Mitigation Strategies and Solutions - Essay Example

MITIGATION STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS Introduction This paper will discuss the problems and solutions of human population, the most prevailing environmental issue which is also a cause of many other natural issues. We will start off by describing in detail the human population followed by discussing factors that make it grow and are affected by it. The impact of humans will be studied after which current strategies will be evaluated and new ones planned. Description Human Population is a common term known by everyone. It means the total number of humans in the world at some point in time. As of June 26, 2008 (right now), the world's total population is 6,678,187,570 (World Population Clock- Worldometers, 2008) and has increased as I was completing the sentence. The number keeps growing every second. Human Population itself is not a problem. The Earth is meant for humans to dwell in it. However, it becomes a problem when too many or too less humans live in it and this is known as Over Population and Under Population respectively. Total population is increasing at a rate of around 1.15 % per year and the average annual population change is approximated at over 77 million right now. The increase rate was highest in the 1960s and it has almost halved since then. The total population in Year 1 was 200 million while today in year 2008 it has hit 6 billion. It is estimated to reach 9.2 billion by 2050! (World Population Clock-Worldometer, 2008) Better health-care facilities in developed countries imply fewer deaths. Despite this, most population increases are taking place in developing countries. This is because the birth rate increases more than the decrease in death rate. Alternatively, in developed countries, there is a problem of under population. Life expectancy has increased a lot and the fertility rate has decreased. This is true for countries like Germany. Human population follows the pattern of an exponential growth; it grows slowly at first but then very rapidly (Hopkins, J., 2008). This clearly has implications for the future as the world will become over-populated at one time. Over-population is when the resources of an area can not meet the needs of the humans living in it or in other words the Earth's carrying capacity is utilized. Hence, it is problematic, very. The concept of Over Population can be showed with an analogy. Take the example of a restaurant. It employs five waiters in the beginning. The restaurant gains from them. Slowly the number keeps growing and the number increases to 20 waiters. They start crashing into each other, damaging utilities and worrying other people around them. This is a problem because it becomes difficult for these waiters to behave naturally as they would with only five waiters. This, hence, is the problem of overpopulation. The thing to notice here is that it is also closely related to the economics concept of the Diminishing Law of Marginal Utility. Factors that contribute to and are affected by the Human Population Living Factors The most obvious factor that contributes to human population is humans themselves. Population obviously increases because of increased birth rates or an increase in the fertility rate. People in developing countries are having more and more babies everyday because of which the number is increasing. Humans are also affected by the growing population themselves. Non-Living Factors Along with increased birth rates, decreased death rates or mortality also could also contribute to human population. The death/mortality rate decreases when medical and health care facilities are good. The number of deaths, therefore, decreases when countries are developed or are moving towards development. Because of globalization, today all boundaries between countries have been removed. This promotes specialization and the overall growth of economies of different countries. The growth in an economy is shown by increased and enhanced health-care facilities and hence, a lower number of deaths and a higher life expectancy age. Therefore, there is the level of development and population is definitely correlated. Other than that, migration also contributes to and is affected human population. It increases as humans move in to a place. However, migration clearly has no effect on the overall world population except if people move to countries where restriction policies on the number of children apply. Human Impacts When humans live in a place, they make use of the resources in that place also. As a result, humans certainly have an impact. The human population makes use of the Earth's limited resources to satisfy there needs and wants. In economics, this is known as the concept of 'scarcity'. This means that these resources are scarce. Human impact mainly involves usage of these. They cut trees to make furniture, slaughter animals to make clothes and eat meat and much more. This wobbles the very foundation of the eco system. For example, when trees are cut, undergrowth is prevented because it is exposed. Also, soil erosions occur. Pollution increases when they use resources to make goods (Chiras, D.D., 2006). All the things that we learnt in our sixth grade geography course start to take place. Humans not only have negative impacts; there are positive ones too. They obviously develop the area that they live in. They bring in technology and make doing things easy. Some even preserve wild life and rivers and oceans etc. Some cultivate more trees. They look after the environment respecting the notion that humans need natural resources to survive. Therefore, they have reversed their traditional, more primitive ways into caring ones. The impact of under population, on the other hand, is very different. Aging has become an issue for countries where life expectancy is high and fertility low. This puts too much pressure on the working population because they have to provide for all. The dependency ratio becomes high and the working population wears out. Evaluation of Current Strategies Current strategies to tackle human population problems are different