POPULATION GROWTH

Although the world population growth rate has decreased in the past years, it still being
a major concern due to each day that passes a greatly amount of people needs to be
fed and housed. At the moment, the world population totals nearly 7 billion. By 2025, it is
estimated to reach 8 billion and by 2050 there will be 2.5 billion more people on earth
than there are nowadays. This increase equals to the entire world population in 1950. If
the world population continues to increase at its current rate, human kind will not be able
to maintain or raise the global standard of living without risking the destruction of the
environment. This issue will reach unsustainable levels and cause worldwide crisis
associated to water resources shortage, energy and power generation as well as food
supply. Governments and global organizations should be aware of this problem and start
building up prevention plans in order to cope with population growth and ensure
sustainability and quality of life for future generations.

Water resource is vital for the execution of several critical activities needed by humans
for their own survival such as continued production of food supply and human
consumption. As the population increases, the demand of fresh water becomes higher
and as a result of this, deficit of fresh water in various parts of the world is potentially
possible. According to Postel (cited in Pimental 1997) up to 70% of the worlds water
resource is consumed for agricultural activities and consequently is not available for
further purposes. For instance, a hectare of corn, which produces approximately 8000

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kg/ha, requires about 5 million liters of water during a growing season (Pimentel, cited in
Pimental, 1998).
In addition to this water issue, a high percentage [approximately 40%] of world
population lives in regions that contend for shared water resources. Therefore, rivalry for
water supply between individuals, industries and countries will increase during the next
years (Gleick, cited in Pimental 1993). Consequently, a powerful social crisis is
approaching and, certainly, outcomes will be economically negative.
Secondly, owing to the rapid population growth it is uncertain if earth will be able to fed
over 9.5 billion people predicted by 2054, especially, if the population diet will still being
based on calories obtained from animal products. Wackernagel (cited in Becker, 2001)
points out that it has been estimated that the triple of resources on Earth would be
needed if people had the same lifestyle of those who live in North America in order to
sustain the ongoing population. Despite the fact that current trading mechanisms and
international commerce can ensure food shortages at the present (Pimental, 1998), food
supply in a 9.5 billion people world context will reach unsustainable levels. This,
certainly, will cause extreme poverty in the majority of countries which will no longer be
able to import food resources from those countries that produce them and are forced to
retain their products in order to ensure their own survival and development. What is
more, serious problems in the agricultural sector will be caused as a result of lack of
water and future societies would not be able to handle this issue appropriately. For
instance, four fifths of the entire world cereal production comes from United States,
Canada, Argentina, and Australia (WRI cited in Pimental, 1998) this arrange is expected
to vary when North American population increases and the grain production will be
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intended for feeding the population instead of exporting it to other countries. In

consequence, food supply will be insufficient to feed the predicted population by 2054
and as a result of this, starving and social crisis will be experienced in several countries.

Finally, it has been demonstrated that the depletion of fossil fuels is accelerated by the
increasing rate of population growth. Approximately 17% of the fossil energy is used for
food production in developed countries (Pimentel & Pimentel cited in Pimental 1998). In
the other hand, developing countries use fossil energy for farming techniques involving
fertilizers and irrigation (Giampietro & Pimentel cited in Pimental, 1998). The utilization
of fossil energy will increase severely and produce a large raise in fuels price which will
be impossible to afford for the majority of countries over the world. In addition, greater
emission of greenhouse gases, which are mostly produced by fossil fuel consumption,
will cause innumerous environmental issues and create a chain reaction of ecological
disruption.

In conclusion, any measure will be sufficient to ensure adequate food supplies, living
conditions and sustainable development for future generations unless the growth in the
human population is simultaneously reduced.

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References
Becker, S. (2001). To the Editor Population Growth. American Journal of Public Health,
91(7), 1139-1140.
Pimental, D. (1998). Population Growth and the Environment: Planetary Stewardship.
Electronic Green Journal, 1(9), 1-10.
Retrieved from; https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8g67g6ng

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