Overpopulation

According to Overpopulation.org, one third of the population growth in the world is a result of unwanted or incidental pregnancies. Every year, 80 million unintended pregnancies occur in developing countries. Growth is most rapid in the 49 least developed countries. Calculations have shown that their population is going to double in size from ≈ 900 million inhabitants in 2013 to 1.8 billion in 2015. In the year 2050, the US Census Bureau predicts that the world population would reach 9.2 billion. Each day, the world population increases by 200,000 people. In any country, it takes 70 years for the population to double at a growth rate of 1% per year. Overpopulation is a big issue if not tackled effectively.

A region is considered to be overpopulated if there is not enough farmland/grazing land to feed everyone. Overpopulation can be a cycle. When people are poor, they have to spend all their money on food. This results in being unable to afford an education or medical care for their children. When children are unable to have an education, especially girls, they tend to marry earlier and have more children because the families want to have less mouths to feed. High infant mortality rate leads to having women believe that they need to have more children as insurance. However, overpopulation may have somewhat of a benefit. If there is a large number of young people entering the labor market, it can boost the economy. But, there needs to be jobs available for these young people. If they are educated, it improves the chances of boosting the economy.

Overpopulation will lead to not having enough basic resources. These basic resources include food, water shortages, air quality, fuel, the ozone layer, and the earth's topsoil. One out of 7 people go to bed hungry every night. 25,000 people die of hunger-related issues every day. Food production and distribution could catch up if our population dropped to a sustainable level. Around 1 billion people lack the access to water for consumption, sanitation, and agriculture. Lung-related problems have risen dramatically due to air pollution. As more and more people have to travel many miles to gather some sort of fuel (wood, oil, etc.) for cooking and heating, it increases their vulnerability to hardship and danger. The ozone layer no longer protects us as well from the UV rays from the sun. Lastly, the earth's topsoil has limits. Growing excessive amounts of food is depleting the 6 inches of topsoil rapidly.

Overpopulation would also lead to social problems, such as overcrowding. In an experiment on Norway rats, rats were put in overcrowded cages. Many of them suffered physical and behavioral problems. Scientists think that if this type of situation happened to humans, it would affect us just as badly. Conflicts and wars are another problem, as lack of hope for the future due to their living situation combined with low self esteem can result in violence.

Speaking of crowded cages, in Hong Kong, tens of thousands people have been living in "bird cage" homes. These small homes are 6 feet by 2 feet. It is pretty much like a wire cage, being made out of wire mesh. Each little cubicle has its own rent. They are stacked on two levels - $775 for a cubicle on the upper deck and $1160 for the lower bunk because the lower bunk barely allows the occupant to stand upright. However, this depends on the type of apartment they live in. Some have 3 levels. Chung lives in a 625 square feet flat with 18 strangers. They all share a common bathroom and kitchen. Chung complains that temperatures oftentimes reaches to 34°C.


Sites Used:
http://www.overpopulation.org/faq.html
http://howmany.org/environmental_and_social_ills.php
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084971/Hong-Kongs-cage-homes-Tens-thousands-living-6ft-2ft-rabbit-hutches.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/28/cage.homes/index.html?iref=24hours