The Devastating Effects of Overpopulation Essay -- Environment Environ

The Devastating Effects of Overpopulation    Imagine living in a world where darkness reigns continually due to a dense cover of toxic air pollution which blocks most sunlight.   Starvation and death from the lack of energy resources is widespread and the people who have not perished yet live packed together, in overcrowded communities surrounded by waste and filth.   This grotesque picture of future life on earth may seem far-fetched but with the continued rise in population and the abuse of our planet by billions, this scenario may be closer to reality then previously thought. The Earth will soon not be able to sustain life if the population continues to escalate.   With the constantly rising numbers of humans, vital resources needed to survive are becoming extinct and the environment is being polluted as to almost make life unbearable.   Every individual will need to open his or her eyes to this growing and potentially devastating problem and take the necessary measures to stop it.   Is the planet really overpopulated?   The estimated population of Earth is 5.5 billion people with an annual growth rate of 1.7%.   This rate accounts for approximately 93 million births yearly (Daily 1).   This means that the world’s population has more than doubled since 1950 and it is projected to continue to 8.2 billion by 2025 and eventually reach 14 billion in 2100 (Miller 1).   Earth has a finite amount of resources and a fixed size but the number of people and the resources we consume per capita is continually   escalating.   With this increase the carrying capacity of earth, which is to   say the number of living things a given area can support, is being threatened   and our planet may not be able to support its' inhabitants indefini... ..., and How We Could   Achieve It.†Ã‚   Population and Environment:   A Journal of Interdisciplinary   Studies 18:1 (1996) 65-71. Lambert, Thomas.   â€Å"Defusing the ‘Population Bomb’ With Free Markets.†Ã‚   (1996):   1-31. Miller, G. Tyler.   Sustaining the Earth.   California:   Wadworth Publishing Company,   1998. â€Å"Mortality.†Ã‚   1995.   http://www.frt.com/mortalit.htm.   â€Å"Population Growth, Our Quality of Life and Environment Sustainability.† 1995. http://www.overpopulation.org/paul.html#in1second Preston, Samuel H.   â€Å"The effect of Population Growth on Environmental Quality.†   Population Research and Policy Review 15 (1996) 95-108. Smith, Herbert L., Tu Ping, M. Giovanna Merli.   â€Å"Implementation of a Demographic   And Contraceptive Surveillance System in Four Countries in North China.†   Population Research and Policy Review 16 (1997) 289-314.