Population Growth and its Impact on Environment

 Population Growth and its Impact on Environment



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Population growth has direct impact on the environment. An Increase in population means an increase in consuming more resources and producing vast quantity of waste materials. Presently seven billion and six million people live in this world. It is estimated that world's population will reach 9.2 billion by 2050. The impact of so many people on our environment will be consumption of resources like land, food, water, fossils fuel and production of waste materials like garbage, greenhouse gases and water and air pollutants. Experts in the field

of population and environment worry that this unchecked population growth may result in environmental catastrophe. A quick look at the realities on ground show that the health of our environment has deteriorated because of overpopulation. Increase in population has resulted in heightened demand for fuel, timber, food, clothes and shelter. Consequently more forest have been cleared for ranches, farms and urban use. More factories have been built to fulfil the growing demands of population. More people have moved to cities adding pressure on urban environment of cities. More unwanted materials are thrown away every day, adding to the crust of garbage-mound. The picture of growing population and environmental limitations will become more vivid if we dwell on this problem in some detail.



The conversion of forested areas to non-forest land for uses such as arable land, pasture and urban use is called deforestation. Deforestation can lead to several imbalances in environment and results in decrease in habitat and biodiversity. Urbanization, mining, fires, logging and agricultural activities are few of the causes of deforestation. Forests cover 30% of the earth's land. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an estimated 18 pillion acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest are lost each year. Agriculture, rbanization, poverty, over-population and unequal land access are the main causes of man-made deforestation. If the current rate of deforestation continues, it will take less than a 100 years to destroy all forests on the earth. Urbanization is a process whereby populations move from rural to urban area, enabling cities and towns to grow. It can also be termed as the progressive increase of the number of people living in towns and cities Experts think that future world population growth will be in towns and cities. Much of urban migration is driven by rural populations' desire for the advantages that urban areas offer. Urban advantages include greater opportunities to receive education, health care, and services such as entertainment Urban people change their environment through their.

consumption of food, energy, water, and land. And in turn, the polluted urban environment affects the health and quality of life of the urban population.



Urbanization began during the industrial revolution in the 18th century, when agricultural societies became more industrialized and urban. As a result, workers moved towards manufacturing hubs in cities to obtain jobs in factories as agricultural jobs became less common. Industrialisation has had most severe impact on environment. Huge quantities of pollutants are being let out in the air, water and land by various industries. Industrialization produces a greater amount of waste, both directly as a result of production of goods and indirectly through disposal of those goods once their purpose has been served.


Industrialisation and urbanization is the major cause of waste production. As the world's population has grown and become more urban and affluent, waste production has risen many fold. Every year we dump a massive 2.12 billion tons of waste. By 2025 it will become double of its present production. Rubbish is being generated faster than other environmental pollutants, including greenhouse gases. Plastic clogs the world's oceans and rivers, causing flooding in developing-world cities.


The impact of these factors is so enormous on the environment that scientists use the term "Anthropocene epoch" for our time, which means the dominant influence of humans and their activities on the environment. As the world population continues to grow, more people will use more resources and create more waste. But how many people can earth support? In the view of scientists, the figure ranges from 500 million to more than one trillion. This range is called the carrying capacity of earth'. Whether we have 500 million or one trillion, we still have one planet which has limited resources.


To maintain the delicate balance between population growth and environmental limitations, there is no single easy solution. All options must be part of the solution. First of all, we should educate people about their actions and their effects on the environment. Moreover, we need to reassess our consumption patterns. We need to reduce the amount of resources we consume: take shorter showers in bathing, say no to the use of plastics; buy less andfecycle our waste. If millions around the world adopt this behaviour and manage the growth of population, we will have the opportunity to lead an enjoyable and full life and our future generations will find earth a place, worth living. 

FAO report on forest Forestry - FAO www.fao.org forestry> publications www.worldbank.org> news > 2013/10/30


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