Population Growth Issues and Problems?

Many people regard the rapid population growth of developing countries as our most serious environmental problem. Others think that the population growth in developed countries, though smaller, is actually a greater threat to the environment. What kinds of problems result from population growth in developing countries and in industrialized countries? Which do you think is the greater threat, and why?Population Growth Issues and Problems?Population growth anywhere is a problem because we are already consuming 1.3 times more of the worlds resources each year than is sustainable. See the Global Footprint Network web site for details (reference below). However, it is not the developing world that is consuming more than its share. Developed countries are the real problem.



Because developed countries consume far more per head of population it is tempting to think that population growth in those countries might be the most serious problem. But no, it is their consumption habits that is the problem - in many cases their population is falling.



Population growth in poor countries might seem serious because it makes hunger in those countries worse. But we need to recognise that the real cause of hunger in poor countries is the wealth of the rich countries. Rich countries tend to suck food out of poor countries because they can pay more for it than the poor can afford. This happens both directly with food exports and indirectly with the export of crops such as tea, coffee, tobacco and flowers that take land and water needed for local food production.



Carbon emissions and thus global warming is another serious problem that is related to population. Of course the growing CO2 emissions in India and China need to be tackled with new cleaner technologies. But again the developed world contributes far more per head than the developing world.



My conclusion is that population control might help slow the environmental problems being caused by mankind but for real impact we need to tackle the wasteful habits of rich nations. We need to stop waste and switch to green technologies. We need to walk, cycle and use public transport more. We need to eat locally produced food. We need to stop buying stuff just to keep up with the neighbours.



The good news is that the measures needed to achieve sustainability will not damage our quality of life 鈥?they will enhance it. Local food will be fresher and will not include as much meat (which is damaging to health). Exercise will make us feel better. Buying less stuff will mean we will need to work fewer hours and so will have more time to enjoy ourselves.



Best wishes for a more sustainable world.Population Growth Issues and Problems?Countries with high population growth have less money to divide up between people for education and medical programs. It is also harder to feed everyone. Subsistance farmers need workers so they often have many kids to do the work.



The problems with countries with low population growth don't have enough people to fill jobs, the elderly greatly out number young workers who in some countries pay into funds for them (ex: social security). Some European countries are in this situation, some parts of Japan do to I believe.Population Growth Issues and Problems?I think we need to look at (at least) two factors to answer the question: carbon footprint and local sustenance. For example, we would expect the carbon footprint of a person living in the U.S. to be larger than the footprint of a person living in rural Afghanistan. We also need to look at the resource availability to support the local population (sustenance) - such as water, food, and medical care. We probably need to come up with some type of mathematically derived metric based on data to quantify these factors. I'm sure there are other factors that I'm missing that should also be included.Population Growth Issues and Problems?
I'm a fan of birth control in the water, any human with over 3 children now a days should be shot