Human overpopulation

Desert East of Birdsville, Australia. Australia has a very small population because it's land cannot provide enough food to support a larger population.^[1]^[2]

Overpopulation means that the population of a place is too high. Specifically, there are too many organisms of a certain species in a habitat, so the number of organisms living there is larger than the carrying capacity of the habitat. The habitat cannot support these numbers over time without hurting itself.

The term "overpopulation" is most often used to refer to the number of humans living on Earth.^[3]

Human overpopulation

The world's population has greatly increased in the last 50 years. The main reason is the reduction in death rate, especially for infants and children. The result is that many more people survive to the age when reproduction is possible.

Reduction of death rate

By reducing the effect of infectious diseases
1. widespread use of antibiotics against bacterial diseases
2. increased use of vaccination against some viral diseases
3. wider provision of clean water (modern sewage systems etc.), which reduces parasitic diseases.
By increasing food production
1. the world-wide use of DDT, and later anti-pest treatments.
2. the invention of high-yielding varieties of crops and later, genetically-engineered crops.^[4]

Human population growth rate in percent, with the variables of births, deaths, immigration, and emigration 2006

World population 1950–2010

The recent rapid increase in human population over the past two centuries has raised concerns that humans are beginning to overpopulate the Earth. The planet may not be able to sustain larger numbers of people. The population has been growing since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1400.^[5] At the beginning of the 19th century, it had reached roughly 1,000,000,000 (one billion). Rapid population growth occurred all over the world, especially after World War II. By 1960, the world population had reached 3 billion, and it doubled to 6 billion over the next four decades. As of 2011, the estimated annual growth rate was 1.10%, down from a peak of 2.2% in 1963, and the world population stood at roughly 6.9 billion. In 2014, it is over seven billion.

Current projections show a steady decline in the population growth rate, with the population expected to reach between 8 and 10.5 billion between the year 2040^[6]^[7] and 2050.^[8]

Loss of forests

What were forests have often been turned into farmland. In so doing many species of animals and plants are wiped out, and the CO₂ levels in the atmosphere goes up. This is a direct consequence of human population increase.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Potential solutions

The solutions usually suggested are better education and widespread free contraception (birth control). Many pregnancies are unplanned (40%) or unwanted.^[12]

There are powerful forces working against birth control. Religious and traditional beliefs often favor large families. Few governments have tackled the problem seriously.

Others have proposed that since human population size and carrying capacity depends on the amount of food available, like other species, a good method would be to control food production and produce food only for how much is needed rather than more than needed in order to stop birthrates.^[13]

For example, Peter Farb, an anthropologist, ecologist and naturalist stated "Intensification of production to feed an increased population leads to a still greater increase in population."^[14]