The increase in the world’s population has often
been a topic of heated debate and concern over the last fifty years or so,
however the issue is perhaps even more of an urgent issue to address when
considering other current hot topics such as climate change, immigration and
the availability and distribution of the world’s resources.
A fortunate few live in HAPPY; it’s located
in PERRY County Kentucky about 8
miles south of the local county seat, Hazard.
The population was 534 in 2000 but by July of 2014 the population had sky-rocked
to 850; considering that the “land area” of the community totals 3.3840 square
miles, most folks here consider the latter number tolerable especially since
it’s still a “Red Light Free” municipality. The anchor business establishments
in Happy include the U S Post Office, an elementary school (RW Combs),
an IGA grocery, and a NAPA Auto Parts Store.
Comparatively speaking, the 2014 population estimate
for the Commonwealth of KY was 4,413,457 and the U S 2014 population was 318,857,056,
living, breathing, eating folks; that’s 4.36% of the world’s population, which is
believed to have exceeded 7 billion (7,000,000,000) in early 2015 and by 2050
the world’s population is expected to reach around 9 billion (9,000,000.000). Before your heart seizes you ought to know
there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon . . . at least according to the latest United
Nations projections, the world population will peak at just above 10 billion (10,000,000,000)
persons in 2100.
In the mean-time you might have a look at the
map depicted below: 
Now
compare the
top 10 most populist countries by population in 2015 (as opposed to 2014):
1. China 1,400,205,222
2. India 1,279,394,414
3. United States 324,565,322
4. Indonesia 255,126,788
5. Brazil 203,342,836
6. Pakistan 187,491,343
7. Nigeria 182,422,544
8. Bangladesh 160,019,436
9. Russia 142,183,759
10.
Japan
126,888,161
In this circumstance, less is probably
better; trouble is; of the leading countries in this category, only Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, and Japan managed to reduce their numbers during 2014.
Never-the-less, world population growth, world wide is now at a rate of around
1.14% per year. Not that bad really,
especially when you realize that the annual growth rate reached its peak in 1963,
when it was at 2.19%.
At this time (2015) the annual growth rate is
declining and is projected to continue to wane in the coming years. Currently,
it is estimated that it will become less than 1% by 2020 and less than 0.5% by
2050. Simply put, this means the world’s
population will continue to grow in the 21st century, but at a
slower pace compared to the past few years.
By 2030 India’s population is expected to top
China’s, thus becoming the most populous country in the world. Nigeria’s population is projected to surpass
the U.S. population by 2045 to become the third-most populated country in the
world and start to rival China by the end of the 21st century, with
almost 1 billion people by 2100.
Sooo, why all the concern? . . . The simple fact
is the resources of the earth are not boundless. The earth is limited to what it can yield,
and as yet we have no other place to go. We may marvel at our technology but we
on occasion forget that the fundamentals on which we depend are the availability
and distribution of fresh water (just ask anybody
in California these days), fertility
of the soil, access to sustainable energy supplies and resources, and let’s not
forget a stable climate. Above all we depend on the stability of what we might
consider the earth’s “natural” systems. For example the breathable atmosphere
is less than 5 miles deep or you might ponder on the notion that a few reports have
suggested that we have already lost 80% of the fish in the oceans.
The immediate issue is that the world’s
increasing population is placing more strain on the Mother Earth’s resources
than she can cope with. If everybody worldwide were to live even at the current
living standard of the developed world, then we would be at a population
beyond sustainability because there is an untold number of folks in the world
today that simply do without many of the items you consider essential – you know
little things like enough clean water to drink and an adequate food supply!
In the end, the natural order is likely to re-assert
itself, as it has done on several occasions in the past with plagues and such. Some
say Mother Earth will simply reduce the human population to a sustainable
number when absolutely necessary. These folks say the only real question is
will it be through conflict, starvation or disease.
It’s been proven over and over again that the
initial population boom experienced by various developing or lesser
technologically advanced nations such as those found in Asia, Africa, Oceania,
and Latin America, often called Third World countries, do not continue on that
path for more than one or two generations. This is primarily because as women
are given access to birth control and education, the desired number of children
dramatically declines. Men and women become more apt to delay having children
until they complete their college education and begin a career. This action
takes at least a decade off of their childbearing years.
Controlling the world’s population is always
going to be challenging; because as birth rates drop the ageing population is
constantly increasing, never-the-less it has to be tackled sometime, and it’s
not going to get any easier.
On the
other-hand
. . . some folks claim population growth will force scientific advancement to
help sustain the population level.
Sources:
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