Overpopulation Essay, Research Paper

The Increasing Problem of Overpopulation

While driving down the highway during “rush hour”, one would most likely encounter the horrors of having too many people in one area. While it may seem that the road is somehow inadequate or maybe a car accident has occurred, the problem is most likely the fact that there is no way to compensate for the large number of people traveling on the highway. This type of situation is not only found on the road but almost anywhere in a large city. As time progresses, the major cities of the world attract more and more people to live in them. While the number of people in these cities increases, the cities themselves do not increase in size. The result is a common problem called overpopulation. Overpopulation is a serious problem today because it creates friction and crowding amongst people, depletes resources, and creates large amounts of waste.

Overpopulation causes friction and crowding amongst individuals and groups of people. The previously discussed traffic jam is a perfect example. Similarly, residential areas and commercial areas suffer the same crowded fate. The large number of people naturally leads to confrontation between them. Crowded areas show greater amounts of violence and crime than areas with fewer people.

Overpopulation also depletes resources. Obviously, large crowds of people take up space; and there comes a point when we will just simply run out of room. We can

only have so many people in a given area. Along with living space, food is also used up by overpopulation. There is not always enough food to feed all of the hungry mouths living in these large cities. Overpopulation can create homeless, hungry people simply by using up all of the space and food. Natural resources are also among the most important things used up by overpopulation. Things like water, natural gas, and valuable metals can only go so far and there will come a time when we do not have enough for everyone. Other resources depleted by overpopulation are goods and services. For example, when populations become too high, there are not enough jobs for everyone and not everyone can be provided medical care. Overpopulation has proven to deplete many types of resources that are valuable to our everyday life.

Another horrible thing created by overpopulation is waste. So much trash is produced in these crowded cities that it can never be dealt with. Instead, the trash just becomes litter that dirties the entire city. Another type of waste created in overpopulation is pollution. Car exhausts and other hazardous chemicals pollute the earth in very large quantities in overpopulated cities. Pollution and trash are inevitable results of overpopulation and are hard to reduce in amount. The waste created by overpopulation is very harmful and presents a very serious problem.

Friction and crowding amongst people, depleted resources, and waste are just a few reasons why overpopulation is such a serious problem. What can be done to solve this problem? Why is it that people often think of ways to deal with such things as the deer population, but no one seems to worry about the human population? These questions have no simple answer. It will take a huge effort to begin to solve such a

massive problem. Overpopulation does not have a “quick-fix” and may never truly be dealt with. The population will most likely continue to grow as more and more people are being born, creating even worse overpopulation. And what will happen when the population exceeds it’s maximum? We may have to find out the hard way.