Population/ Environmental Impact - Assignment Example

Topic: Population/environmental impact Introduction Overpopulation is a negative situation where the number of people in existence has surpasses the carrying capacity of the planet, which occurs as a consequence of a variety of factors. There is a possibility of an area that is sparsely populated to record a significant rise in population in the event that it cannot sustain life. Increasing technological advancements have also had different effects on humanity with one effect being the capacity to save lives as well as provide better treatment for the people. An increase in the lifespans of the population and a subsequent rise in population have been the direct consequences of this, since in the past half a century, there has been significant growth in population to the point of overpopulation. There is also increasing pressure on natural resources and this is threatening development as well as the welfare of the public in regards to health. Loss of forests, soil exhaustion, water shortages as well as degeneration of coastlines and some of the effects of increased pressure on natural resources that have affected numerous areas. As the population of the globe increases, the world is faced with the challenge of making the standards of living better without any destruction on the environment. Majority of the developed nations currently use natural resources at a rate that is faster than their regeneration and those that record rapid population growth are faced with a pressing need to improve the standards of living of their people (Clarke, 2010). Areas of interaction between the environment and population Two particular areas demonstrate the challenges of appreciating the intricate influence aspects associated with population on the environment: global climatic changes and patterns of land use. Land use The ability to satisfy the resource requirements of an increasing population eventually needs some changes in the manner in which land is used so that the production of food can be increased through clearing of forests, intensification of the land that has already been cultivated or development of the appropriate infrastructure to support the rising population. In the past centuries, the amount of cultivation on the planet has considerably increased by approximately 450 percent from around two and a half million square kilometers to more than fifteen million square kilometers. Deforestation, which is an associated process, is also critically evident as the net decrease in 180 million acres of forest cover occurred between 1980 and 1995 regardless of the fact that changes in the amount of forest cover are different in various regions. Forest cover in developing nations decreased by two hundred million acres and developed nations recorded a net increase of approximately twenty million acres. These forms of changes in the manner in which land is used have a variety of ecological effects since conversion of land to be used for agricultural purposes may result in soil erosion while chemicals used in the manufacture of fertilizer may have a degrading effect on the soil. Deforestation can also linked to soil erosion and may decrease the water holding capacity of soil, therefore increasing the severity and frequency of flooding. Changes that are caused by human beings in the way land is used usually lead to the loss and fragmentation of habitats which is the main cause of decline of some species. It is important to note that if the current rate of forest clearing persists, then about twenty five percent of all the species on the planet will be lost in the next half a century. Global climatic changes The past few years have can be considered among the warmest to have been recorded in history and studies have suggested that the temperatures are as a consequence of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases since they absorb radiation from the sun, thereby warming the atmosphere. Studies have further suggested that numerous changes in the gases within the atmosphere are as a result of human activities whose demographic influence is evident in three places. The first one is contributions that are associated with industrial production as well as the consumption of energy that leads to carbon dioxide when fossil fuels are used. Second is the manner in which the use of land has changed through activities such as deforestation, and third are some processes used in agriculture like production of livestock as well as cultivation of paddy-rice, which release greenhouse gases, such as methane, into the atmosphere (Stadelmann & Castro, 2014). Based in estimates, increase in population will be approximately thirty five percent of the main source of the worldwide increase in carbon dioxide from 1985 to 2100, while accounting for almost fifty percent of the rise in the emerging nations. Therefore, developing sustainable consumption and production processes and attention to issues of demography are the key reactions to the processes that lead to global warming. Population/environmental impact The impacts associated with overpopulation are severe, with depletion of resources being the first as the earth is only able to produce a certain amount of food and water, and thus is not being able to satisfy the current needs. A huge fraction of the damage on the environment that has been experienced in the last half a century is as a consequence of the increasing number of people on the globe. This has resulted in trees being cut down and wildlife being hunted in recklessly as well as increased degree of pollution that is leading to a host of other problems. The stakeholders who are involved in discourse about overpopulation have noted that aggression and violence outside areas considered as war zones have significantly escalated as a result of competition for resources. The overuse and overdependence on natural gas, oil and coal has begun producing some adverse impacts on the environment. Significant increases in the number of industries and vehicles have had a bad effect on the quality of air within the atmosphere since they produce a lot of carbon dioxide which in turn results in global warming (Sarkar, 2011). Changing patterns of climate, melting ice caps in the polar region and rise in sea level are some of the ramifications that the world might have to deal with as a result of