The world’s population has experienced continuous growth for centuries. The current world’s population stands at 7.8 billion. The global population is still increasing and is projected to reach about 10 billion in 2050. The rapid growth of the human population is becoming a huge issue. The reason that is becoming a concern is that it has affected numerous aspects of our lives, such as the economic, environmental, and social aspects of our world. Various mathematical methods can be used to model population dynamics. Some of the models that are commonly used are exponential growth and logistic growth models (Khan Academy, 2019). With regard to exponential growth, population per capita growth increases in proportion to the population, making the world's population increase rapidly as the population gets larger (Khan Academy, 2019). The world's population grows exponentially, but the growth depends on the availability of resources. Exponential growth produces a J-shaped curve (Khan Academy, 2019). With regard to logistic growth, the growth gets smaller as the size of the population approaches reaches the carrying capacity (K) in terms of resource availability (Khan Academy, 2019). Logistic growth produces an S-shaped curve. The critical concept of exponential growth is that as the population gets larger, the growth rate increases. Figure 1, which is shown in Appendix A, linearly illustrates how a population grows exponentially. The curve, which is usually referred to as the J-curve shows, demonstrates that the human population grows exponentially. If the population growth outgrows the availability of resources, the growth rate will slow. This is because most of the world's available resources will be used up. With regard to logistic growth, when it starts to get used up, the growth rate starts to decline. Eventually, the rate will level off. This will result in an S-shaped curve, such as the one shown in figure 2 in Appendix B. The population size at which the growth rate plateaus is referred to as the carrying capacity (K). In other words, K is the maximum capacity a particular environment can support. The carrying capacity of an environment depends on the availability of resources. The more resources, the higher the carrying capacity. Currently, our planet is facing a number of environmental challenges. Environmental issues like water shortages, climate change, and pollution are affecting our world. The rapid growth of the human population, which leads to overpopulation, is one of the main contributors to these environmental issues. The rapid increase in the world's population will place great demands on resources and land. Apart from resulting in environmental issues, this may also impact global economies ad standards of living. Numerous factors drive population growth. Some of these factors include poverty, poor contraceptive use, child labor, reduced mortality rates, and fertility treatment. Poverty is believed to be one of the main factors leading to population growth or overpopulation. Impoverished regions see large booms in population for a number of reasons, including lack of educational resources and high birth rates. According to the United Nations (UN), the world’s 48 poorest countries significantly contribute to the world’s population growth (The Borgen Projet, 2019). The population of the 48 poorest countries was 850 million in 2010, and this figure is projected to double to 1.7 billion in 2050 (The Borgen Project, 2019). The second issue that is driving population growth is poor contraceptive use. Poor planning can lead to unexpected pregnancies. This issue is exacerbated in countries or regions that are underdeveloped. According to a study done by World Health Organization (WHO), the use of contraceptives drops to 43 percent in nations that are characterized by poverty, leading to higher birth rates (Creanga, Gillespie, Karklins, & Tsui, 2011). Child labor is still being extensively used. According to a study done by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) , approximately 150 million children are currently working. It is vital to note that child labor is critical in nations that have few child labor laws (Renewable Resources Co, 2016). Other factors that drive population growth are reduced mortality rate and fertility treatment (Renewable Resources Co, 2016). Improvement in medical technology has practically eradicated many serious diseases and thus has led to lower mortality rates. Also, improved mortality treatment has made it possible for couples who were infertile to conceive children. All the factors discussed above drive the world’s population growth. If the factors discussed above are not addressed, the world’s population will keep growing at an exponential rate. This will result in a lot of issues. Some of these issues include a lack of natural resources, lower life expectancy, extinction, increased intensive farming, and faster climate change. If the world's population keeps growing exponentially, it will place a greater demand on the world's natural resources, especially water. Given that only 1 percent of the world’s water is fresh and accessible, greater demand will result in a lot of issues. More to this that people that are already living in impoverished areas are at greater risk. Apart from fresh, other resources that will be consumed at record rates if the trend continues are food and fossil fuels. Farming practices have evolved to meet the demand, and this is causing a lot of damage to the ecosystem and the land. Underdeveloped nations contribute to a large proportion of the world's population growth. If the population in less developed countries continues to grow, the resources in these areas will be stretched such that these nations have thinner resources. This will result in less access to medical care, fresh water, and employment opportunities. This will, in turn, result in a fall in life expectancy. The effect of population growth on wildlife is another issue. As the population continues to grow, the demand for land will grow as well. This will lead to the destruction of natural habitats. Some scientists warn that if the population continues to grow, the number of species in the world will continue to decrease (Renewable Resources Co, 2016). More to this, scientists warn that some wildlife species will be at risk of extinction if the trend continues.
The increase in population growth correlates to climate change. Developed countries that are highly populated, such as China and India, continue to develop their industrial capacities (Renewable Resources Co, 2016). These two countries, among others, including America, significantly contribute to global emissions. As the population continues to increase exponentially, human activities also continue to increase, and this is changing our climate. Larger populations may speed these changes up, especially if no measures are taken to reduce individual carbon footprints on a wide scale.
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Conclusion
The world’s population is growing exponentially. Many factors are contributing to this exponential growth. Some of the factors discussed in this paper are poverty, poor contraceptive use, child labor, reduced mortality rates, and fertility treatment. If these factors are not addressed, the growth will result in a lot of issues. Some of the issues that may arise include a lack of natural resources, lower life expectancy, extinction, increased intensive farming, and faster climate change. Thus, there is a need to address the issue of rapid population growth, especially in developing countries.
References
Creanga, A., Gillespie, D., Karklins, S., & Tsui, A. (2011). Low use of contraception among poor women in Africa: an equity issue. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89 : 258-266. doi: 10.2471/BLT.10.083329.
Khan Academy. (2019). Exponential and Logistic growth. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/population-growth-and-regulation/a/exponential-logistic-growth . Accessed December 16, 2019.
Renewable Resources Co. (2016).Overpopulation: The causes, effect, and potential solutions. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/overpopulation-causes-effects-solutions/ . Accessed December 16, 2019.
The Borgen Project. (N.d). Poverty and Overpopulation. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://borgenproject.org/poverty-and-overpopulation/ . Accessed December 16, 2019.
