There are 6 billion human beings on the face of the Earth. According to our best estimates, there are somewhere between three and seven times more people than this planet can possibly maintain over a long period of time. Non-renewable resources are being used at an incredible rate, and we are destroying the capability of the planetary ecosystem to renew the supply of renewable resources. The worse however is yet to come. We need to realize the necessity of a population plan which will make our future more optimistic.
This plan must be based on the fact that the control of the rapid population growth is necessary globally; otherwise, earth’s environment will be put into greater danger, the overexploitation of natural resources will continue and poverty will rise in most of the world’s countries. Rapid population growth is a huge threat to the environment. We consume materials and energy from earth and then return heat and wastes to earth, but the environment can only handle so much waste before serious effects on humans are seen.
As human numbers increase, deterioration of water quality and destruction of animal and plant communities increase too. The serious effects of population growth apply even on the protected locations of this planet. Rapid expansion of human numbers also causes overexploitation of natural resources and provides pressure on food supplies. As a result it will not be long until we observe a remarkable decline in our living standards. Land, forest and water are some the vital resources that are threatened by enlargement of population density.
Because population growth has expanded greatly over the last 500 years, as larger numbers of people needed more food supplies and commodities from natural resources and agricultural activities, more and more people occupied bigger land spaces in urban areas. Population growth in today’s world, therefore, plays a vital role to changes in the land. Growing need for food supplies and commodities contributed to the growth of croplands all over the world and to the consumption of natural resources.
Globally, population growth is mainly responsible for land pressures. Forests–one of the greatest natural resources–have also experienced major damage due to immense population growth. As a result of the rapid human fertility, forests have been transformed into either agricultural lands or open areas in which villages and cities now exist in order to sustain the urban population. Apart from land and forest, population growth has applied pressure in resources of water.
Population growth has as a result the decrease of fresh water resources; humans apply pressure on water quantity through water needs for urvival, hygiene and agriculture. Another serious concern is the worldwide loss of cropland due to population expansion. As human numbers continue to rise, they create needs for land for purposes other than the production of food. Among these are urbanization and transportation. Each of these sectors claims cropland in almost every country. Poverty is another factor greatly influenced by rapid growth of human numbers.
High fertility leading to a rapidly growing population increases the umber of people living in poverty and at least in some cases can make the escape from poverty more difficult. Considering all the above information, we must understand that population growth is indeed a huge threat to our lives and our planet. We must be informed and we must take proper action. Through proper education, family planning, country policies and support of scientific research population density can be successfully controlled and our future will seem more prosperous.