31
Mar

How Human Overpopulation Affects the Environment

Published on March 31st, 2023

As of this past November, there’s over eight billion people on the planet. Projections estimate we will hit over 9 billion people by 2037 before we peak in the 2080’s at 10.4 billion people. 

The global human population has been rapidly increasing over the past seven decades due to a variety of factors.  Improved diets, advanced medical care, and improved living conditions have led to longer lives and more people than ever before being born.

While these are obviously positive developments for humanity, the global population boom has had a detrimental impact on Earth’s resources and on the environment. In this article we’ll discuss how human overpopulation impacts the environment and discuss how our world is affected by unlimited growth.

How Human Overpopulation Affects the Environment

Overpopulation affects the environment in many ways. One is through the consumption of the basic necessities human beings need to survive. The reality is Earth has a finite number of resources available for humans. It seems obvious, but the more people there are on the Earth, the greater the strain on these resources.

More people on Earth means a greater amount of food produced. This means an increase in agricultural production and the elimination of forests that house entire ecosystems. Humans also require fresh water both for hydration and agriculture, which means that our natural reservoirs are put under greater strain. More people means more housing, which translates to areas previously designated for wildlife being developed for human habitation.

Another way overpopulation contributes to environmental degradation is through production. More people in the world means a greater number of products produced, more fracking, more oil drilling, more drivers on the road, and ultimately more CO2 and pollution projected into the atmosphere.

All of these activities lead to a depletion of natural resources, deforestation, the destruction of habitats, mass die offs of plant/animal life, air and water pollution, and ultimately climate change. Unfortunately, the effects of overpopulation on our environment are not theoretical observations. There are real observable examples of how this is impacting our everyday lives.

Examples of Environmental Issues Caused by Overpopulation

Here at CAPS, we’ve written extensively about how overpopulation impacts the environment. Our beautiful home state of California is a textbook case of a place that is facing the environmental consequences of overpopulation.

In the past year we’ve written articles showing how weather events like storms, floods, drought, and wildfires are all exacerbated by overpopulation induced climate change in our state. Multiple extreme weather events in California are linked with human overpopulation.

The rest of the country isn’t immune from overpopulation woes either. We also cited how the population boom in Utah is also causing similar environmental issues in certain parts of the state. One recent report issued a stark warning about a looming mass extinction event for plants and animals in this country due to changing habitats impacted by human beings.

This is a global issue and it’s going to require everyone around the world working together to solve it. Unless we get serious about it, we are all going to feel the effects of overpopulation on the environment sooner rather than later.

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