Overpopulation: More Than Just Numbers

The general attitude of humanity has been to develop the earth as much as possible. This notion has been met with great success, with the global human population increasing by billions of individuals in the last century alone. Yet sociologists and environmentalists have recently begun to express grave warnings about the alleged affects of overpopulating the planet. Their claim is that the earth can not provide enough food, water, and habitable land for everyone to live on. However, the number of people living on Earth is not the problem. The issue at hand is the sheer amount of resources that our society consumes.

The Human Population Boom

Since the beginning of time, the objective of humans has been to “go forth and multiply”. We certainly have, with most of the multiplying taking place within the last 100 years. In the year 1900, the population was estimated at 1.6 billion. Now, a century later, the number stands at over 6 billion. How could we have increased by 5 billion individuals, when it took 5,000 years for the population to reach just one billion? The answer is not surprising. Improved health care and lower infant mortality has increased a person’s average life expectancy to 66 years, more than double that of the early twentieth century. Famine is also becoming less and less common as the world is connected in a global trade network. Furthermore, the spread of illnesses has diminished with more and more people getting vaccinations for diseases like polio and meningitis. All these factors have resulted in lower death rates and increase life expectancies, which in turn have caused an almost straight-upward spike in the global population.

 Beijing, China (Source)

Effects of Overpopulation

The possible effects of human overpopulation growth are startling. Forecasts include the wiping out of ecosystems, overcrowding of the continents, increased famine, and shortages in water. These predictions boil down to the belief that Earth does not have enough resources to support further population growth. However, scientists estimate that it is possible for the planet’s farmland to support up to a hundred billion people, while still providing enough land for human habitation and the development of ecosystems. Therefore, the problem involved with population growth involves the amount of resources consumed. The United States has about one twenty-fifth of the global population, but we use more than 25% of the world’s energy. The phenomenal use of resources by first-world countries may result in further economic gaps between poverty-stricken countries, such as Uganda, and first-world countries like the United States. Earth has the capacity to sustain much greater numbers of people. However, humanity must take a close look at the way resources are used and consumed.