"There's too many people on this earth. We need another plague." - Dwight Schrute

Hello!

Hope you had a wonderful week since my last post. If you love the Office as much as I do, you'll know that the title of this blog post is something Dwight said at PB and J's wedding. 

Anyway, today I would like talk the population issue. It is a broad and complex issue, but I shall do my best to keep my argument as brief and compact as possible. 

As you are (hopefully) well aware, the global population gets bigger and bigger each year. Although the global birth rate may be low, as a result of momentum, we are still experiencing a large increase in population. We have yet to reach the plateau, assuming there is one. 

Just to generally introduce you to the issue of the growing global population, I made this GIF using data about world population. 

Click here to see the gif a little bigger!

The darker green a country is, the greater the population is. I classified the data into quantiles. There are several trends that this GIF shows. One is that many African and South American countries are increasing in population as time passes. This occurs because as a country transitions into a developed country, the population increases. Urbanization is large reason why these countries' populations are increasing. Another trend is that the populations of some European countries is decreasing. This is typical of a post-industrial country. Quality of life is good, so people tend to have less children because more people live in cities. Despite the decreasing population of these post-industrial countries, the world population continues to grow at an alarming rate.

With this increased population comes a plethora of issues. Resources are already tight, but with well over 7 billion people in the future, what will life be like? My guess: not very good.

What are some issues that may result of this booming population?

Now I would like to discuss two challenges that we currently face with the population issue. These challenges include: urbanization and family planning.

Urbanization

I found this interesting info graphic. This info graphic shows how population growth and urbanization are connected. From now to the year 2100, a lot will change regarding population. Not only will there be more people, but there will be more cities and more people living in those cities. As more and more countries become developed, urbanization occurs. Although cities are great places because they generally have more diversity and opportunities than towns or rural areas have, they also require a lot of resources and generally have a lot of pollution. China's cities, for example, are producing a lot of pollution as their economy continues to boom. Because many countries are transitioning into becoming developed, there will be many more challenges regarding the environment. Space, pollution, and resources are all environmental challenges that occur with urbanization. 

China is a great example of this issue. This LA Times article discusses how China's growing middle class population is requiring a greater consumption of resources. The creation of new Chinese cities is a perfect example of urbanization as a country transitions to becoming a developed country. China's cities are a significant contributor to global warming as well.

Click here to see a bigger picture.

Reubold, T. (2013). The Global Population in 2100. Retrieved April, 2014 from http://ensia.com/infographics/the-global-population-in-2100/ 

Family Planning

Did you know that about a quarter of pregnancies are unplanned? Many women desire access to contraceptives, but are unable to get them in poorer countries. Although the fertility rate has fallen in most countries, providing families with contraception could further reduce the potential impact of more people on the earth and its resources. In developing countries, access to basic birth control is a tragic struggle. Many unplanned pregnancies, not surprisingly, also occur in these developing countries. Educating women and providing contraception is key to reducing the number of these unplanned pregnancies. Often cultural and religious views inhibit proper access to contraceptives. Thus, families are burdened with too many children to care for, which is unfair to both the parents and the child. 

In Malaysia, this is a huge issue. Because of cultural and religious reasons, many women don't have easy access to birth control. And what is more tragic is that these women want access, but don't receive it. 

In the 1980's, when Israel made birth control free and easily available to women in Israel, the birth rate decreased dramatically and allowed women to have a more equal with men. This brought several social changes, and in my opinion were good social changes. 

About 222 million women in developing countries desire access to contraceptives. If they received birth control, "unplanned births in those countries would fall by two thirds." That's a lot! It's crucial for families, specifically women, to be educated on family planning and have basic access to contraceptives. This will reduce the severity of the population issue.

-The Green Sasquatch


Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/population/la-fg-population-matters5-20120729-html,0,5897961.htmlstory#axzz2ywAOcbQL

http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/919

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/population/la-fg-population-iran-20120729-html,0,4861001.htmlstory#axzz2ywAOcbQL

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/population/la-fg-population-matters4-20120727-html,0,4128486.htmlstory#axzz2yor3eQ9E

http://www.economist.com/node/21533409/