Overpopulation: Here and now

Population stabilization is an integral part of stopping environmental deterioration around the world. Deforestation in the tropical rain belt, chronic hunger in many countries, and the current water rationing in California are all effects of over-population. Unfortunately, our already overpopulated world is growing more crowded every day.

The rate of increase in the number of people on this planet and the predicted population using the present regional growth rates are staggering. In 1810, one billion people inhabited Earth, double the number of 200 years earlier. By 1910, the population doubled to 2 billion and again to 4 billion in 1974. Now the population is over 5 billion and expected to reach 6 billion before the year 2000. By that time, the United States and Canada will have added 38 million and Latin America 225 million to their respective populations. We are already witnessing overcrowding in cities, malnourished people everywhere, and irreversible environmental damage. More people will only compound these problems.

Overpopulation is defined as a population that has exceeded the “carrying capacity” of its available land. The carrying capacity is “the number of people who can be sustainably supported in a given area without degrading the natural, social, cultural and economic environment for present and future generations.”*

Some causes of our present state of overpopulation include improper or unavailable birth control, needs for inexpensive labor for family enterprise, traditionally large families due to religious beliefs or cultural pressures, desires for male children for cultural reasons, misperceptions about the ability of the environment to support the current population, and population migration. As the factors affecting population growth have become manageable, it has become possible for overpopulation to be gradually and carefully reduced. Attrition occurs when natural death rates and a birth rate below the replacement level fertility (currently 2.1 children per couple) combine to cause a decrease in population.

Of course, population stabilization must occur alongside other efforts to create a sustainable cycle of production, distribution, and disposal, which rely on conservation, reuse, and recycling. For example, although the developed countries have about 20 percent of the world’s population, consumption in these countries amounts to 80 percent of global production. The United States alone, with only 5 percent of the world’s population, consumes 25 percent of the world’s energy output.

The issues surrounding population stabilization are complex and controversial. As personal and cultural values differ throughout the world, a single solution will be elusive or impractical, if not impossible. Clearly, though, it is necessary for everyone to realize the impact of overpopulation and to participate in efforts to bring the world's population to a sustainable level.

For more information contact one of the groups dedicated to finding a population solution:

Population/Environment Balance
(202) 879-3000
* Balance data sheet #27

Zero Population Growth
(202) 332-2200

Population Reference Bureau, Inc.
(202) 639-8040

Population Crisis Committee
(202) 659-1833

International Planned Parenthood
(212) 995-8800

The Population Institute
(202) 544-3300

A fall into chaos

Consider the following scenario: Assume a steady human population exists with plenty of land and with abundant renewable and nonrenewable resources which are distributed equally to each member of the society. If this population begins to grow, systems of resource distribution must develop alongside. While adequate land is available for development and resources are not strained, society will remain content. Yet all available resources, including land, are finite, and if the population grows unchecked, it will one day exceed the carrying capacity of the environment and the society will experience the effects of overpopulation. At this point, the society can impose limits to maintain the population at a sustainable level, or it can allow further growth.

Further growth of the population now means an increased demand on an inadequate resource base. The systems of distribution will be unable to meet expectations equally, and development of land for housing may require overcrowding. The society can continue to operate fairly and force everyone to sacrifice and share limited resources, or it can allow some people to maintain certain levels of consumption while others, with little control over systems of production and distribution, are forced to lower their consumption. If this continues, groups of people might decide it is better to fight for the right to increase or maintain certain levels of consumption, rather than experience inadequate levels. Soon, this society would begin to look very

[Editor’s note: The end of this article was truncated in the print edition]

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Published in Action, vol 1, no 3 · Nov–Dec 1990