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Angel Apiado

Professor Johnson-Taylor

ENG 1201 Online

2 August 2019

Human Overpopulation in Third-World Countries and How to Fix It

According to the UN Environment Programme, “150- 200 species become extinct

every 24 hours”. The human overpopulation is rising, resulting in an increase in space

and resources needed. Not only does human overpopulation affect other species, it

negatively affects the Earth’s climate, resources, and the people as well. Dragoş

Grigorescu, a Doctor of Philosophy and words at the Department for Education

Pedagogy, published an article with the main message that “according to most

ethologists, humanity is facing the danger of its disappearance primarily because of

overpopulation”. It is important to address and prioritize this issue because

overconsumption is another major result of the amount of people on Earth. William

Ryerson, CEO of The Population Institute, stresses that many people are unaware that

fresh water may eventually run out. He emphasizes the overconsumption of freshwater,

addressing that “in India, the water table is sinking by about 10 feet a year. ​And more

and more farms are turning to desert as farmers can no longer reach the water, there

are about 150 million people in India now being kept alive through unsustainable

pumping of underground aquifers. When that water returns out, those people will face

immediate starvation”. Starvation is not only an issue that may arise in the future but is

currently a problem globally. Dennis Deimick, in ​As World’s Population Booms, Will Its
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Resource Be Enough for Us?, ​states the issue that “more than 800 million people

worldwide don’t have enough to eat now”.

Many people are unaware of how serious of a problem human overpopulation is.

is. In fact, on the 4th Annual 2010 ​Earth Day, ​random people were asked, “What is the

main cause of climate change?”. Majority of the answers were cars, garbage, and the

burning of fossil fuels. Many people fail to realize that the main contributor to climate

change is human overpopulation.

Fig. 1 This chart shows the population projection to 2050 (UN 2016).

​Dennis Dimick states that Demographers view population based on three

factors-- migration, mortality, and migration1. All these factors have a role in the impact

people have on Earth. To reduce the damaging effects of human overpopulation on

Earth and its inhabitants, it is vital for there to be better access to sex education and

contraceptives. Furthermore, there must be promotion of organizations that encourage

family planning and a change in the domination systems to empower women.

1
​ ational
Dimick, Dennis. ​“As World’s Population Booms, Will Its Resource Be Enough for Us?, N
Geographic, 21 September 2014, ​https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news​. Accessed on 7 July 2019.
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To gain a better understanding about human overpopulation, it is important to

discuss what caused the issue and the dire consequences as a result. Stephen Emmott,

a scientist who researches the climate, ecosystems, and how humans affect Earth,

suggests that human overpopulation is a result of three events. These events,

specifically, are the ​Agricultural Revolution​, the ​Industrial Revolution​, and the ​Green

Revolution​. These events have influenced Earth’s future and its occupants and continue

to do so. It is important to note that there were three agricultural “revolution” in history.

The first one happened about 10,000 years ago. During this revolution, animal

domestication and plant cultivation occurred. The second one took place between the

15th and 19th centuries, where agricultural productivity and food mechanization

increased. The third revolution happened between the 1950s and 2000s--aka the ​Green

Revolution​. This revolution happened because the population continued to increase and

there was a need for more food. This revolution included the use of chemical pesticides,

chemical fertilizers, land-use expansion, and increase production in the meat industry.

The aftermath of this revolution was a huge loss of habitat, overfishing, pollution,

​ roduced a lot
decline of species, and destroyed ecosystems. The ​Green Revolution p

more food and decreased the price of food. Additionally, as a result, road networks and

passenger miles expanded. In fact, according to the book ​Ten Billion, ​“In 1960, we flew

62 billion passenger miles. In 1980, we flew 620 billion passenger miles”. Furthermore,

global shipping increased exponentially.

Another alarming effect of the billions of people is the effect on the climate and

on Earth’s resources. Stephen Emmott even stresses the astonishing increase in

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population and its negative effects, stating that, “by 1990, there were about 5 billion

humans. By 1990 initial sign of the consequences of our growth were starting to show”.

