The population of our planet and the issue of the overpopulation

Recently, a spate of op-ed essays have filled the pages of some of world's top newspapers and blogs -- from the Guardian to the New York Times -- challenged this view, declaring that overpopulations is not, nor has ever been, a problem.

The population of our planet and the issue of the overpopulation

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Changes in atmospheric composition and consequent global warming. Rich countries with high population densities have low rates of infant mortality. It results in human threats including the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria diseases, excessive air and water pollution, and new viruses that infect humans.

Increased chance of the emergence of new epidemics and pandemics. However, rich countries with high population densities do not have famine. Poverty and inflation are aggravated by bad government and bad economic policies. Many countries with high population densities have eliminated absolute poverty and keep their inflation rates very low.

However, this problem can be reduced with the adoption of sewers. For example, after Karachi, Pakistan installed sewers, its infant mortality rate fell substantially. Laws regulate and shape politics, economics, history and society and serve as a mediator of relations and interactions between people.

It was even speculated by Aldous Huxley in that democracy is threatened due to overpopulation, and could give rise to totalitarian style governments. David Attenborough described the level of human population on the planet as a multiplier of all other environmental problems. According to Paul R.

We want to build highways across the Serengeti to get more rare earth minerals for our cellphones. We grab all the fish from the sea, wreck the coral reefs and put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

We have triggered a major extinction event A world population of around a billion would have an overall pro-life effect. This could be supported for many millennia and sustain many more human lives in the long term compared with our current uncontrolled growth and prospect of sudden collapse If everyone consumed resources at the US level — which is what the world aspires to — you will need another four or five Earths.

Williams [] argue that third world poverty and famine are caused in part by bad government and bad economic policies. Resources[ edit ] Youth unemployment is also soaring, with the economy unable to absorb the spiraling numbers of those seeking to enter the work force.

Many young people do not have the skills to match the needs of the Egyptian market, and the economy is small, weak and insufficiently industrialized Instead of being something productive, the population growth is a barrel of explosives.

It also depends on how resources are managed and distributed throughout the population. The resources to be considered when evaluating whether an ecological niche is overpopulated include clean waterclean air, food, shelter, warmth, and other resources necessary to sustain life.

The population of our planet and the issue of the overpopulation

If the quality of human life is addressed, there may be additional resources considered, such as medical care, education, proper sewage treatmentwaste disposal and energy supplies.

Overpopulation places competitive stress on the basic life sustaining resources, [] leading to a diminished quality of life. With the global population at about 7.

Weather patterns, elevation, and climate all contribute to uneven distribution of fresh drinking water. Without clean water, good health is not a viable option. Besides drinking, water is used to create sanitary living conditions and is the basis of creating a healthy environment fit to hold human life.

In addition to drinking water, water is also used for bathing, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, a variety of cleaning methods, recreation, watering lawns, and farm irrigation.

Irrigation poses one of the largest problems, because without sufficient water to irrigate crops, the crops die and then there is the problem of food rations and starvation. In addition to water needed for crops and food, there is limited land area dedicated to food production, and not much more that is suitable to be added.

Arable land, needed to sustain the growing population, is also a factor because land being under or over cultivated easily upsets the delicate balance of nutrition supply. There are also problems with location of arable land with regard to proximity to countries and relative population Bashford Access to nutrition is an important limiting factor in population sustainability and growth.

No increase in arable land added to the still increasing human population will eventually pose a serious conflict. Although plants produce 54 billion metric tons of carbohydrates per year, when the population is expected to grow to 9 billion bythe plants may not be able to keep up Biello.Alone, each of us has no significant impact on the planet, even when our collective behavior overwhelms its natural processes.

Historically, population has grown fastest when per capita. Overpopulation is the state whereby the human population rises to an extent exceeding the carrying capacity of the ecological setting. In an overpopulated environment, the numbers of people might be more than the available essential materials for survival such as .

We have to address the issue of overpopulation. More people inevitably put more demands on the planet.

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More people require more food, water, sanitation, homes, public services, and amenities – but our Earth is struggling to cope. When Malthus was worrying about the planet’s “carrying capacity,” there were only about a billion of us on the planet.

Today our population tops seven billion. Overpopulation is an undesirable condition where the number of existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity of Earth. Overpopulation is caused by number of factors.

Reduced mortality rate, better medical facilities, depletion of precious resources are few of the causes which results in. Human overpopulation (or population overshoot) occurs when the ecological footprint of a human population in a specific geographical location exceeds the .

What is Overpopulation and Problems of Overpopulation? | Earth Eclipse