Population, Urbanization, and Environment - Essay Example

Population, Urbanization, and Environment Earth: A Planet of Concrete! Human species has emerged as the most predominant species on this planet. Thegrowth of mankind is directly linked with the advances in technology in all aspects of human endeavor. These technologies have endowed human the power to conquer other animal species. This has not only provided security to the human population but also has paved the way for the proliferation of the human beings, contributing more to the technical advances and hence growth in terms of population, industrialization resulting in urbanization and ultimately affecting our environment.
Reports display that about 2% of the world’s population resided in urban areas in 1800, gradually with the advent of industries and better opportunities of health care, jobs, education, recreation, social setup, advances in technology, people started migrating from villages to the urban areas leading to further urbanization. People residing in urban areas show more fertility because of availability of better health care facilities; this has decreased the mortality rate and hence promoting greater longevity and life expectancy of human beings. This is one of the biggest contributing factors in the rise of population.
Developed nations are under the opinion that more hands means more sources of income and so they promote having more kids as helping hands. This mental makeup is creating chaos in these countries due to amplified competition for basic amenities. Those who are in big cities they can afford good education and well paid jobs, in turn they can afford better house, living standards, and quality life to their children, this attracts people who are residing in rural area to lead the urban standard and quality of life and to provide security to the family.
Urbanization is the result of providing better opportunities to the people. Urban population is contributing a drift in the environment by consuming food, energy, water and land and deteriorating the environment by establishing more industries and other social organizations to fulfill the rising needs of the population. Energy is consumed in the form of transportation, making house, roads and other infrastructure, for cooking, nuclear power plants and weapons, other machineries emitting hazardous chemicals in the environment.
We are digging out everything from the nature and in return we are providing pollution of land, air, water and also human brains as when demands are not fulfilled and resources are limited people are promoting corruption, terrorism and unfair means. Thereby, causing deleterious health implications. New diseases are mushrooming due to the pollution of natural resources that we are consuming in day-to-day life, creating a challenge for the mankind. Various dreaded diseases like cancer, genetic deformities, AIDS, drug-resistant microbial population are some of them.
Human population has forgotten that if we keep on dwelling form the planet and blindly follow the path of advanced science and technology the day is not far when our planet is going to perish.
Nature is deteriorating day-by-day and its impact is seen in the form of hurricane, tornado, earthquakes, floods, droughts, global warming and rise in sea level and reduction of forest area. All these repercussions are now being realized by human population and they are giving thought to what they have been doing in past at the name of evolution and now what can they do to protect our planet! They are now looking for the alternatives to protect the human survival. There is no check on the human population in developing countries. It will be wise to understand that the chief reason for all the problems is to control population which is going to check the urbanization and hence prevent the environment from further deterioration.
Individual understanding and efforts as a group is desired to keep a check on population to further prevent the nature from disaster or pushing/ delaying the time of the bereavement of the Earth which is turning out as a land of concrete and a pile of unperishable useless garbage that we are leaving for the generations to come rather than giving them fresh clean environment! It is a concern that needs the attention of every human being to understand and to follow.
Reference
Torrey, B. B. Urbanization: An Environmental Force to Be Reckoned With. 2004
Available at
http://www.prb.org/Articles/2004/UrbanizationAnEnvironmentalForcetoBeReckonedWith.aspx
[Accessed on 1st December 2009] Read More