He further adds that the demand for water and water needed for production were

skyrocketing. Ten years later, by 2000, the human population reached six billion.

Emmott emphasizes the negative effects of six billion on the planet, revealing that “By

then, there has been accumulation of ​ CO​2 ,​ methane, and other gases in the

atmosphere--as a result of agriculture, land use, and the production, processing, and

transportation of everything we were consuming...” (Emmott). He also stresses another

way that the climate is changing, adding that “1998 had been the warmest year on

record. The 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1998” (Emmott). As a

result of this excess in warmth, “heat waves in Australia (2008), Russia (2010), and the

United States (2012), destroyed up to 40% of grain and corn harvests, and live-stock

died in the tens of thousands as well” (Emmott).

In his book ​10 Billion,​ he emphasizes the human overpopulation’s domino effect,

stressing that “An increasing population accelerates the demand for more water and

more food. Demand for more food increases the need for more land, which accelerates

deforestation. Increasing demand for food also increases food processing and

transportation. All of these accelerate the demand for more energy. This accelerates

greenhouse gas emissions, which further accelerate climate change”. Emmott says that

if humans continue to change the climate, “the Earth may one day become

uninhabitable because climate is one of Earth’s fundamental life support systems, one
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that determines whether or not we humans and millions of other species, are able to live

on this planet”.

Even though human overpopulation is a current issue, there are multiple actions

that can be taken to tackle this problem. One action that can be taken is for government

in third-world countries to help reduce birth-rates by giving its citizens more access to

sex education. Many people have misconceptions and very little information about

contraceptives. For instance, environment reporter ​Zoë Schlanger’s and ​Newsweek’s

Senior Editor Elijah Wolfson’s article, ​Too Many People,​ ​ provides a misconception

about contraceptives. In their article, it states that “many of the women in the ​Marie

Stopes Kibera ​clinic come alone, with no real knowledge of their options. Often they will

have been told by their husband what contraceptive to ask for—usually they are told to

avoid intrauterine devices (IUDs) because it “ ‘makes sex less fun’ ”. Furthermore, in

Christophe Fauchere’s documentary, ​Mother: Caring for 7 Billion, t​ here are published

studies that “estimated ​ that 215 million worldwide who wish to have smaller families

don't use modern family planning. Largely because of informational and cultural

barriers. Many of these women don't want or intend to use it because they have heard it

is dangerous, male partners are opposed, their religion is opposed, or they are leaving

decisions on the number of children up to God”.​ These misconceptions can be cleared

up if a universal education is established. Due to a universal education, more people in

third-world countries will have better access to education. If the citizens, especially the

women and girls, are well informed about sex education, there is a higher change of

them having fewer amount of children. Furthermore, men, as well, will become more
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aware of the importance in stabilizing population and help contribute to the solution of

overpopulation by having less children. As a result of women having less children, they

will have a higher quality of life. They will have the time to find a career and an

education.

Another way for population for third-world countries’ to stabilize is for its

governments to give more access to contraceptives and investing in them. For example,

according to ​Zoë​ ​Schlanger’s and Elijah Wolfson’s article​ Too Many People, “​ providing

access to contraception for every woman in sub-Saharan Africa who wanted it might

prevent 5 million abortions and save the lives of 48, 000 women”. Furthermore,

research from the Guttmacher Institute states that “39 percent of all pregnancies in

sub-Saharan African--an estimated 19 million-- were unintended in 2012. Of those 19

million, the institute estimates 10 million resulted in unplanned births, 3 million

miscarriages and 6 million in abortions, most performed in unsafe conditions”. Zoë

​ lso includes one instance of

Schlanger’s and Elijah Wolfson’s article ​Too Many People a

an unsafe abortion. In Kibera, Kenya, a two-square-mile town populated by at least 200,

000, a girl is found in an alley by a man. The girl is in agonizing pain and wearing a

blood-soaked skirt. After she is found, the man uses a wheelbarrow to get her to a clinic

where the doctor concludes that she had a bad abortion. This girl was lucky to survive

because many other girls in her situation do not end up surviving from a bad abortion.

