The Incessant Rise of Our Population

By Ella S.

        Are you aware that the average person uses 50% more resources than what they should be consuming? Now imagine over 8 billion humans living on the planet currently. Imagine their consumption of the earth’s resources. Human overpopulation has been an increasing problem for not only the earth, but also for humans themselves. 

        Human overpopulation is when the earth is unable to regenerate the resources consumed annually by people. The more people, the greater the amount of resources consumed, therefore resulting in overpopulation. Currently, humans are highly overpopulated and are growing at an unsustainable rate. Each year, the population climbs by 83 million. The estimated population for people in 2100 is 11.2 billion, while the ideal population is only 2 to 3 billion. 

        Overpopulation worsens the earth and its environments. A larger population creates an increased need for resources like healthcare, transportation, food, water, housing, and energy, and continuing to over consume these resources causes ecological degradation. Many natural resources, such as oil, coal, and natural gas (also known as fossil fuels) are being overused. In 2019, 100 million barrels of oil were produced and consumed per day. 130 million tons of coal are produced for consumption per year. In 2020, the U.S. alone consumed 22% of the world’s natural gas. Moreover, the growing number of people are using natural resources to their depletion. This includes cutting trees and deforestation, hunting wildlife improperly, and pollution. Each year, around 18 million acres of forest cover are destroyed. Hunters kill and hunt 200 million wild animals annually. Due to the depletion, especially the lack of trees, more greenhouse gases will be released. This will result in an increase of global warming, eventually melting the glaciers, causing sea levels to rise and climate change to speed up.

        Humans will also experience a large impact on society and living from overpopulation. Due to the higher demand for resources, many developing countries will want to prioritize getting resources, especially water, resulting in conflicts and war. More people will be unemployed since there are a limited number of jobs for a large population, and as an effect, more theft and robbery is likely to happen. The cost of living will be raised because of the demand and supply of resources. Even the supply of water will be scarce. Now, only approximately 1% of water on the earth is usable and clean for humans, and by 2025, the expected demand for freshwater for people is 70% of the freshwater on the planet. Human overpopulation largely affects people.

        One of the main causes of overpopulation of our species is an imbalance of births and deaths. In order to have a sustainable population, there must be an equal number of births and deaths. In the past, due to poverty, more babies were born, yet the birth and death rates were still balanced because death rates were also high. In the present, birth rates continue to be high, but death rates have decreased, resulting in an imbalance of births and deaths. Furthermore, in 1990, there were 8.8 million deaths of infants. In 2017, there were only 4.1 million infant deaths. The mortality rate of infants has greatly decreased to result in fewer deaths and a longer survival rate for infants. 

        In addition, extreme advancements in living such as science, technology and medicine advancements, and the toolmaking, industrial, and agricultural revolutions have led to a higher life expectancy. For example, medicine advancements, such as vaccines, have successfully cured deadly diseases, with an outcome of people living longer. As people age slower, the population also increases faster. 

        A solution to overpopulation is to spread information on family planning. Raising awareness on family planning, use of contraceptives, and how family planning can be used to help prevent the serious effects of overpopulation can help prevent unwanted pregnancies that would lead to population growth. A small family with ideally one to two children has both economic and ecological benefits. Additionally, social marketing can also help with overpopulation by educating people about the effects of overpopulation. This can be held in public places such as food markets, schools, and sporting events. Raising awareness on overpopulation is an important step in taking action to stop overpopulation. 

        It’s time to make a change for the earth and the many further generations to come.  As Alexandra Paul states, “The human overpopulation issue is the topic I see as the most vital to solve if our children and grandchildren are to have a good quality of life.”