Overpopulation of a species is the term used when the numbers of that species start to exceed the resources available to sustain them. This can be caused by an increase in the number of babies being born and also by the population living longer lives.
Modern medical advances mean that people in developed countries are now living much longer lives than in the past. There are around 80 million births each year globally and, together with lower death rates, this means that the human population has been growing by another billion people roughly every 12 years. This increase is dramatically faster than it was even 100 years ago (see table in next section).
As the number of people increases, so does the demand for food, water and other resources. Techniques developed to farm food and produce items that people want to use, from clothes and cars to computers, mean that the Earth’s resources are rapidly being used up. The harmful emissions produced by factories and vehicles cause environmental damage, such as climate change.
In a particular place, over population can also be caused by an influx of people forced into the area due to war, famine or other disasters making their previous home uninhabitable. Climate Change is causing an increase in the number of hurricanes and floods and is likely to cause many more people to become displaced in the future. Overcrowding leads to further demand for limited resources and this, in turn, can lead to more conflict and warfare.
As humans seek out more resources, they take over land that was once the habitat of other species leading to huge biodiversity loss. Present extinction rates may be as high as 140,000 species lost every year due to humans over fishing and taking over large areas of land (such as tropical rainforests) to use for farming food and fuel crops.
Sir David Attenborough has stated that the level of human population has a knock-on effect on all other environmental problems. In 2013, he called humanity "a plague on the Earth" and suggested that limiting population growth would be necessary to control it.
Human overpopulation (or human population overshoot
overshoot
In environmental science, a population "overshoots" its local carrying capacity — the capacity of the biome to feed and sustain that population — when that population has not only begun to outstrip its food supply in excess of regeneration, but actually shot past that point, setting up a potentially catastrophic crash ...
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Overshoot_(population)
Overcrowding leads to further demand for limited resources and this, in turn, can lead to more conflict and warfare. As humans seek out more resources, they take over land that was once the habitat of other species leading to huge biodiversity loss.
Good sex education programs and the implementation of family planning programs that enable access to contraception, reduces the number of unwanted children and, therefore, improves the lives of members of the family unit, allowing them to optimize their resources and avoid situations of poverty, hunger or disease.
The real threat of population collapse is from escalating environmental crises, disease, and conflict due to ecological overshoot, not from people choosing to have fewer children. In fact, it is precisely the trend towards lower fertility rates that presents a key way out of the mess we've created.
Based on this, the United Nations projects the world population, which is 7.8 billion as of 2020, to level out around 2100 at 10.9 billion with other models proposing similar stabilization before or after 2100.
What is the “ideal” population size? The question of what population size is environmentally sustainable has been addressed multiple times. While estimates have ranged from as low as 100 million, the most frequently occurring figure is 2-3 billion.
Although the U.S. is the third largest country in the world, it has a fairly low population density and in 2017, the U.S. birthrate was the lowest in thirty years, which is well below replacement level. Those upsides, however, are disappearing, particularly in larger metropolitan areas that are becoming overcrowded.
Overpopulated areas often face social and economic strains, which can contribute to the emergence of conflicts. High population densities exert pressure on infrastructure, housing, and public services, leading to inadequate access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities.
Population growth has declined mainly due to the abrupt decline in the global total fertility rate, from 5.3 in 1963 to 2.3 in 2021. The decline in the total fertility rate has occurred in every region of the world and is a result of a process known as demographic transition.
In 2024, the United States continues to face significant demographic challenges. Propelled by falling birth rates, the U.S. population is rapidly aging and steadily declining. In turn, the country is experiencing economic and social pressures caused by labor shortages.
The global fertility rate -- the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime -- fell from 4.84 in 1950 to 2.23 in 2021 and will continue to drop to 1.59 by 2100, according to a new study.
As the population continues to expand, there's an increased demand for resources like water, energy, and raw materials. Over time, these resources will become more scarce, leading to competition for access and potentially even causing conflict or price hikes.
Overpopulation causes a lot of problems. Reasons of overpopulation are poverty, increased birth rate, immigration, child labor, fertility treatments, and better medical facilities reduce death rates, lack of resources, etc.
What are the 5 effects of rapid population growth? The 5 effects of rapid population growth are increased economic growth of a country, growing demand for jobs, lack of housing and schools, lack of infrastructure leading to poor living, and increase in pollution and waste.
Rapid growth has led to uncontrolled urbanization, which has produced overcrowding, destitution, crime, pollution, and political turmoil. Rapid growth has outstripped increases in food production, and population pressure has led to the overuse of arable land and its destruction.
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