Our world may be seen as a large place. In this place, life has taken foothold in many different forms and in greatly diverse regions of the globe. Species that stand the test of time are the species that can best survive and reproduce under the given conditions. Sometimes, however, particular species of life may be too good at surviving and reproducing. When a species ability to survive gets too great, usually the onslaught of a species is confined to one ecosystem or at least one area of land. An example of such an onslaught is the Dingo that was released in Australia. What happens when an explosion in population is released on the entire biosphere? Such is the case with a certain species of mammal that, ironically, at one time was struggling for survival. The human species has shown superiority in surviving almost every available climate in the world. In a geological blink, humanity has managed to cover the world with over six billion people. Although some may rejoice at our remarkable strength, there is certainly cause for alarm. The speed at which the population of humankind grows is much too fast for our beloved earth to handle. Overpopulation is a serious threat to our planet that must be controlled; increasing the human population limits individual freedom, ecologically wrecks our planet, and causes suffering in our fellow man.

An increase in the human population can drastically limit the freedom of every individual. More people coming into the world releases a flood of new voices each with their own needs, rights, and desires. With more humans in a democratic society, the voice of each individual person is drowned out increasingly. Only a handful of people in society may be heard by the masses even with the recent advents of mass media and the Internet. The concept of democracy that is held dear by so many people worldwide becomes less effective and worthwhile for any individual in society because each individual has such a small impact. In the days of ancient Greece, men had a more meaningful vote in society; men also had a greater ability to express their opinions with a much smaller population. Having more people in society also can cause people to interfere with each other's freedom. In any sort of closed system such as our earth, when the area becomes increasingly crowded, there is less space for each person to do what he or she feels.

The population problem, however, is hardly one of simple living space. Resources are also important to consider in assessing overpopulation. Whether increasing amounts of people are using up gas, power, or food, an excess population means there are fewer resources, and perhaps less choice of resources, for any one person. What some people don't seem to understand about the issue is that there is only a certain number of natural resources on earth, and the finite amount of resources must be able to supply the growing population. Those that may be unable to obtain certain luxuries will certainly be (and are in several places) left unsatisfied. Even if there is an equal opportunity for these resources, there is less overall availability for materials to fill our needs. As the population continues to rise, each person has a smaller piece of the pie as far as resources of earth go. Technology is improving at a rapid rate, but if there is a finite amount of resources, no matter how crafty we humans may become, the very fact that materials are finite will catch up to us. Even if one person could live of off a few square inches of land, eventually with a rising population the area would not be enough, so there is no point in putting off the issue.

The overpopulation of humans is ecologically detrimental to our biosphere. Due to the high amounts of people on the planet, earth's diverse ecosystems and needed resources are being depleted. Freshwater is already running dangerously low in our world. Something often overlooked is the fact that agriculture accounts for approximately seventy percent of freshwater usage. Though freshwater is renewable, freshwater is also limited. Projections for the year 2050 estimate that at that time ninety percent of all the freshwater on earth may be in use. Though ninety percent may be sufficient for the time being, there is nothing to stop the percentage from rising as the population increases. The ninety-percent stated also is not distributed evenly throughout the population. Americans, and western countries in general, use much more water than citizens of other countries. In fact, thirty-one countries are already facing shortages of water (WOA 2002). Aside from influencing the water cycle, overpopulation also causes great harm to our forests. The current rate of destruction to our terrestrial ecosystems is 39.5 million acres every year. For an analogy, a land area of forest the size of the country of Nepal is being wiped away every year. Now only 9.2% of the land of earth remain forests (NRDC 1997). Before humans started shaping the environment, forests covered approximately 46% of land. Man has made a detrimental effect on his environment and the tradition shows no signs of stopping.

Pollution and waste are also results of overpopulation. For the US, the per capita generation rate of solid waste was 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day in 1999 (EPA 2002). Not only is the output of solid waste rising per person (in 1996 the rate was 4.3 pounds per person), an increase in population amplifies the amount of waste actually being produced. If the population was not as high, people producing relatively more waste would not be as much of a problem. This is the case with all aspects of pollution in pollution's connection with overpopulation. The sheer amount of people using resources makes environmental problems much more drastic. In a smaller society, each individual would be free to use resources without feeling guilty about contributing to such growing ecological problems on the planet.
Increasing the human population of our planet forces a great deal of suffering on people. The fact that our resources are limited is taking a serious toll on the health and overall well being of the people. Studies have shown that three fifths of the world’s population does not get enough to eat every day (Earth Day Energy Fast 2002). What’s worse is that the people with the least access to appropriate food and water tend to reproduce the most. The less industrialized countries, especially in Africa and parts of Asia, have population growth rates far higher than they can sustain, and bringing more people into the world will only add to the poverty and famine. These statistics do not mean that people in less industrialized countries require more resources. In fact, a child growing up in the United States today consumes over thirty times as many resources and produces over thirty times as much pollution as any child born in a less industrialized country. A slightly larger than average family in America may use up as much of earth’s vital materials as a whole village in Laos or Uganda.

