-problems.html [Accessed 22nd September 2011].

Peterson, R. D., wunder, D.F. and Mueller L. H. 1999. Social problems : globalization in the twenty-first century. Texas : Banta Company.

Simonetta, R. J., 2009. Human Population Causes, Effects and Solutions. [online] Seven Words. Available at : http://www.sevenwords.org/human-overpopulation-causes-effects-and-solutions/ [Accessed 18th September 2011].

World Population Guide, 2011. Population. [online] One World Guides. Available at : http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/population?gclid=CN-n0vXBqasCFQQb6wodAB45zw [Accessed 17th September 2011].