Overpopulation

Work written by: Beatriz Rocha nº4

Maria Francisca nº15
11ºA
Index

Introduction ............................................................................................................ 3
What is overpopulation? ....................................................................................... 3
Causes of overpopulation ....................................................................................... 3
Lack of education .................................................................................................... 3
Poor contraceptive usage ....................................................................................... 4
Decrease in mortality rate ....................................................................................... 4
Consequences/ effects of overpopulation ............................................................ 4
Environmental degradation ..................................................................................... 4
Extinction ................................................................................................................ 4
Water shortage ....................................................................................................... 4
Rise in unemployment............................................................................................. 4
Various health issues and higher risk of pandemics ............................................... 5
Solutions to overpopulation ................................................................................... 5
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 5
Webography ........................................................................................................... 6

2|Page
Introduction
With this work, we intend to talk about an environmental problem, overpopulation, and
its definition, causes, effects and some ethical and efficient ways to solve it.

What is overpopulation?
Nowadays the Earth is home to more than 8 billion people
and by 2100, the population is on track to hit 10.8 billion,
according to the United Nations (UN). Experts say this has
been the case every year since 1970, with each successive
year becoming more and more damaging. The number of
people who live in this planet has never been higher.
Overpopulation is a phenomenon in which
a species' population becomes larger than the carrying
capacity of its environment. In an overpopulated
environment, the number of people might be more than the
available essential materials for survival, such as transport,
water, shelter, food or social services.

Causes of overpopulation
To help temper this wildly unsustainable situation, we need to understand what is
contributing to overpopulation and overconsumption and how these factors are
affecting everything including climate change. Some of the causes are:
 Lack of education- The more educated a person is, the more aware they are
about family planning. The fertility rate in developed countries are lower than in
developing countries. Usually in developed countries, families tend to not rely
in their children to obtain financial stability. As so, the average family size is
small, with one or two children, and they have access to food and water,
education, contraception, basic health care and basic sanitation conditions.
Normally, in developing countries people are forced to create large families.
They tend to have many more children because there is no access to
contraception or knowledge about it and together it is easier to survive in difficult
weather conditions, work and get food. For example, according to statistics,
76% of British women between the ages of 16 and 49 use at least one type of
contraception, leaving 25% vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies. However,
according to Word Health Organization (WHO) study, this percentage reduced
to 43% in underdeveloped countries, which raises the birth rate.
 Poor contraceptive usage- Even though the global fertility rate has fallen, over
the past years, and the use of contraception has also increased, there are still
many countries (manly, developing countries) where contraception is not used.
For example, according to the WHO, an estimated 214 million women in
developing countries who want to avoid pregnancy are not using modern

3|Page
 contraceptives. These women are not using contraceptives due to a variety of
reasons such as social norms/standards, religious beliefs that discourage birth
controls, misconceptions about negative side effects, etc.
 Decrease in mortality rate- Over the past few decades, there has been
enormous improvement in medical science, which has caused a reduced
mortality rate, especially in infant’s mortality rate. This medical improvement
allows people to live for many years, saving people who were previously ill and
it also increases the survival rate among premature newborns, who have died
naturally under the same conditions. Even though the increase of the average
life expectancy is an honourable achievement, it affects the well-being of the
environment.
This are the most relevant causes of overpopulation, but there are so many more,
such as the growth in food production and agriculture advancements, child labour,
immigration, poverty, war, catastrophes and disasters, etc.

Consequences/ effects of overpopulation

The higher the population, the higher will be the demand for facilities and infrastructure
requested. More people means an increased demand for food, water, housing, energy,
healthcare, transportations, and more. All of that consumption leads to:
 Environmental degradation- The most obvious effect of overpopulation is the
impact on the environment. This includes global warming, depletion of natural
resources and reduction in the number of vital resources, spikes in pollution
and CO2 emissions, climate change and deforestation and decreased
biodiversity;
 Extinction- With the increase in population, the demand for shelter, agricultural
activities, construction, etc. has also increased and, sooner or later, this will
affect natural habitats and even the life of wildlife itself. Recent studies have
shown that, if this continues, almost 50% of wild species will be at risk of
extinction;
 Water shortage- Freshwater is the most fundamental finite resource with any
substitutes for drinking and other uses. Even though, about 70% of the earth’s
surface is covered with water, only 1 % of this water is drinkable and accessible.
Overpopulation is constantly creating an extreme pressure in water supplies.
According to the UN, by 2025, more than half of the world’s people will be facing
water-based issues, and human demand for water will account for 70% of all
available freshwater;
 Rise in unemployment- When a country becomes overpopulated, it gives rise
to unemployment, as there are fewer jobs to support a large number of people.
Overall, people will have the pressure to feed their families and provide basic
necessities. Therefore, unemployment may give rise to crimes, like theft;

4|Page
  Various health issues and higher risk of pandemics- Overpopulation,
especially in impoverished areas, is more likely to cause several health issues.
This happens due to the poor hygiene conditions, malnutrion and inadequate
healthcare services. High densities of population, also increases the chance of
the emergence of new pandemics and epidemics;
This are some of the effects that overpopulation has in our planet, but there are so
many more, such as Increasing living cost, Increase of intensive farming practices,
Conflicts and war and malnutrition, starvation and famine.

Solutions to overpopulation
Many small-minded people suggest, as an answer to solving overpopulation, that
some are the “right people” to be on the planet (themselves), and some are the “wrong
people” (usually people in poverty, people of colour, foreigners and so on). However,
there are no “right” or “wrong” people on the planet and each human being has a
legitimate claim on a sufficient and fair amount of Earth’s resources. As so,
overpopulation has no simple or at least simple and ethical solution. There are different
theories about how to handle this problem and different approaches. There are some
overpopulation solutions and things that we can do, nowadays, to support our planet:
 Increase of the level of education of the global population;
 Reduction of moral pressure from society, traditions and religion;
 Ecological approach to the use of natural resources;
 Making people aware of family planning;
 Knowledge of sex education;
 Access to contraceptives;
 Social marketing;
 Actively participate in reducing waste and pollution.

Conclusion
In conclusion, overpopulation is a tremendous threat to the environment, human
beings and overall nature. It creates a crisis that increases poverty, climate change
and global warming, pollution and many other environmental and social issues in the
world. Therefore, we need to start by alerting people of the consequences that this
problem brings to human race and environment, and by taking measures in order to
successfully resolve this issue.

5|Page
Webography

https://www.populationmedia.org/the-latest/overpopulation-cause-and-effect , 4th
November 2023
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation#Well_studied_species , 4th November
2023
https://www.issuesonline.co.uk/articles/what-is-
overpopulation#:~:text=Overpopulation%20is%20the%20state%20whereby,shelte
r%2C%20food%20or%20social%20amenities , in 4th November 2023
https://www.environmentalconsortium.org/why-overpopulation-is-a-problem-
causes-consequences-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/ , in 11th November 2023
https://www.earthreminder.com/human-overpopulation-problems-causes/, in 11th
November 2023
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-
overpopulation.php#8-lack-of-family-planning, in 11th November 2023
https://earthandhuman.org/overpopulation-causes-effects-solutions/, in 12th
November 2023
https://www.activesustainability.com/sustainable-development/causes-
consequences-overpopulation/?_adin=02021864894, in 12th November 2023
https://www.theworldcounts.com/populations/world/effects-of-overpopulation, in
12th November 2023
https://mindseteco.co/overpopulation-solutions/, in 12th November 2023
https://tomorrow.city/a/overpopulation-solutions, in 12th November 2023

6|Page