What will overpopulation lead to

At present there is still space enough on Earth for humans, wildlife and wild places, but can this be maintained? Overpopulation of a species is the term used when the numbers of that species start to exceed the resources available to sustain them. This can be caused by an increase in the number of babies being born and also by the population living longer lives. Modern medical advances mean that people in developed countries are now living much longer lives than in the past.

There are around 80 million births each year globally and, together with lower death rates, this means that the human population has been growing by another billion people roughly every 12 years. This increase is dramatically faster than it was even years ago see table in next section. Research consistently shows that women who are empowered through education tend to have fewer children and have them later.

If and when they do become mothers, they tend to be healthier and raise healthier children, who then also stay in school longer. Indeed, educating girls can transform whole communities. The relationship between education, fertility and national poverty is a direct one.

No projections are set in stone — all are contingent on what extent fertility rates will sway over the next century. And, as Prof.

For instance, in the s, said Prof. Holman, the economist Julian Simon and ecologist Paul Ehrlich went on tour together, with a series of debates about the consequences of population growth.

Holman, adding:. Positive population growth guarantees that we will, someday, hit some hard limits. A study finds that the costs associated with obesity are likely to account for an average of 3. A small study suggests that oral ketone supplementation for 14 days may improve brain blood flow and function in people with obesity.

A new study in rats investigates how a high fat diet significantly disrupts their natural night-day rhythms in eating behavior, promoting obesity.

New research suggests that improving fitness is at least as effective as weight loss for staving off obesity-related cardiovascular disease and…. Will overpopulation lead to public health catastrophe? Written by David McNamee on October 29, Fertility rates declining more slowly in Africa than previously reported.

How will population growth affect developing countries? Overpopulation and the environment. Share on Pinterest An educated female workforce has financial independence and more control over reproduction. How to reduce fertility in a morally acceptable way? Scientists identify new cause of vascular injury in type 2 diabetes. We remember them. These are the real implications of PMC shows. There is good news. The solutions to our social and environmental challenges are many, and they are progressive.

Your donation helps solve some of today's most pressing challenges. Conversations about overpopulation can quickly become controversial because they beg the question: Who exactly is the cause of the problem and what, if anything, should be done about it? But with a population approaching 8 billion, even if everyone adopted a relatively low material standard of living like the one currently found in Papua New Guinea , it would still push Earth to its ecological breaking point.

Incredibly, the average person in the United States uses almost five times more than the sustainable yield of the planet. Experts say this has been the case every year since , with each successive year becoming more and more damaging.

Today the Earth is home to more than 7. By the population is on track to hit Many factors contribute to these unsustainable trends, including falling mortality rates, underutilized contraception, and a lack of education for girls. The primary and perhaps most obvious cause of population growth is an imbalance between births and deaths. The infant mortality rate has decreased globally, with 4. This is welcome public health news, of course. At the same time, lifespans are increasing around the world.

Those of us who are alive today will likely live much longer than most of our ancestors. Global average life expectancy has more than doubled since , thanks to advancements in medicine, technology, and general hygiene. Falling mortality rates are certainly nothing to complain about either, but widespread longevity does contribute to the mathematics of increasing population numbers.