Faculty at the SUNY college of Environmental Science and Forestry ranked overpopulation as the biggest environmental problem the world faces today. Dr. Charles A. Hall an ecologist at the university, thinks that overpopulation is "the only problem with the environment." He thinks because of overpopulation we have things like starvation, deforestation, and global warming.
Dr. Hall is exactly right, all signs point to overpopulation as being a very bad thing. The continued growth and disregard for our planet is not the negative attitude we need to have. Things need to be done before it is too late, as with the Malthusian Growth Chart we do not want to reach our carrying capacity because then the population will begin to "stable out."
Overpopulation is not only a problem for the less developed countries with not enough food. The problems effect humans, animals, and mostly the environment. By 2050 India will surpass China as the biggest country in the world and is predicted to have 1.8 billion people. This sounds like a ticking time-bomb, as India starts to grow and develop as a nation they will have a much larger middle class. With a bigger middle class and more money to spend on not only food to survive but luxuries. They are going to "live the dream" and want bigger and better things which means more using renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Can we blame them? As Americans we have the largest ecological footprint of any nation. Surprisingly as much as damage to the environment and the atmosphere from our waste, the biggest concern is lack of fresh water, says Lawrence Smith president of the Population Institute. Smith says by 2050 there will be nearly 2.4 billion more people on the planet, and 97 percent of which is in developing countries, many of which do not have enough fresh water today.
Ishmael originally written in 1977 by Daniel Quinn tells all the ways humans are destroying the planet and are completely blind to the fact. He believes the biggest mistake made by mankind was the agricultural revolution and being able to grow unlimited amounts of food, and stay settled in one area. This led to the growth of populations and the ability to maintain a higher carry capacity. The problem is that with the use of this land and growing populations we are decreasing our carrying capacity, which is defined as the amount of species in a population which can be sustained with the given resources. Once carrying capacity is reached we will reach the breaking point, and our populations will begin to stable off, by means of nature such as starvation, war, and other natural tragedies.
The book has been turned into a novel since the original copy. Now is turned into a book about a student who learns how to have an "earnest desire to save the world" from a Silver Backed Gorilla, named Ishmael. He teaches the narrator about the balance of life, and how every animal has obeyed the rules of life until the humans. The humans came and believed they were better than the gods created them to be. This false belief is what is predetermined in everyone and that the earth was made for humans and is here to do what we please.
The main message in this article is weather or not people have the right to create life? China's one child policy, or the United Nations educating Africa about birth control and pregnancy prevention are both efforts in curbing the population growth. Well what about the people being controlled? Woman in China have fled the country in order to avoid forced abortion. On an individual scale no one wants to be told what to do, but if the parents can not provide for their families, then they should use pregnancy prevention. The chart was designed by Thomas Malthus about population sustainability and the carrying capacity. Carry capacity is defined as the maximum number of species that can be sustained in a given area.The factors which stabilize the economy are food sources stripped, endemics, and war. Which is true in nature but with advancements in technology we are able to provide for way more people than can be stable. This means that every year we consume resources we lower the maximum carrying capacity and at the same time continue to increase the population.
Dr. Goodall brings up a good point that population control seems to frighten people and cause them to look the other way, particularly because no one likes to be "controlled." She believes the problem of overpopulation lies within the developing nations, where they do not have the same access to food and resources that developed nations do. Also the culture of these third world nations has changed, whereas there used to be enough land to support generations of families now there are too many people to stay in one small area. So the answer is to move away or have smaller families.
I believe Dr.Goodall is right that the overpopulation directly affecting humans issue is most relevant in the developing nations. I also believe that lack of food is only one small aspect of overpopulation and is not the most important. When talking about global destruction; pollution, deforestation and global warming the developing nations are contributing less than a fraction of what wealthier nations are.
Abbott, Matt. "The Population Control Controversy." RenewAmerica. 2 June 2005. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
This article discusses the problems humans are facing due to over-population. How developed nations seem not to notice the problem nearly as much as the developing third world nations. The author seems to believe that over population isn’t as much as a problem as educating the less developed countries about birth control and keeping the population more stable.
The author of this article discusses all the negative things that come about because of overpopulation. First he states that only 3 percent of all the water on earth is fresh water, and majority of that water is trapped in polar ice caps. This means that the other 97 percent is salt water and the process of desalinization or making salt water fresh is a very expensive process, and has only been successful in Saudi Arabia. Next the author mentions that fresh water is needed in nearly every type of food production from agriculture and farming to feeding animals being raised for food production.
"Blessing the Animals." Interview by Alan Jones. Fora.tv. Fora.tv, 1 May 2002. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. .
Jane Goodall a well known primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist believes that the overpopulation issue is not only effecting the way humans live but also the environment and all types of life. She believes that saying controlling the population seems to scare people away because of the controlling aspect. Also that the problem is not so much in the developed wealthier nations, in fact Europe and the United States are experiencing a negative population growth. The problem lies within the developing nations that do not have the resources or money to provide for themselves or their families.
Hoevel, Ann. "Overpopulation Could Be People, Planet Problem - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Cable News Network. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. .
The author of this article starts by giving a statistic that by 2050, India’s population will surpass China making it the largest populated country. Also India is now in the process of becoming a developed country so by 2050 the country will have more wealth and fewer resources than ever. The author then quotes a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, "Nothing ever continues at its present rate, neither the stock market nor population growth." She believes that even as inhumane as it is to leave starving children, this is all part of the life cycle.
Hopkins, James. "Overpopulation: The Human Population Crisis." Cosmosmith Creations T-Shirts: Animal T-Shirts, Funny T-Shirts, Political T Shirts, Pirate T Shirts, Etc. Web. 03 May 2010. .
This article really focuses on the exponential growth rate of humans, since 1807 at 1 billion to nearly 7 billion today only 203 years later. His concern seems to be more about the growth of developed nations rather than third world and less developed nations. This is simply due to the fact that we consume much greater amounts of renewable and nonrenewable resources than the less fortunate countries. He believes we need to find a stable balance with nature otherwise we will end up destroying the human population and all of planet earth.
Overpopulation, Experts Say." ScienceDaily 20 April 2009. 13 April 2010 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090418075752.htm
Professors from the SUNY College of Environmental Forestry and Climate believe that overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue. They put it at the top because it ties to all other environmental problems. For example if there was no problem with overpopulation global warming would never be a concern.
Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. New York: Bantam/Turner Book, 1995. Print.
The book Ishmael won the fellowship award, created for books offering positive solutions to global problems.The book deals with the most challenging problems humans have ever faced, how to save the world from ourselves. Mr. Quinn believes that humankind made itself a deadly tyrant, trying to take over the planet from everything that got in its way. He believes we are on a crash course for destruction and pushing the gas pedal. He believes there is only so long we can delay the problems until they become too much for ourselves to handle.
Ryan, and Derek. "Effects of Overpopulation." Overpopulation in Africa. Web. 02 May 2010. .
These authors take a very stretched "what could happen" view of the effects of overpopulation. Still they should not be taken lightly because they do have truth behind their views. They explain that with overpopulation leads to greater unemployment rates and a continually decreasing economy. They also talk about the depletion of resources and the more that will be consumed by 2050 with almost 8 billion people on the planet.
"The Population Control Controversy." Sustainable Living Articles. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. .
This article brings up the question does anyone have the right to prevent others from creating life? The author believes the problem is in less developed countries that do not have access to birth control or other ways of preventing pregnancy. Also it is in these places that suffer the most from malnutrition and lack of food so curbing the population growth would help.
