Overpopulation; The Big Problem
Population isn’t really a big deal if you live in a small town (e.g. Reno), and it may not be of much importance in big cities (e.g.
Las Vegas). By the time you have finished reading this proposal, the world would have already earned around 850 more lives, and by consequence ruined around 480 acres of wildlife. These seem like pretty hefty figures, but this is an accurate representation of how we are subconsciously multiplying, despite of the “big” awareness that many organizations have been bringing up. One of the main problems regarding overpopulation is the fact that we have excessively abused of our natural resources, such as gas or any natural and organic sources, e.g.
deforestation. Another problem is how the growth of landfills has been exponentially increasing along the human population. Lastly, the position that society has placed us in has been deteriorating, with worries and preoccupations about funding more destruction of our habitat. We should help delay overpopulation by using less, recycling more often, and by promoting birth control. As many have probably heard, over-consumption is a widely acknowledged stereotype of the American culture, and being as such, it can be a great contributing factor to this issue. The lack of natural resources which we excessively rely on can be the cause of our extinction.
A study by the Zoological Society of London in 2010 has shown that if we keep up our rate of reliance, “…by 2030 we’ll need the equivalent of two planets’ productive capacity to meet our annual demands.” Can we really expect Mother Nature to keep up with our desires? But what really makes matters worse, is that people are actually conscientious in wanting to rely on these limited provisions! Biofuels are a new tactic that the government has been trying to balance the pending global warming.
With all numbers crunched and variables considered, by the year 2017, 24% of the fuel that the U.S. will supply the common people for fuel will be derived from crops. Mathematically speaking, this is impossible. We don’t have the amount of land needed to grow crops, and produce the sufficient amount of biofuel to support the human consumption in the United States.
How many times have you heard the phrase, “Out of sight, out of mind?” Apparently, this message has been stuck to the mind of the thousands that reside within the U.S. alone. Landfills have been expanding exponentially alongside population graphs. In 1995, a USDA study showed that 27% of food that had been produced in that year has ended up in landfills.
Therefore, it would seem that we are so reliant on these fuels, that we had the nerve to throw away around three month’s worth of food! And where to make space for these disgusting cesspools? Just throw away a bunch of trees in the forest, and there’s some free space that was just laying around in the background. Our craving for wanting to get extraneous junk out of our daily life has caused for the corrosion of our planet’s health. Scientists all agree, and estimate that roughly 20% of the natural wild lands have been swept away to make way for the gutter we want away. “There’s no away to throw to.” — Garret Harden (ACS Environmental Science and Technology Division). Overpopulation also carries its place in politics.
Teenage pregnancy and child marriage are on the rise, and it’s a topic that Congress is really worried about. According to PopulationInstitute.org, a study shows that on a worldwide level, 25,000 girls become child brides on a daily basis. Sub-Saharan African tribes as well as South Asian countries where there are girls that can be married to men significantly older from the age of 8! Regardless of whether or not this is an overpopulation issue, it is sad to know that underage mothers don’t have the opportunity to complete school and receive an education. Consequentially, they have less money to keep up with the demand of another life to maintain.
And we, as teenagers, cannot say that having us as a dependant isn’t a big hardship. There are statistics that show, that on average, when a child is born in the United States to the time they’re 18, $250,000 have been spent on the child. This is obviously a hard lesson that any women faces, especially when they’re so inappropriately aged. Mother Nature is really being hurt from the way that humans have affected her, and she is also wants to fight back. According to the cliche golden rule, if we want to have enough resources to keep this planet strong and give our grandchildren a healthy environment for them to experience, is to help stop overpopulation.
Even though, as one knows, the “difficulties” of abstaining from sex, we must all keep recycling even more, and using less, and making the most of things. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and drink it using recyclable cups.” –Daniel Lopez
