I’m an environmentalist. If you ask me or any expert in the field what the top 10 threats to the planet are, numbers one through nine will be overpopulation with number 10 being everything else. The daily birth rates of humans are more than doubling daily death rates. Our world population is currently about 7.5 billion people and it is rapidly growing.
I currently reside in Buffalo, NY. I live in a suburban neighborhood with a fairly large backyard, access to clean water, a surplus of food, a good education system, and overall a high standard of living. Life is good here. However, this is not the norm in some places.
So lets talk about the effects of overpopulation. Like I said before, it is the biggest threat to our planet. But why?
1. It all boils down to the 3 P's: Population, poverty and pollution.
Too many people in one area leads to extreme poverty. The more people there are, the more demand for products and essential resources such as water and food. The more resources exploited--the more pollution there is. Another consequence of many people in one area means that there will be less available jobs. A lack of jobs leads to heightened unemployment. Unemployment leads to starvation and homelessness. This leads to a lack of infrastructure- which ultimately leads to pollution. With no sufficient water treatment facilities or sufficient ways to dispose of waste, evidence supports the claim that overpopulation leads to poverty, and poverty leads to more pollution.
2. For all of you skeptics out there, climate change is happening.
The ice caps are not only melting, but they are not regenerating themselves. Sea levels are rising. Weather is becoming more extreme, and global CO2
levels are at an all time high. This is due to human activity. The more fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) burned, the more greenhouse gasses emitted and the higher the CO2 levels. I could write a book about the horrible things that will result if we continue to live the way we do. The more people there are, the more fossil fuels are burned, the more trouble our planet is in.
3. Many scientists currently consider our planet to be undergoing its sixth mass extinction.
That's right, we're currently experiencing the most rapid species extinction since the dinosaurs walked our planet roughly 65 million years ago. Overpopulation is creating more need for human space and less room for wildlife. This also leads to animals encroaching into cities, which has led to more human-animal conflict. If you're unsure of why species diversity is important, watch this video.
This only scratches the surface of the problems that humans have caused for our planet. So what can you do to help? You can educate the general public. The more people understand the effects that having multiple children can have on the planet, the more likely people will begin family planning. You can also do your part to reduce your carbon footprint. Simple things such as riding your bike instead of driving, drinking from the tap if you have access to clean water, and eating locally grown foods can all have a major impact on the health of our planet. You can also always invest in animal conservation or environmental protection programs if you have the money.
One thing to remember is to always have hope. As scary as these crises are, there are people, such as myself, that are fighting every single day to save the world and all its creatures. Next time you have the option to ride your bike or drive, I hope you choose the bike.
