Over population Essay Example for Free

Over population Essay â€Å"Whether we accept it or not, this will likely be the century that determines what the optimal human population is for our planet. It will come about in one of two ways: Either we decide to manage our own numbers, to avoid a collision of every line on civilization’s graph – or nature will do it for us, in the form of famines, thirst, climate chaos, crashing ecosystems, opportunistic disease and wars over dwindling resources that finally cut us down to size† – Alan Weisman A striking quote, if I may say so myself. It embraces and implies in one whole thought the problem of a majority of the countries all over the world are currently facing, the same problem our country has; overpopulation. First and foremost, what exactly does the term â€Å"overpopulation† mean? What does it refer to? Can it be stereotyped as something bad or is it actually a good thing? Arbitrarily speaking, like all other things, overpopulation has its pros and cons. According to the Merriam-webster dictionary overpopulation is â€Å"the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life or a population crash† whereas according to Wikipedia, â€Å"overpopulation occurs when a population of species exceeds the carrying capacity of its ecological niche. It is a function of the number of individuals compared to the relevant resources such as, the water and essential nutrients they need to survive which can result from an increase in births, a decline in mortality rates, an increase in immigration or an unsustainable biome and depletion of resources. † Note that the prefix over applied to other word case scenarios indicate more than desirable, this may also be applied to the word overpopulation. According to Casey B. Mulligan’s article, â€Å"The More the Merrier: Population Growth Promotes Innovation† she focuses on the conclusion that population growth should not be controlled in order to combat global warming, and other world problems since other economists ignore the significant economic benefits of large populations thus implicating that overpopulation is not a burden for a country but more or less an advantage. She justifies her point by quoting the director general of UNICEF, â€Å"Family planning could bring more benefits to more people at less cost than any other single technology now available to the human race† which strongly accentuates her belief that the larger the population, the more viable advantages it brings. One of the benefits of reduced population, it is claimed, is reduced carbon emissions and therefore mitigation of climate change. This statement takes technology for granted, yet technology itself depends on population. The more people on earth, the greater the chance that one of them has an idea of how to improve alternative energy or how to mitigate the climate effects of carbon emissions. It takes only one person to have an idea that can benefit many which focuses on appeal for innovation but this may only happen when the people in said community are encouraged to become responsible and productive. Many scientists agree that the human population is quickly reaching the point at which the planet will be unable to sustain it. This growth has placed a huge strain on the planets finite resources and done serious economic damage to nations all over the world, but some people, aside from Casey B. Mulligan, believe that there are a few advantages to having an ever-growing worldwide population. Among the other advantages or benefits of overpopulation is (1) increased labour forces resulting to increase in produced goods and services thus providing an economic boost, (2) more minds or ideas that will generate greater technologies in the future and (3) increased military might. But, are these advantages enough to encourage overpopulation to just continue as it is now? There are a lot of questions and controversies linked to the fast growing issues about the population with both the Catholic Church and our government officials going on about the pros and cons we now face because of ever growing population. Recently, news about the RH Bill created a public uproar but what exactly is the RH Bill all about? The Reproductive Health bill, popularly known as the RH bill, aims to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care with a goal to help people prepare and widen up each and every individual’s mind setting about our society in all its modernized glory. There has been a debate on its proposal that we, as taxpayers, along with various private sectors will fund and undertake widespread distribution of family planning devices such as birth control pills and IUDs which the Catholic Church strongly opposes against usage since it goes against the unwritten law of life. Hence, usage of these controversial pills is considered an immoral crime. Whereas, the Government reasons that the Philippines is in dire need of this bill since overpopulation is unhealthy for a country like ours. Overpopulation manifests growth. Growth may either be good or bad but for a majority of the public, growth in terms of the human population, is bad. People have been brainwashed into believing that all growth, unless it pertains to cancer, is unquestionably a good thing. But let’s really dwell and think about this cautiously. Would we want our population to grow until people standing in a mall end up shoulder to shoulder? Would you want that? I wouldn’t want that! That itself is an indication that we’ve recognized that the population growth must stop at some point, and not just slow down, either. Though most scientists and researchers argue that global warming is the big thing to worry about, they have completely neglected the root cause. At this point in time, it doesn’t even matter if humans are responsible for global warming even if we are so clearly the cause of the events unfolding right now. Too many mouths to feed and less natural resources on hand can have a devastating effect on the economy. Our country faces the problem of