Overpopulation destroying the environment Essay

â€Å"The destruction of the natural world we see across the globe today is ‘fallout’ from the human population explosion that has occurred over the course of the last 50 years. The world is at a critical juncture. While birth rates have fallen in many countries and regions, demographic momentum means we are now adding a record number of people to the world’s population every year. At current birth rates the population of the world will double in the next 50 years. If that happens, countless creatures already pushed to the edge, may pass into extinction. † The new century is marked by alarming environmental threats such water shortages, soil exhaustion, loss of forests, air and water pollution in many parts of the world. The challenge to developed countries is to raise the people’s standard of living without sacrificing the environment. Most developed economies currently consume resources much faster than they can regenerate. This is caused by rapid population growth. The bigger the population is, the bigger the demand for food and water. It was also noted that the more populous the place is, the more waste is produced. The exponential growth in the earth’s population as well as the associated developments resulted in the overcrowding of vulnerable areas thus the occurrence of extreme natural disasters. In many countries the number of births is more than the number of deaths causing overpopulation. Environment is getting worse in the last decade over 12 million people each year were killed due to unclean water and nearly 3 million were killed due to air pollution. Heavy metals and other contaminants also cause widespread health problems. According to studies conducted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the food supplies produced are no longer enough to meet the need in 64 countries. Population pressures have degraded some 2 billion hectares of arable land — an area the size of Canada and the U. S. The supply of freshwater is finite, but demand is soaring as population grows. By 2025, when world population is projected to be 8 billion, 48 countries containing 3 billion people will face shortages. Currently, 434 million people face either water stress or scarcity. Depending on future rates of population growth, between 2. 6 billion and 3. billion people may be living in either water-scarce or water-stressed conditions by 2025. For tens of millions of people in the Middle East and in much of Africa today, the lack of available fresh water is a chronic concern that is growing more acute and more widespread. The problem is worse than it often appears on the ground, because much of the fresh water now used in water-scarce regions comes from deep aquifers that are not being refreshed by the natural water cycle. In most of the countries where water shortage is severe and worsening, high rates of population growth exacerbate the declining availability of renewable fresh water. While 25 countries currently experience either water stress or scarcity, between 36 and 40 countries are projected to face similar conditions by 2025 Ocean fisheries are being overexploited, and fish catches are down due to high population densities and urban development. Nearly half of the world’s original forest cover has been lost, and each year another 16 million hectares are cut, bulldozed, or burned. Forests provide over US$400 billion to the world economy annually and are vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems. Yet, current demand for forest products may exceed the limit of sustainable consumption by 25%. Human activities are pushing many thousands of plant and animal species into extinction. Two of every three species is estimated to be in decline. The earth’s surface is warming due to greenhouse gas emissions, largely from burning fossil fuels. If the global temperature rises as projected, sea levels would rise by several meters, causing widespread flooding as seen in the last few years in different parts of the world especially Asia. Global warming also could cause droughts and disrupt agriculture. How people preserve or abuse the environment could largely determine whether living standards improve or deteriorate. Growing human numbers, urban expansion, and resource exploitation do not bode well for the future. Without practicing sustainable development, humanity faces a deteriorating environment and may even invite ecological disaster. Many steps toward sustainability can be taken today. These include: using energy more efficiently, managing cities better, phasing out subsidies that encourage waste but the best way to sustainability is to stabilize the population. Environmentalists and economists increasingly agree that efforts to protect the environment and to achieve better living standards can be closely linked and are mutually reinforcing. Slowing the increase in population, especially in the face of rising per capita demand for natural resources, can take pressure off the environment and buy time to improve living standards on a sustainable basis. Changes in population size, age, and distribution affect issues ranging from food security to climate change. Population variables interact with consumption patterns, technologies, and political and economic structures to influence environmental change. This interaction helps explain why environmental conditions can deteriorate even as the growth of population slows. Despite slowing growth, world population still gains nearly 80 million people each year, parceling land, fresh water, and other finite resources among more people. A new Germany is added annually, a new Los Angeles monthly. How this increase in population size affects specific environmental problems is impossible to say precisely. Too many factors interact, and much depends on the time frame under consideration. Obviously, trends such as the loss of half of the planet’s forests, the depletion of most of its major fisheries, and the alteration of its atmosphere and climate are closely related to the fact that human population expanded from mere millions in prehistoric times to nearly 6 billion today. There is an urgent call today to stabilize population in order to make sure that the generation after us will have enough to sustain them. We need to do everything in our power to conserve energy and resources. Overpopulation has a tremendous environmental impact caused by high consumption levels, environmental destruction, and poverty.