Human Population Growth
SCI/230
The population of the world grew at an alarming rate since 1650 to 1950 and onwards. The unprecedented surge in population has caused and is still causing rise in individual consumption of food, water, and exploitation of natural resources like land, water, fossil fuels, minerals, vegetation etc. The combined effects of population growth, consumption, overuse, wastage and misuse of resources has strained the capacity of the earth to sustain life. That’s why the study and control of human population is very important today. In this lesson we are going to study the impact of growth of human population on environment in particular. In addition, explosive growth in human population causes a number of serious problems like food-scarcity, overcrowding, poverty, increasing consumption, encroachment on monuments, stress on common social facilities, stress on civic services etc.
The population growth leading to population explosion causes severe economic disparities and gives birth to - competition for resources, price rise, hunger, malnutrition, and mass starvation.
The gap between the rich and the poor has increased due to population growth. The rich people are exploiting more resources than poor people. Malnutrition is one of the most common effects of these problems. The poorest people in developing countries do not get adequate calories to develop their health properly. In Ethiopia, almost half of all children under age of 5 suffer from malnutrition. Most poor children and adults suffer from severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies. These deficiencies cause failure of senses, mental disorders and damage to vital organs. There are millions of starving people throughout the world. As per estimates, from 5 to 20 million people die of starvation across the world, every year.
There is limited habitable place on the earth. The overpopulation has caused severe stress on land which has further stressed forests and...