In 2021, The world population was estimated to be around 7.888 billion people, most likely more. The amount of people the earth can sustain according to the Australian Academy of Science falls inbetween 9 to 10 billion. Following that train of thought we are expected to reach 10 billion around the year 2050. When I heard about this, it kind of reminded me of a quote I really liked by Earle Hitchner, which is "The difference between America and England is that Americans think 100 years is a long time, while the English think 100 miles is a long way." 27 years isn't far from now, even if it seems like we have so much time. One of Americas biggest problems is it's shortsighted politics and views, and we really need to start looking into solutions NOW, because with the way we're going now it'll already be too late to intervene when we do.
Overpopulation can and has caused a decrease of quality of life in the countries it impacts, such as more pollution because there's more people contributing to it, and less resources to go around. The demand for necessities is already mismatched by the supplies we need to cater to it, and when we bite off more than we can chew then it causes a shortage all around. Not to mention all this effort in trying to meet those needs will lead to extreme losses of habitats for the native organisms living there (and overexploitation, for meat). There are around 75 Javan Rhinos alive today because of our influences. It's hard to come back from that, because when animals get to that point there's issues of inbreeding and diseases that could wipe them out even with our intervention. We are not a safety net that can bring back any dying species that's still alive. We require resources which we already barely have, and like I said. We cannot guarantee it's survival even in captivity. ALSO, DISEASES! Covid-19 spread unbelievably fast, even after we went into lockdown. The reason why is just because it's super difficult to quarantine 8 billion people. We tried, and our efforts definitely did something, but I can tell you now I know several people that had COVID 3 to 4 times in the span of a year.
It also effects us on an economic level, too! I've already said that supply and demand are heavily impacted by it, because when we need more prices go up, since there's a limited stock. So having obscenely high prices for food and essentials could potentially devastate middle-class citizens and ABSOLUTELY devastate lower class citizens. There are around 582,462 homeless citizens in america, and even more around the globe.
So, having said this, What can we do?
There is no clear solution to Overpopulation that we have that won't lead to an indepth discussion about Human Rights. It's only natural, after all. We are talking about the excess of Human lives, and I'd say even the solutions I give are considered deeply controversial. I ask of you to keep an open mind about it.
Abortion is a topic that many people have some reservations on. There is stuff to be said about the autonomy of both the woman and the baby, and what being alive means. However, I believe if all countries could allow abortion to be legalized without stigma (although that might be difficult) then it'd be MUCH easier to deal with overpopulation. It's not a quick-fix by any means, because there are many other contributors to why our numbers are growing so expotentially, but if terminating pregnancies around the globe was much less figuratively painless then I feel we could combat these rising numbers better.
On that note, I encourage anyone seeing this who's thinking about kids to consider adoption. There are around 391,000 children in the foster system, and 113,000 of those children are currently waiting to be adopted. There are children in need out there, so if that is something you are interested in then I highly suggest it.
If I'm going to talk about Overpopulation, then I need to probably bring up China. I do not agree with their method of curbing it, and here's why.
Their country holds one fifth of the elderly population. There is a prevalance of chronic illness and diseases in china because of this, requiring longterm care. I believe this is the answer as to why China is so overpopulated (even with how big it is). Chinese culture has a lot of emphasis on filial piety, which is caring for ones parents. They need their children to take care of them, but if the Chinese government spent more money on pensions and social security for it's elderly then they would be in a much more sustainable position. The 2 (now 3 as of 6/13/2023) kid policy they have now instilled probably wouldn't have been as much as an issue if their government had just taken care of it's citizens. Instead, they have a skewed sex ratio, a shrinking workforce, and many more problems.
ID: Graph showing the percentage of elderly adults in the US.
I don't think many of these solutions are relevant to YOU, a 9th grader, however. I don't think you can do anything about the Chinese government, and you don't really have to worry about adoption either. (Abortion is a grey area that I won't talk about here). So, what can you do?
Well, me and my friends (I just told them to for this to be honest) sent out an email to their principals to urge them to stress Sexed. It's not much, but we can only do what we can. I also intend to go to the Rally for Roe event on June 23rd in NY for abortion rights. I feel kind of weird saying that because I'm protesting because the amount of people in the world, and not for women.