Question

Do you think the world is heading for a population explosion? why or why not? compare your thoughts on mathus, and anti-mathus perspective.

Answer 1

Human overpopulation or Population Explosion occurs when the ecological footprint of human population in a specific geographical location exceeds the carrying capacity of the place occupied by that group.

The term human overpopulation refers to the relationship between the entire human population and its environment: The Earth, or to smaller geographical areas such as countries.

Overpopulation can result from an increase in births, a decline in mortality rates, an increase in immigration, or an unsustainable biome and depletion of resources. It is possible for very sparsely populated areas to be overpopulated if the area has a meagre or non-existent capability to sustain life (e.g. a desert).

So, now since we have a basic understanding of the term Over-population or population explosion, let’s contemplate weather the world is heading towards a population explosion or not?

A few decades ago, we were warned that a human population explosion was about to engulf the world. Some people still warn that the total number of humans might grow to 30 or 40 billion by the end of this century. The current trend means we will reach an equilibrium around 9 billion people in about 2050. Which can be a worrisome situation.

According to the United Nations' World Population Prospects report:

• The world population is currently growing by approximately 74 million people per year.
• Almost all growth will take place in the less developed regions, where today's 5.3 billion population of underdeveloped countries is expected to increase to 7.8 billion in 2050
• During 2005–2050, nine countries are expected to account for half of the world's projected population increase: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh, Uganda, United States, Ethiopia, and China, listed according to the size of their contribution to population growth. China would be higher still in this list were it not for its one-child policy.

So, now we know some basic facts to ascertain or rather debate the real issue/question – ARE WE TOO MANY?

Answers generally fall into one of two ideologies:

Yes: We face a crisis of overpopulation

No: Overconsumption not overpopulation is the real crisis

I tend to agree with the first point that; Yes, we face a crisis of overpopulation. Because if it was only to do with Overconsumption, then it gets me thinking WHY? And the answer is that overconsumption is because of overpopulation and depletion of available resources. The reason population growth is levelling is because the world is finite. Human populations have expanded into every corner of the globe, swallowing land and converting it into food meant only to consumed by humans. I agree that consumption is the problem but it is most inextricably tied to population. Any species grows to meet its food supply.

Every day a billion people go hungry and as many as 2.7 billion people face water scarcity for at least one month every year, points out the WWF. Moreover, the fastest population growth is in areas least capable of managing it. Population growth “poses a bigger threat to poverty reduction in most African countries than HIV/AIDS,” declared the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) back in 2008.

More people will mean expanding farming and deforestation, which also increases the already colossal carbon footprint of agriculture, the biggest contributor to climate change. Scaling up the food system will be challenging due to denuded soils and climate change but also because agricultural land is being swallowed by expanding cities. With smaller populations we can have increasing living standards per head but less consumption, more space, better lives, smaller impacts on the planet, and more room for wildlife.

The rate of population growth in the recent past, and where that growth is believed to be headed, has signalled an alarm for the governments, universities, and agencies whose job it is to track this kind of information.

Even though humanity struggles to sustain its most vulnerable people, we are still consuming about 25% more renewable natural resources than the planet can reproduce. If population reaches 9 billion people by 2050, we will be using the biological capacity of two Earths, warns WWF.

SO EFFECTIVE POPULATION CONTROL MEASURES IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR.

Hope the aforementioned is free of any ambiguity and is useful to you.

Thanks