Another reason why giving better access to contraception is effective in reducing

birth-rates is because the Aspen Institute “estimates that if all women globally had

access to contraceptives they want, the reduction in unwanted pregnancies would

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translate into an 8 to 15 percent reduction in global carbon emissions” which reduces

damage on the planet. Ultimately, providing better access to contraception will save

lives and positively affect women living in third-world countries.

A third reason that shows access to contraception reduces birth-rates is In the

article​ Too Many People, i​ t states that “in the late 1980s, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah

Khomenei ​reversed a pronatal policy meant to produce soldiers for the war against Iraq.

Persuaded that the Iranian economy could not handle the bloated population, he issued

fatwas making contraception available for free at government clinics”2. As a result, “the

fertility rate fell from seven births per woman in 1966 to fewer than two today”.

A reason why governments should invest in contraceptives is that it could help

prevent many unwanted pregnancies and abortions. For example, in American biologist

and Professor Paul R. Ehrlich’s and Anne H. Ehrlich’s article, ​Solving the human

predicament,​ states that “it is likely that as many as 50 million unwanted pregnancies

and tens of millions of abortions (many dangerous) could be avoided each year with an

investment of just $4 billion”. Investing in contraceptives would make modern

contraception and abortion more accessible. As a result, birth-rates would lower and the

population will stabilize.

2
Schlanger, Zoë, and Elijah Wolfson. “Too Many People.” ​Newsweek Global ​vol. 163 no. 25, p 30-41.
Academic Search Complete. A ​ ccessed 7 July 2019.
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Fig. 2 This image shows pie charts representing an estimation of the amount of abortions in North America, Europe,

Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Oceania (World Health Organization 2017).

Another method for stabilizing the population in third-world countries is by

creating or promoting organizations that encourage family planning. An example of this

organization is an organization called ​Population Media Center r​ un by William Ryerson,

CEO of The Population Institute. Ryerson’s main focus with this organization is to inform

women and men about family planning and contraceptive services. Ryerson says that a

big factor in people not using family planning is cultural and informational factors. Also,

he states that many people turn away from contraceptives due to several reasons--

“they’ve heard it’s dangerous, because of misinformation campaign, the husband is

opposed, they think their religion is opposed, or they think it doesn’t work, that God

determines how many children you’re going to have and they have no say in the

matter”. Ryerson also uses statistics to show that many women in Africa avoid
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contraceptives. For example, he states that in Nigeria, “10% of married women [use]

any modern method of contraception, of the 90% nonusers 55% say they never intend

to use a method”. The ​Population Media Center i​ s inspired by Stanford psychologist

Albert van dura’s work. This psychologist studies the influence a role model has on

behavior. Ryerson claims that this organizations “[creates] long-running serialized

melodramas in which key characters very gradually evolve into positive role models for

the audience for things like daughter education, allowing women to choose their own

spouse, use of family planning, spacing and limiting of family size for better health and

economic welfare, and a whole array of other objectives in each country where [they’re]

working”. Ryerson claims that this organization has significantly impacted behavior.

Another way organizations can help stabilize population is by providing

well-organized family planning campaigns. Senior demographer at the Population

Reference Bureau (PRB) Carl Haub stresses the importance of these campaigns,

suggesting that “if you do want a reduced birth rate, then well-organized family planning

campaigns important than economic growth...international aid acts as a catalyst for this.

Monetary assistance is key at the beginning to get these campaigns going”.

Another method that will help reduce the population is by changing the

domination systems, especially those in third-world countries. According to ​Riane Eisler,

President, Center for Partnership Studies and author, ​The Real Wealth of Nations​, she

states the value of many women in third-world countries with low status or no status.

She stresses that “women are basically viewed as they are in very rigid domination

systems, as the technologies of reproduction”. Furthermore, Eisler emphasizes the

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importance of changing the men in these systems, stating that “Overpopulation is a

system of domination systems.. If we want to change that we’ve got to change the

system. You can’t liberate the women without changing the men or you will just end up

with a lot of beaten women. So...changing men’s minds about the humanity of women is

critically important.