pollution in the environment. The resources which are supposed to be utilized for development in the emerging nations are strained by overpopulation and conflicts about water are generating tensions that may lead to wars between various nations. This results in the spread of more diseases which consequently become difficult to control. Moreover, starvation is a severe problem faced by the world and it has ended up fueling the mortality rate of children. Poverty is also a significant aspect that is considered in discourses about over population, and this is likely to worsen if solutions are not found for the factors that affect the population. Overpopulation also leads to an increase in the degree of unemployment of its people since the numbers of jobs that can support the increased number of people are few. An increase in the degree of unemployment leads to higher levels of crime since people are forced to steal various commodities in order to feed their families and give them the basic amenities that they require. Consequently, differences between supply and demand that are attributed to overpopulation progressively increase thereby raising the costs of various needs such as shelter, food and healthcare implying that people have to pay more in order to feed their families and survive. Issues to do with population also result in a situation whereby the environment becomes worse with a huge number of people losing their lives as a result of pollution. In the past few years, conditions have failed to get better or have worsened in all the environmental sectors. Poor sanitation as well as unclean water causes more than twelve million deaths annually, particularly in the developing nations, while air pollution kills about three million more people. It is also imperative to note that heavy metals along with other contaminants lead to numerous health issues in populations. In sixty four of the one hundred and five emerging nations that were studied by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, it was noted that the population had been increasing at a faster rate than the rate of food supply. This is because population has been continually responsible for the degradation of more than two billion hectares of land that is arable, which is an area that can be equated to the size of the US and Canada. Additionally, fresh water supply is limited; however, the demand has continued to increase in proportion with the increase in population as well as consumption per capita. It is therefore highly likely that the more than three billion people in forty eight nations will face shortages of fresh water by 2025 if the current rate of population increase persists. In regards to oceans and coastlines, it should be noted that more than fifty percent of all the coastal ecosystems are under the pressure of high population densities as well as development of urban areas creating a rising tide of pollution in varies seas all over the globe. Additionally, there is an overexploitation of fisheries which has resulted in the catches of fish reducing apart from the increased number of vessels in the waters that continue to pollute the seas and oceans. The problem of environmental degradation is further escalated by deforestation where almost fifty percent of all the original forests of the planet have been lost, with more than sixteen million hectares being cut down or burnt annually. Every year, forests provide more than four hundred billion dollars to the economy of the world and are very critical to preserving healthy eco systems. Nonetheless, the current demand for products that are derived from forests is likely to surpass the limitations of sustainable usage by about twenty five percent. The biological diversity of the earth is important to the sustained vitality of medicine and agriculture and in some way life of earth; nonetheless, the activities of human beings are continuously causing the extinction of numerous animal and plant species (Sarkar, 2010). On the other hand, the surface of the earth is becoming warmer as a result of the emission of greenhouse gases mostly from forcing fuels that are burnt for energy. If the temperatures all over the globe continue rising as they have been projected, the sea levels all over the world could increase by a number of meters resulting in more flooding, droughts as well as disruptions in agriculture. Conclusion If all the nations were committed to the stabilization of their populations as well as conserving their resources, they world would be in a better position to deal with the issue of sustainable development. If a nation is to have sustainable development, then it should invest wisely, manage its resources in an effective manner, develop clean industrial and agricultural technologies, pollute less and decrease the rate of increase of population. Worries in regards to population explosion may have decreased since the rates of fertility have declined; however, the population of the globe is forecasted to continually increase until mid-21st century. The point when it will become stable will have a profound impact on population’s standards of living as well as the global environment. AS the size of populations continues to near levels that have never been recorded in history and the consumption per capita continues to increase, the environment is further being degraded and needs to find a balance in order to remain sustainable. References Clarke, H. (2010). Strategic issues in global climate change policy*. Australian Journal Of Agricultural And Resource Economics, 54(2), 165-184. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8489.2010.00485.x Sarkar, A. (2010). Global Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Development: Focus on Emerging Issues and Strategies for the Asia-Pacific Region. Strategic Planning For Energy And The Environment, 30(1), 18-79. doi:10.1080/10485236.2010.10121747 Sarkar, A. (2011). Global Climate Change and Emerging Environmental and Strategic Security Issues for South Asia. Journal Of Environmental Protection, 02(09), 1162-1171. doi:10.4236/jep.2011.29135 Stadelmann, M., & Castro, P. (2014). Climate policy innovation in the South – Domestic and international determinants of renewable energy policies in developing and emerging countries.Global Environmental Change, 29, 413-423. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.011 Read More