Overpopulation+2

=__Overpopulation of Humans__=

By David Hsiao
The world population has been steadily rising in an exponential fashion ever since the existence of man. It took over three million years to achieve a population of one billion people. Such a massive and still increasing population, combined with the environmentally detrimental repercussions of industrialization (as a result of the need to sustain such a large population), namely pollution from fossil fuels, has begun to take a serious toll on our planet’s ecosystem. Moreover, “some scientists have calculated that an optimal human population on earth in terms of reasonable living standards is no more than 2 billion people.” (Southwick, pp. 161.) Already, we are well over this “optimal” population level at more than 6 billion people with projections of growing by another 2 to 4 billion in this century. Still, with the advent of modern technologies, primarily in the areas of medicine and agriculture, humans “have effectively increased the size of the globe over the last two centuries, in terms of the maximum population which it will support.” Nonetheless, in spite of such improvements in technological efficiency and capability, the fact remains that one in five people worldwide lives malnourished and without adequate housing. Equally important, and especially pertaining to the topic at hand, is the notion that such overpopulation, in conjunction with industrialization on a global scale, has led to increased emissions of harmful pollutants, some of which can cause ozone depletion and global warming.


 * __Graph of Human Population Growth from 0 A.D. to projected 2200.__**

=__Effects of Overpopulation__=
 * **Public health:** Unclean water, along with poor sanitation, kills over 12 million people each year, most in developing countries. Air pollution kills nearly 3 million more. Heavy metals and other contaminants also cause widespread health problems.
 * **Food supply:** In 64 of 105 developing countries studied by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the population has been growing faster than food supplies. Population pressures have degraded some 2 billion hectares of arable land -- an area the size of Canada and the U.S.
 * **Freshwater:** The supply of freshwater is finite, but demand is soaring as population grows and use per capita rises. By 2025, when world population is projected to be 8 billion, 48 countries containing 3 billion people will face shortages.
 * **Coastlines and oceans:** Half of all coastal ecosystems are pressured by high population densities and urban development. A tide of pollution is rising in the world's seas. Ocean fisheries are being overexploited, and fish catches are down.
 * **Forests:** 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%.
 * **Biodiversity:** The earth's biological diversity is crucial to the continued vitality of agriculture and medicine -- and perhaps even to life on earth itself. Yet human activities are pushing many thousands of plant and animal species into extinction. Two of every three species is estimated to be in decline.
 * **Global climate change:** 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. Global warming also could cause droughts and disrupt agriculture.

=__Possible Solutions__=

We should: On the population front, that means:
 * continue to strive to reduce suffering by combating disease and poverty around the world;
 * continue to improve resource efficiency and pollution control so that standards of living can rise without negative impact; and
 * keep human population to numbers that are sustainable.
 * making sure people around the world have access to family planning services;
 * empowering women in developing countries economically, socially, and legally in a manner that results in them having an equal say (with their husbands) in reproductive decisions;
 * modifying school curricula to include information on population levels and implications for the future;
 * reforming tax laws in a way that encourages couples to have no more than two children. (They would still be able to have as many kids as they want, but the tax code would no longer subsidize more than two.)