overpopulation and we are subject to disadvantages such as (1) more mouths to feed, (2) lowered standard of living, (3) increased problems pertaining to poverty, (4) overcrowded public areas, (5) sickness and spreading of diseases, (6) insufficient natural resources to provide adequate goods and services, (7) inadequate facilities such as housing, medical etc. Problem of starvation and malnourished population, (9) education facilities may not meet the requirements of the entire population, (10) unemployment, (11) higher crime rate due to unequal distribution of wealth and insufficient financial resources, (12) environmental pollution, trees are felled to make space for housing facilities, (13) agricultural production is insufficient to meet the requirements of the entire population, which results in higher prices, (14) money is diverted to ensure that the population is fed, rather than carrying out fundamental research, (15) lower life expectancy, (16) large number of people live in unhygienic conditions, (18) heightened birth rate and so much more. The list goes on! All the world leaders are concerned about how to feed, clothe, and supply water and energy to the growing multitudes but all these efforts will prove futile if world population continues to grow. We live on a finite planet. Growth will simply overwhelm the attempted remedies. The effects have been stated but what exactly are the causes of overpopulation? Some of the causes of overpopulation are as follows: Decline in death rate: the fall in death rates that is also known as decline in mortality rate is one of the fundamental causes of overpopulation. Owing to the advancements in medicine, man has found cures to the previously fatal diseases. This has resulted in an increase in population. Rise in birth rate: thanks to the new discoveries in nutritional science, we have been able to bring in increase in the fertility rates of human beings. Medicines of today can boost the reproductive rate in human beings. There are medicines and treatments which help in terms of conception. Thus, science in one way or another has led to an increase in birth rate. Migration: Immigration is a problem in some parts of the world. If the inhabitants of various countries migrate to a particular part of the world and settle over there, the area is bound to suffer from the ill effects of overpopulation. If the rates of emigration from a certain nation do not match the rates of immigration to that country, overpopulation is therefore present creating an imbalance in the density of the population. Lack of education: illiteracy is another important cause of overpopulation. Those lacking education fail to understand the need to prevent excessive growth of population. They are unable to understand the harmful effects that overpopulation emits. They are unaware of the ways to control population. Lack of family planning is commonly seen in the illiterate areas of the world which constitutes as a major factor leading to overpopulation. So, does our planet benefit from overpopulation or does it cause more harm than it does good? Once again, we are left to contemplate and ponder whether overpopulation can be considered a plausible advantage or a disadvantage. Taking into careful consideration the growth of the population in the Philippines which is expected to reach a hundred million this year putting a strain on the country’s resources, the Commission on Population (Pop-Com) said. â€Å"Definitely in the third or fourth quarter of this year, we will be more than 100 million,† Pop-Com executive director Juan Antonio Perez III told The STAR in a recent interview. In 2014, the National Statistical Coordination Board estimated the country’s population to be around 97. 35 million. Studies show that over a period of time, the increase of population slowly increases but in the span of 30 years, we could probably hit over a billion in number. And if that isn’t alarming, I don’t know what is! Viewing the issue of increasing population optimistically, one may say that overpopulation means the increase in human resources. This may be true but we cannot ignore the fact that the increase in the number of producers implies an increase in the number of consumers. Greater number of people requires a greater number of resources which our nation is not capable of providing at the very moment. The Philippines as slow progressing country must acknowledge that the Earth has finite resources. Our current population increases and economic growth mentality bear all the hallmarks of a country still locked into colonial thinking. Population and personal consumption are two sides of the same coin. The logical conclusion is that we can’t keep consuming these resources indefinitely, either through increasing per capita consumption or the number of us consuming. And yet, how we balance two options remains a subject of contention. This is where consumption and sustainability play a role. The population issue is fraught with moral positions, confusion and unexpected connections. We cannot talk about population growth without also discussing decline; or immigration, without climate and business; or contraception, without faith and medical technology. It is the mother of cross-cutting issues – at the intersection of economics, environment, gender roles, culture, politics and religion. The population question is about the possibility and necessity of balancing the needs of nature and human civilization and this must take place as soon as possible before what we dread happens, depletion and insufficiency of our environmental resources. The worst enemy of life is too much life, the excess of human life. But think again will life kill life or we just need to think how life can help other life even in the edge of overpopulation. You cannot stop overpopulation you need to maintain it or accept it make it an advantage even everybody thinks it is a disadvantage, nobody really know what overpopulation can bring let just help each other to make this overpopulation an advantage.