One opposing view with overpopulation is that it isn’t a big problem because birth

rates in some countries is decreasing. For instance, Carl Haub states that “even in

places traditionally associated with rapid population growth, such as Bangladesh, birth

rates have fallen considerably over the last generation.” Despite this growth rate other

third-world countries’ birth rates aren’t decreasing. One example is, according to ​Leo

Hickman’s article ​Can a finite planet cope with its population explosion?,​ sub-Saharan

Africa, the average children a woman will have is six or more and isn’t decreasing.
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Fig. 3 This graph shows average fertility rate (the average number of children women have) in 10 countries, in 2017

(Global Burden of Disease).

Another opposing view is that overconsumption is the problem, not

overpopulation. Paul Ehrlich, an American biologist and a professor of Population

Studies at Stanford University, states that technology has been able to help support the

large amounts of people. Also, he includes that ​The Green Revolution​, which have used

​ as helped provide for the

technology to increase agricultural production globally,​ h

billions of people on the planet. Despite the effects of technology in ​The Green

​ e stresses that people will “muddle through for the next 50 years, but
Revolution, h

sooner or later it will catch up with us” (Ehrlich). Paul Ehrlich also suggests that

overpopulation is a complicated problem and should just be accepted. He suggests that

the people move forward and focus on the main consequences of human

overpopulation which is overconsumption.

Human overpopulation is a major problem globally and more people should be

aware of it. Many people are affected by especially those in third-world countries due to

a lack of resources needed to help lower birth-rates. One of those ways is by taking

action in stabilizing population. If there is no action taken towards the increasing

population, more and more people will suffer. Also, eventually, there will be mass

starvation and more inhumane deaths will inevitably come.

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Works Cited

​ November 2018.
“Average Fertility Rate Graph.” ​BBC News. 9

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46118103​. Accessed 27 July2019.

Dimick, Dennis. ​“As World’s Population Booms, Will Its Resource Be Enough for Us?,

National Geographic, 21 September 2014,

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news​. Accessed on 7 July 2019.

“Distribution of Abortions Pie Chart.” ​World Health Organization. ​Web. 28 September

2017.

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-09-2017-worldwide-an-estimated-25-mil

lion-unsafe-abortions-occur-each-year​. Accessed 27 July 2019.

Ehrlich, Paul R., and Anne H. Ehrlich. “Solving the human predicament.” ​International

Journal of Environmental Studies v​ ol. 69 no. 4, p557-65. ​Academic Search

​ oi: 10.1080/00207233.2012.693281. Accessed 7 July 2019.

Complete d

Grigorescu, Dragoş. “Education, Ethology, and The Problem of Overpopulation.” ​Jus et

Civitas ​vol. V (LXIX) no 2, p 53-8. ​Academic Search Complete. ​Accessed 7 July

2019.

Hickman, Leo. “Can a finite planet cope with its population explosion?” ​CCPA Monitor

vol. 17 no. 9, p22-4. ​Academic Search Complete. ​Accessed 7 July 2019.

“Human Overpopulation Projection.” ​The United Nations Development Programme,

2016,

http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2016_human_development_report.pdf​. Web.

Accessed 27 July 2019.

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KPBS, and William Ryerson. “Leading Expert Talks Overpopulation At SDSU.” ​Leading

Expert Talks Overpopulation At SDSU​, 30 Jan. 2013,

www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jan/30/leading-expert-talks-overpopulation-sdsu/.

Accessed 7 July 2019.

Mother: Caring for 7 Billion.​ Directed by Christophe Fauche, starring ​Dr. Paul Ehrlich​,

Riane Eisler​, ​Mathis W​ackernagel, Tiroir A Films Productions LLC, 2011.

Amazon Prime,

https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Billion-Dr-Paul-Ehrlich/dp/B01IUV0FQ4

Schlanger, Zoë, and Elijah Wolfson. “Too Many People.” ​Newsweek Global ​vol. 163 no.

​ ccessed 7 July 2019.

25, p 30-41. ​Academic Search Complete. A