Overpopulation: the Greatest Danger to Mankind

Overpopulation: The Greatest Danger To Mankind

Humanity is on the threshold of disaster. All of mankind is placing too great a stress on this fragile planet. Without drastic changes in population management, humans will create disasters from which they cannot escape. Like the dinosaurs of old, the earth will continue, but our species will be preserved only as fossils…

The crux of the problem lies with the limited resources available to humans. The earth can only accommodate so many people. Currently, experts disagree on the sustainable human population that the earth can handle. These estimates range from approximately 500 million to 12 billion people. Nevertheless, humanity is putting stress on each area of the environment through its actions. By exerting this increasing stress on the earth, we are rapidly destroying our oceans, farmland, water, atmosphere, and inevitably ourselves.

Oceans

Two factors will soon leave the oceans barren: pollution from factories and over fishing. Growing industries continue to produce an ever-increasing amount of goods. Throughout the production of these goods, pollution is released into the rivers and oceans of the world. Of the oceanic wildlife that is not harmed by the polluted waters, many are killed in huge numbers for food. Fish, which most of the world depends on for food, are being harvested in non-sustainable amounts; that is, more fish are being taken than can be replenished through reproduction. This increasing need for food will eventually cause the complete destruction of marine wildlife. If the human population and its demand for food from the sea does not decrease, the ocean will be completely depleted and will no longer be a viable source of food for the world. As a result, billions of people will die from starvation.

Farmland

The world’s fertile farmland provides food for all of humanity. However, we are rapidly destroying this farmland on which we so vitally depend. As humans...