Overpopulation Thoughts

Chlyde Felicitas

9/16/14

Eng 1A

Overpopulation

The planet that we live in is a special place. We are able to continue living here, and not in other planets, because this land contains the resources that we need to exist. Unfortunately, these resources' supply is starting to wither down into low levels, which is hard to restock because these natural resources were left on the planet, and it is near impossible to recreate a natural resource. If more people were to exist on the planet, there is an uncertainty if everyone could continue living due to less support from the world. It is a problem if there is a surplus of people existing on the planet because being able to support a growing population will become increasingly difficult.

A number of organizations have predicted that attempting to support a continually growing human population will lead to expending more resources and energy than ever before, resulting in shortages and the destruction of mankind. The United Nations and the United Kingdom have both voiced their opinions about how populations that continue to grow will eventually run out of supplies to cover and support everyone. Other reports by different groups have also mentioned how our current rates of consumption happen to outweigh the amount of people that exist in the world, which is a big problem. Even if it seems that our planet can handle an ever growing population, we still have natural resources with a definite supply. 

Having too many people involved in the workforce can spread resources way too thin, which is not that good for our planet's resources in the long run. Every person does need some amount of income to live in this world, but the amount that people consume products in the world is very subjective, difficult to fully identify, and is a problem that is not easy to resolve. While it would seem simple that solving the problem of consumption is to consume less, it is difficult for adjustments to be suddenly made like that, especially since humans are used to the way they live their lives.

With the way that the world is living, populating, and consuming right now, it is only a matter of time before the resources that we have been so accustomed to using run low, or even worse, run out. There needs to be changes made to how many people exist in the world or how much resources are being used in order to continue remaining on the great land we live on. While we do need to take measures into halting a gigantic growth in people surviving on the planet or reducing the amount everyone consumes (from the least to most well-off), there first needs to be a general realization that overpopulation is a problem that needs to be solved.

Works Cited List

Kunzig, Robert. "By 2045 Global Population Is Projected To Reach Nine Billion. Can The Planet Take The Strain? (Cover Story)."National Geographic 219.1 (2011): 36. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
Nicholson-Lord, David. "Planet Overload. (Cover Story)." New Statesman 138.4939 (2009): 24. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
"Is Overpopulation a Global Crisis?" The Premier Online Debate Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.