The Major Causes of the Problem of Overpopulation of the World

Categories: Economy Nature Overpopulation

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The main causes of population growth are social factors. This issue of population growth is like a vicious cycle that is very hard to deal with. Most of the countries in the world work so hard to improve their economy(Coale & Hoover, 1958). When the economy is improved this means that there will be better living standards for the people in that country.

When better living standards are achieved in a country, many people will make a decision to start having more children because they have the money to sustain them.

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With time this makes the population to grow. Better living standards also reduce the mortality rate hence more lives will be introduced but only a few will be dying (Coale & Hoover, 1958). In the more primitive countries, the main reason why population growth is rampant is because of the high levels of illiteracy. In these countries people overlook the advice they are given about planning their families because they are still caught up in the traditional way of living.

This problem mainly affects the African and Asian countries where people still believe in their traditional beliefs which may be a little bit backward. Most of these people give birth to too many children even if they do not have the means to feed them therefore adding to the level of poverty in the process. The growing technological advancements could also be behind the high levels of population growth in the past years. With better technology, the medical facilities are highly improved therefore leading to better medical treatment.

This has reduced the rate at which people die due to medical complications.

The rate of infant mortality has also reduced significantly because of this reason. About fifty years ago, the balance between birth and death was able to balance the rate of population growth but with the improvement in the technology this is no longer possible. The birth rate is now higher than the death rate. Overpopulation in certain places is also causes by immigration. Many people from the least developed countries move to the developed ones to get better living standards. Since people are moving from different parts of the world to these areas, this has made these places overcrowded. When people overcrowd in one area it becomes very hard to use the resources available in that area to feed them hence this can be termed as overpopulation. Overpopulation is no longer a national concern for many countries but a global concern because of the way it is affecting everyone in the world.

Some of the effects that are being experienced as a result of the high population growth rate are very serious that it has become necessary for the entire world to come together and device some effective ways in which they can help reduce this rate. Some of these effects are so serious that they could lead to the extinction of the human race in the coming centuries. The most serious effect that has been caused by the increasing rates of population growth is the depletion of natural resources. As the population grows, people continue to destroy natural resources so that they can have a place to stay. In order to get new places of settlement forests have to be destroyed.

This in turn has an effect on the environment because water catchment areas will be destroyed. According to a study, by the year 5252 fossil fuels will no longer be used as a source of energy because they will all be depleted (Cropper & Griffiths, 1994). Overpopulation is the main cause of most of the environmental damage that is being witnesses today. Environmental degradation has also been done as a result of the growing numbers of people. The overcrowded people overuse coal, natural gas and oil and this has led to the production of wastes that have some serious effects of the environment.

The rise in the number of industries and people using motor vehicles has increased the amount of carbon emissions which destroy the ozone layer. This in turn leads to global warming which is the main cause of the many environmental effects that people will have to live with(Cropper & Griffiths, 1994). Overpopulation also has some political effects. Due to the decreasing amount or resources, there has been a lot of tension between countries which are trying to compete for the few available resources (Loo, 1974). For instance there have been conflicts between various countries about borders because they want to compete for the few resources available within those borders.

These problems have also made it difficult for different countries to be able to control the spread of diseases. For instance in 2015 over a thousand people were killed by the Ebola virus in Africa because it was not easy to control how the people in the population interact with each other. Overpopulation has also made it very difficult for various leaders in different countries to control poverty in their territories (Loo, 1974). Due to the high population growth there has also been an increase in the levels of unemployment (Salop, 1979).

With the many people and the few job opportunities, it is hard for many people to secure a job in their country. Rise in unemployment also gives rise to crime levels thus increasing the insecurity cases. Without employment, people also lack the income they need to live a comfortable life therefore the standards of living are highly reduced. The prices of various commodities increase and therefore people require more resources to survive (Salop, 1979). It is hard to stop the population from growing completely but people can certainly do something to reduce the rate at which it is increasing. The people who are currently living also need to make it their individual responsibility to create a sustainable environment to guarantee the survival of the future generations.