Over Population: Effects and Causes

- Shivani Sangwan

“Fertility, the report declares, has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries: today, two-thirds of the global population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is below 2.1 births per woman, roughly the level required for zero growth in the long run, for a population with low mortality.”

Conversations about overpopulation can quickly become controversial because they beg the question: Who exactly is the cause of the problem and what, if anything, should be done about it? Many population experts worry discussions around overpopulation will be abused by small-minded people to suggest some are the “right people” to be on the planet (like themselves), and some people are “the wrong people” (usually people in poverty, people of color, foreigners, and so on—you get the drift). But there are no “right” or “wrong” people on the planet, and discussing the problems of global overpopulation can never be an excuse, or in any way provide a platform, for having that type of conversation.

Population explosion refers to the rapid increase in the size of population of any species in the natural environment. The species of animals or human beings depend on the resources for their survival. Increase in the count of the species in the environment creates a demand for the resources and critically affects its survival. Human beings are the most evolved and dominant biological species who consume the resources more than any other species living in this nature. Unabated increase in human population will have serious effects on the natural environment. The United Nations projection for rise in human population (2019) says that the continuous rise of world’s population could reach its peak around the end of this century. The growth rate is slower compared to the population growth rate in 1950s. However, the rate of population growth is not consistent throughout the world or even in India across the different regions of the country. Some countries are showing reduction in the present population growth as compared to the last decades. The report says that more than 61% of the world’s population lives in the Asian and African nations. China and India are the two countries leading the population chart with more than 1 billion people, which are approximately 19% and 18% of the world’s population respectively. The report warns that India’s growth rate is in a critical state, and with the current trend of population growth, India is projected to overtake China as the most populous nation in the world by 2027. This will become a real challenge for India since the increase in population will put strain on its natural resources and land use patterns thereby impeding the measures to eradicate the social evils like poverty, income inequality, hunger, health and educational gap between different classes of people.

Today the Earth is home to over 8 billion people. By 2100 the population is on track to hit 10.8 billion, according to the United Nations — and that’s assuming steady fertility declines in many countries. Interestingly, if extra progress is made in women’s reproductive self-determination, and fertility falls more than the United Nations assumes is likely, the population in 2100 might be a relatively smaller 7.3 billion.

For now, the world’s population is still increasing in huge annual increments (about 80 million per year), and our supply of vital non-renewable resources are being exhausted. Many factors contribute to these unsustainable trends, including falling mortality rates, underutilized contraception, and a lack of education for girls.

MORTALITY RATES

The primary (and perhaps most obvious) cause of population growth is an imbalance between births and deaths. The infant mortality rate has decreased globally, with 4.1 million infant deaths in 2017 compared to 8.8 million in 1990, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This is welcome public health news, of course.

At the same time, lifespans are increasing around the world. Those of us who are alive today will likely live much longer than most of our ancestors. Global average life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900, thanks to advancements in medicine, technology, and general hygiene. Falling mortality rates are certainly nothing to complain about either, but widespread longevity does contribute to the mathematics of increasing population numbers.

There are various factors affecting population growth in India:

Early Marriage: Though the legally marriageable age is 18 and 21 for girls and boys, early marriages are still prevalent in many places, especially in the rural areas. There are many reasons behind the cases of early marriage such as social pressure, family obligations and cultural background. Early marriages create possibility for increased family size.

Illiteracy: Illiteracy is another important cause for the population explosion in our country since many families are still following old cultural norms like preference shown for a male child as sons help in earning wages while daughters go away after marriage. Illiterate poor parents go on bearing children till they get a son. Some families feel that more members of family can contribute more income to the family’s kitty. Economic Survey 2018-19 has highlighted this old tradition of son meta-preference followed in our country and its ill effects on the family and society.

Illegal Migration: Illegal migration from the neighbouring nations has contributed to the population explosion in the recent decades. Many nations in the world are now facing the challenge of addressing the illegal migration since it causes rapid increase in the population, and adds pressure on the resource distribution and overall health of economy.

Medical Care: Better medical facilities are now available for many killer diseases of the last century. Advancement in science and preventive health care have increased the global life span and decreased the mortality rate caused due to health related problems.

WHY OVERPOPULATION IS DAMAGING THE PLANET

A major impact of overpopulation is ecological damage. As the world’s population has grown exponentially, the Earth has suffered. The expanded population has adversely affected numerous ecosystems around the globe. Urban and suburban sprawl has encroached more and more on natural habitats, leading to the endangering and even extinction of numerous animal species.

What’s more, rainforests have decreased in size. Where they once covered 14 percent of the Earth’s surface, they now only cover 6 percent. Projections indicate that the remaining rainforests may cease to exist in less than half a century. The increase in agriculture has been a prime culprit in habitat destruction. More people require more food, and the expansion of farming has come at the cost of major deforestation.

Water supplies are depleting faster than they can be regenerated. While the vast majority of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, most of that is saltwater. Freshwater from lakes and streams makes up only about 2.5 percent of the world’s water. In some areas, such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), these water reserves are drying up. Desertification, the turning of arable land into barren desert, threatens the water supply throughout the word. This scarcity of water affects not only humans but also many animal species that are losing access to life-giving freshwater.

According to UNICEF  “Even in countries with adequate water resources, water scarcity is not uncommon. Although this may be due to a number of factors — collapsed infrastructure and distribution systems, contamination, conflict, or poor management of water resources — it is clear that climate change, as well as human factors, are increasingly denying children their right to safe water and sanitation.”