By David Okul
In June 2020, the world population is at approximately 7.8 billion people. By 2050, there will be about 10 billion people on the planet. As populations grow, the natural environment feels the impact of the overconsumption. We have identified nine environmental issues of overpopulation.
1. Exhaustion of natural resources
With a surging population, natural resources such as fossil fuels, coral reefs, natural forests, and arable land diminish. This consumption brings competition for life-sustaining resources, eventually resulting in a reduced quality of life. Overpopulation places a strain on the available natural resources. The increased human population now requires a third more infinite natural resource to supply it with its basic needs. Unfortunately, the planet can’t provide such an amount of resources.
2. Deforestation as an environmental issue of overpopulation
Forests are part of natural resources. As such, this is an extension of the first point.
A surging population means more food, more wood, more land, and more wood products. This demand leads to deforestation as humans clear natural forests to meet such needs. In turn, deforestation leads to increased carbon emissions, since there are no trees to trap the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Deforestation exasperates the greenhouse gas menace.
For instance, South America’s tropical rainforests have been eradicated, thanks to overpopulation. These forests, which have historically been producing about 20% of the global oxygen can’t effectively trap carbon dioxide. The other adverse implications of deforestation are the extinctions and loss of species. Agricultural activities are on the rise, thanks to overpopulation. These activities have caused 80% of world deforestation, as humans encroach natural forests to meet the increased demand for food.
3. Environmental degradation increases with more people
Overpopulation translates into the overuse of natural gas, oil, and coal. This overuse produces severe environmental effects over time. Overpopulation has occasioned an increase in industries and the number of cars on the roads, ultimately affecting air quality. Overpopulation alone contributes significantly to rising carbon emissions, which results in global warming. Changing climate patterns and melting of ice caps courtesy of overpopulation, are just a couple of adverse consequences which the earth has to confront today due to environmental degradation.
Land degradation is also prevalent due to overpopulation. An increase in the global population means excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers and intensive farming. Such activities are to blame for land degradation, which is evident from salination, waterlogging, and soil erosion. The impact of overpopulation on marine and terrestrial natural resources is palpable. Coastal degradation is visible in areas where large human populations live near the coast. In such places, increased human activities lead to massive degradation of the available marine habitats. Worse still, it leads to the loss of species that depend on marine habitats for their survival.
4. Global warming and climate change are also an environmental issue of overpopulation
Although population expansion doesn’t lead to global warming directly, global warming and overpopulation are closely related. Global warming is attributed to surging greenhouse gasses. These gases are human-generated to no small extent. The larger the global population is, the higher the levels of greenhouse gasses will be emitted. The reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and coal due to population expansion has been cited as the primary contributor to global warming. As long as the global population continues to soar, global warming will remain a critical environmental concern. A recent environmental report cites global warming as the biggest threat to biodiversity and ecology.
5. Animal and plant extinction
The rising human populations worldwide leave the planet with few available resources. Both animal and plant species depend on these resources for their survival. Global warming, which is an environmental implication attributed to population expansion, is responsible for mass fauna and flora extinctions. There are predictions from scientists across the globe that, over half of the planet’s animal and plant species face possible extinction by 2050. E.O Wilson, an American biologist, predicts that over 30,000 animal species are being exposed to possible extinction each year thanks to population expansion
Anyone who concerned about overpopulation should advocate for rapid economic development and education to drive GDP up and birthrates down. Global population growth could be a thing of the past soon depending on the economic development in Africa. Source: https://t.co/bZ5uiL33hM pic.twitter.com/ZlZXjZ3Oiq
— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) June 28, 2019
6. Loss of ecosystems
Overpopulation is the crucial cause of the massive loss of ecosystems currently being experienced globally. Ecosystem loss is evident from the loss of coral reefs, rainforests, arctic ice, and wetlands. For instance, rainforests initially covered about 14% of the world’s land surface. Presently, they cover a meager 6%, and pundits predict that the remaining rainforests face possible extinction 40 years from now. Surging the human population has led to the mass loss of reefs since 1980. The United States has lost over half of its wetlands in less than a century because of population growth. Similarly, Europe ha lost over 70% of the wetlands due to rising human activities. Again, habit loss is singlehandedly responsible for wildlife extinction.
7. Loss of water resources
Water covers 75% of the world. The most significant percentage of water resources is in oceans, although there are 2.5 % global freshwater resources. Over 70% of global freshwater is ice caps and glaciers. The other 30% is in rivers, ponds, groundwater, and lakes. Nevertheless, population expansion is solely to blame for the diminishing quantities of global freshwater. Even the available freshwater resources are either too polluted or unreachable. This leaves the world with just 1 % of freshwater.
The UN estimates that over half of the planet’s population will face water-based vulnerability by 2025. The human population has led to a massive loss of freshwater ecosystems. Furthermore, the species prevalent in freshwater ecosystems have diminished dramatically due to a rising human population that depends on these species primarily for food. Simply put, the availability of freshwater globally has been jeopardized by rising human populations.
8. Rising urban population
Rising urban population is a menace that stems directly from overpopulation. Today, over 50% of the global population resides in urban areas. In 2050, an additional 2.5 billion people are estimated to live in the already overcrowded cities. Increased urbanization poses adverse environmental effects. For instance, it leads to an increase in automobiles and industries, which negatively impacts the environment by growing toxic substances in the atmosphere and increasing carbon emissions. Sewage menace is also created by urbanization. The danger puts humans at high risk for cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and other ailments linked with poor sanitation. Furthermore, urbanization disrupts ecosystems as humans search for land for buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. Huge volumes of waste in populated cities also lead to multiple health hazards.
9. Eutrophication
Eutrophication refers to the accumulation of nutrients in large water bodies. The nutrients cause uncontrolled growth of plant materials in the oceans. As the plants prosper, lesser oxygen is left for other species leading to a decline in aquatic biodiversity.
The significant sources of eutrophication include agricultural wastes, industrial wastes, and sewerage. All the wastes arise because of population growth.
How can we mitigate the environmental issues of overpopulation?
The increasing numbers of humans are having an unprecedented effect on the environment. It is no wonder that some people are frantically looking for other inhabitable planets outside there. Regardless, we should think of how to address the environmental issue of overpopulation. Population control is such a thorny issue in many cultures. However, we should be brave enough to address the issue of overpopulation and the environment. The mitigating strategies can include educating people, use of birth controls, and reducing our consumption rates.
David Okul is an environmental management professional with over 10 years experience on donor projects, conservation, forestry, ecotourism, and community-based natural resources management. When not working on active environmental management projects, I spend my time writing for Silvica on a variety of topics. The views on this blog post are personal.
