Thesis on "Human Population"

Thesis 6 pages (2053 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Human Population

World Overpopulation: The Rights of Humans vs. The Rights of Nature

Plan for Sustainability

Throughout history, different attitudes about the ideal interaction between humans and the earth have been standard. Traditionally, the biblical view that humans were dominant over the land drove many to believing the world was simply humankind's empty canvas. Throughout the middle ages, science began to move from an elementary to a more sophisticated state, and planetary and moon movements began to be documented accurately for the first time. Perhaps this first glimpse at the ability of humankind to explore nature using science shifted the thinking a bit, suggesting that nature could be observed by humankind, but not necessarily dominated. The industrial revolutions throughout Europe and the United States, however, debunk this theory, as humans began to harness nature and machinery in order to move into a new realm of production and technology. Of course, the giddy innovators during the industrial revolution, and thier opponents, were more concerned with profits, child labor, working conditions, and other human issues than the revolution's affect on nature. Only years later, however, would industry be blamed for so many of the planet's environmental problems. Humans, of course, were blamed too, not only for their production, waste, and other harmful actions, but also for their very existence, their overuse of natural resources. Thus, overpopulation has entered the classification of environmental problems. Through a detailed explanation of overpopulation, contributors and creators of the problem, effects, and ways to achieve sustainability, this paper will present a comprehensive overview of the issue of human overpopulation, why it is a problem, and what can be done to solve it.

Detailed Explanation of the Problem

According to Negative Population Growth (2008), an overpopulation advocacy group, overpopulation is defined as happening "when an area is populated too heavily for the available resources and the capacity of the environment." Negative Population Growth (2008) also states that overpopulation occurs when the human population uses nonrenewable resources to the point where they can no longer support future generations. Thus, overpopulation can occur at both a local and a global level. Historically, nomadic tribes operated on a principal of overpopulation, moving to a new area when their numbers threatened to deplete resources. Today, transportation and technology make exporting and importing so easy that areas traditionally unable to sustain much life can now become viable. Still, overpopulation can still become a problem on both a national and global level as humans begin to use more and more resources that the earth cannot quickly replenish.

According to Negative Population Growth (2008), overpopulation is both a problem in the United States and the in the world. While World Population Awareness, another advocacy group, argues that an increasing population is augmented by a decrease in global sustainable land, they do not debate that increasing human population is also to blame. The advocacy group argues that increasing deserts and rising sea levels have been shoving increasing populations into a smaller area of available land worldwide ("Why Population Matters" 2008). The increasing amount of unsustainable land is affecting many third world countries and other areas filled with the impoverished. World Population Awareness lists China, Tunisia, Mexico, Morocco and others among the list of those countries that are suffering sustainable land loss because of natural changes ("Why Population Matters" 2008). Although the decreasing land certain is increasing the population problem, it is far from causing them. Growing population is certainly a problem, and some groups argue that it is a most severe problem in the United States. While environmental advocates have continued to focus on energy usage, emissions, and waste in the United States, the World Population advocacy organization argues that "the trend...to reduce personal resource consumption" is not enough. Instead, the United States population, because of its massive use of energy, must decrease ("Why Population Matters" 2008). Negative Population Growth (2008) agrees, stating that the United States has grown by 83% in the last 50 years, and future projections of population in the United States are in the 400 millions. Because the issue of overpopulation affects many customs, religious beliefs, and cultural practices, Negative Population Growth (2008) argues that these problems must be "solved at the national level," citing the complexity of global awareness and legislation regarding the issue.

Thus, global overpopulation is a problem for both the environment and the human population. For the environment, more people mean more energy usage, more waste, more emissions, etc. Although personal energy and waste reduction has been both the norm and the primary environmental media campaign for several years, it is not enough to make a large enough dent in the issue. Thus, some environmentalist suggest that population control is the only way to insure that the world can continue to not only support a healthy environment but also the world's future generations. Some issues that must be considered when evaluating this information are emissions and global warming, food production, and available land, among others. Although global overpopulation is, by name, a worldwide problem, some suggest that the United States is the way to start combating the problem. This information is based both on the fact that the United States is one of the more industrialized countries, causing the most harm, and on the realization that global overpopulation is a difficult issue to attack across cultures and countries. Although it is a problem in need of much further research, environmentalists can agree that world overpopulation is a problem, and that sometimes must be done.

Contributors and Creators of the Problem

If the creation of global overpopulation could be summed up in a single word, that word would be fertility. Of course, the answer to this international and cross-national problem is not as easy as asking families to stop having children. Furthermore, in individual nations, immigration is also a cause of overpopulation. As has always been the case, the rights and needs of the environment must be balanced with the rights and needs of humans. In the case of immigration, some are afraid that anti-immigration attitudes are racist or against the immigrant's rights to pursuing their happiness. Furthermore, procreation is a right of all women. Many reproductive rights seminars, laws, and court cases, such as Roe vs. Wade, have certainly established that women have the right to decide whether or not they will bear children. Thus, determining the exact cause of overpopulation is necessary. In other words, what kind of fertility causes overpopulation?

Some argue that unwanted pregnancies are the cause of this trend. Not only do unwanted pregnancies place a burden on the families, these scholars would argue, but also they are a leading cause of overpopulation. Khousary (nd) states, "there seems to be an inverse correlation between a community's economic prosperity and the number of children." Because education is often associated with economic growth, this information seems to suggest that a higher degree of education decreases overpopulation while those without education are more likely to have unwanted pregnancies. In other words, these scholars may suggest that world overpopulation is being fueled by the poor and uneducated who do not want children, but find themselves burdened by them. Why these people have more children, however, can possibly be explained by their lack of education. They may not have been taught about sexuality, birth control, family planning, or they may have been taught that addressing such matters is socially ore religiously unacceptable. In addition, access to birth control and attitudes about birth control may also contribute the level of unwanted pregnancies, as might sex education and information about family planning. Thus, those without access or with negative attitudes toward family planning and birth control are probably more likely to have more children than those who have been educated about family planning and have come to the education session with an open mind.

Thus, the obvious cause of overpopulation is increased fertility, but a multitude of contributors lead to that increased fertility. These include illiteracy, economic status, and access to education; birth control, family planning, sex education, and attitudes about this topic; and cultural and religious beliefs.

Effects

The effects of overpopulation are twofold. First, overpopulation affects both today's human population and the human population of the future. Second, overpopulation affects the environment. These issues are intertwined because environmental sustainability is what determines human viability. Thus, they will be treated as such in this explanation. Because of increased usage, the peak oil problem is exacerbated by increasing population. According to Duncan and Youngquist (2005), oil will not be produced in sufficient amount after 2040, based on the current rate of usage. Because oil is so necessary for today's world, this will drastically affect human life. Although oil is probably the most popularized, overpopulation also drains other resources, such as water, food, and trees ("Sustainability, Carrying Capacity, and Overcompensation" 2008). According to the World Population Awareness Organization, these conditions lead to human social problems, including "poverty, disease, malnutrition and often death" ("Sustainability, Carrying Capacity, and Overcompensation" 2008). Furthermore, the organization suggests… READ MORE

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