in different countries, depending on where they stand on the development level. For a developed country, sustainability strategies emphasize increasing the fertility rate so that a younger population can be introduced, laying off the burden on the working population. This is a good approach since the only other option is to increase the mortality rate and this would ultimately be the most brutal option. For developing economies, where the concern is growing population, birth rates are tried to control. Family planning schemes are introduced. Restrictions are put on the number of babies a couple can have. The use of contraception during sexual activity is made significant through adverts. Adverts also create awareness about the problems caused by lack of family planning. This is an effective strategy except that in developing nations tv commercials are slightly ineffective because many people can't even afford to buy basic essentials so to buy luxury goods like television is out of the question. Even radio is not accessible and they are so illiterate that they can't even read the newspaper. Therefore, commercial advertisement is not the greatest idea to reach out to these people. Nonetheless, there are NGOs and other non profit organizations that travel to the more rural areas to create awareness. Restrictions on immigration must also be imposed to decrease population levels in a single area (Chiras, D.D., 2006). Financial assistance must be given to less developed economies so that these economies grow and make living standards better. This strategy is very long-term and requires extensive global support. According to Chrias, D.D, (2006), trade with less developed countries should be made "freer". Whenever something like this happens, there are always strings attached. Mitigation Plan My plan would mostly include creating awareness in developing countries to cut down on the number of babies and that too, mostly through non-profit environmental organizations. In developing countries, where people do not have enough resources to buy basic goods such as wheat, the last thing on their minds is to spend whatever little money they get mostly from beggary, on informational and luxurious goods such as televisions, radios, newspapers, magazines and etc. These people, hence, have little knowledge about what's going on. They even have little knowledge about the problems that they can have. They have no idea about their futures as well as their present. The problem with these people is that they keep having babies without knowing the consequences. They can't provide for themselves, let alone for their children. My plan is those non-profit consultancies organizations must be encouraged here that provide awareness on family planning, provide contraception, future opportunities and challenges, etc. These organizations must be free of charge and they must especially educate women in rural areas, where birth rates are the highest. There must be one such organization in every fifty square miles. People working in these organizations must start a campaign and go from home to home to educate the people. Benefits The benefits of this plan are that it would probably decrease the birth rate in areas where it is the highest. Developed countries have very stable population growths and some even have under-growth. But they have to face problems of over-population in the world because of the ever increasing rate of population in developing economies like India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and other African and Asian countries. The benefits will be that resources will be more available for future generations. They will have to suffer less if population growth is controlled today. The burden on Earth today will be reduced. Its carrying capacity will be efficiently utilized. Another benefit, a more economical one, is that poverty can be fought. More will be left for other people due to which poverty levels can go down. There is a huge difference in the comparative value of the determinants of poverty dynamics and fertility; a high fertility rate and poverty in Ethiopia is due to low economic growth along with desire for having babies and lack of family planning. As seen in Vietnam, Indonesia and Albania, education is important for reducing poverty and fertility both (Aassve et al, 2006). Challenges This plan has many challenges also. Not many individuals and organizations are willing to work when there are no returns involved. It will require building on the infrastructure. Therefore, the plan is a little long-range in terms of operations. Requirements Because this plan is long-range and because it needs to build infra-structure and because there is no profit in it, it will need to be financed. This project will be huge and will need to be provided for by the governments of these developing nations. This provision can be in the for of subsidies because after all these organizations will help to greatly improve the economies and will help cut down on a number of problems that arise from a high population growth. This plan will also require societal support in terms of younger people who are willing to educate and spread the word. Society can give back in the form of charities. Global support is required for this plan. We could do with more shows such as American idol who give back. People from across the globe must be willing to help finance such projects in the different developing countries, especially in Africa where there is so much poverty. REFERENCES 1. (2008). World Population Clock. Retrieved June 27, 2008 from Worldometers. Website: http://www.worldometers.info/population/ 2. Hopkins, J. (2008). Human Population Crisis. Retrieved June 27, 2008 from Cosmosmith. Website: http://www.cosmosmith.com/human_population_crisis.htm 3. Chrias, D.D. (2006). Environmental Science. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. 4. Aassve, A., Engelhardt, H., Francavilla, F., Kedir, A., Kim, J., Mealli, F., Mencarini, L., Pudney, S., Prskawetz, A.(2006). Poverty and Fertility Dynamics: A comparative Analysis. Population Review. 45(2). Poulation Review Publications. Read More