From the opposition, there seems to be a set of strong but misleading arguments. Some who are unconvinced of the population problem cite that the entire world’s population could fit inside the state of Texas with the population density being less than that of New York City. Though there is truth to the statement that the world’s population could fit inside Texas, the argument fails to recognize that sheer density is not the primary problem. No matter where our population is located, the resources necessary to support the masses are the same. On top of there being an increasing need for resources, such a dense population would significantly reduce individual freedom, but the main point to stress is that even if the there was not an overpopulation problem at the moment, the most gradual increase in people will always promise a problem down the road. The problem would be best solved when the situation is still in infancy because there is much more hope of controlling a population of six million people instead of six billion. Another argument is that the world’s population growth is projected to cease around the year 2029 with approximately seven billion people on the planet. Instead of seeing the growth decline as a positive change, some questions must be asked as to why exactly this fall in population growth is occurring. Far from being a reason to rejoice, these facts should be the ultimate wake up call for Homo sapiens. Though most of the western world may not feel the effect, earth has all but surpassed her limits on resources. Nearly thirty million children die every year of starvation and related disease.* Instead of population being controlled by conscious foresight, the human population is being controlled by the indifference of Mother Nature. This method of control must be stopped, and current population growth must be halted as quickly as possible.

Overpopulation causes a significant reduction in the freedom of every individual. An increase in population also ecologically wreaks havoc on the planet earth, and worst of all, overpopulation causes suffering in our fellow man. If trends continue, there is nothing to stop more poverty and famine from plaguing our world. Eventually the population will hit "K," that is, the carrying capacity of earth. Populations may either hit carrying capacity smoothly, or oscillate back and forth above and below carrying capacity. In either case, if the population is above or at carrying capacity, some will die do to an overall lack of resources. Do we really want to continue increasing the population until we find out what our carrying capacity is? We continue at a high rate of increase, and over seventy-six million more people are born each year.

The question remains; how do we solve the overpopulation problem? The country of China has introduced a forced limit of one child per family. Many Americans might say such a policy in the states would undermine our freedoms and promote fascism, and those arguments may have some merit. Though the government promoting regulating birthrates may not be practical or, to some, moral, each individual can make a decision for good family planning. A conscious decision to have two or less children would certainly be a help aid the cause of overpopulation, and for those who crave larger families, adoption can be an option. In today’s world, having smaller families is also more practical financially. The benefits of small families seem great indeed, and small families combined with environmental awareness are needed to help fix the population problem. The future of humanity and the environment depend on humanity's willingness to fix the problem of overpopulation. As the underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau once said, “Population growth is the primary source of environmental damage.” Not only is the problem the source of environmental damage, the population explosion is also a great cause of suffering for our fellow man. Now more than ever people must act and realize that there are just too many of us.

* According to Steven Pinkers book The Blank Slate the causes of starvation are not :

worldwide discrepancy between the number of mouths and the amount of food. The economist Amartya Sen has shown that they can almost always be traced to short-lived conditions or to political and military upheavals that prevent food from reaching the people who need it (237).

Of course, this fact simply means that the human population is being regulated by another source other than overpopulation, and does not mean that the population of overpopulation is non-existent by any means.

Although population growth may be much slower than Malthus originally predicted, and humans are constantly reinventing new and clever ways of making use of the resources we have, the fact remains that we have only so much material to work with. As long as the population rises, there will only be so much material on earth to work with to feed the growing population. If indeed the population does plateau around the seven million mark, and is not being regulated by famine, we still have it in our interests to lower our population for reasons of individual freedom and ecological interests.


Parks, Forests & Wildlands: Forests: In Brief: Fact Sheet. 5 Nov. 1997. NRDC. 16 Oct. 2002 <http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/fforestf.asp>.

Summary Of The EPA Municipal Solid Waste Program. 27 Aug. 2002. EPA. 16 Oct. 2002 <http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/solidwastesummary.htm>.

Sustainability and Water. 16 Aug. 2002. WOA. 16 Oct. 2002 <http://www.overpopulation.org/water.html>.

The Science. Earth Day Energy Fast. 16 Oct. 2002 <http://www.earthdayenergyfast.org/index.cfm?type=threatstonature>.