Blog #9: Why current population growth is costing us the Earth

Estimates say that by 2050 world population will reach 9 billion. Every hour 10,000 people are being added to the population. Since 1800 the population has been affecting climate change, food, water, energy, pollution, and our impact on the planet. There already is not enough food, water, and energy to go around. If the population does reach 9 billion then there will be many more problems that we have to deal with. We need energy to grow food and right now we are using cheap oil. Oil has already reached its peak which is causing the prices to increase. This means that food prices will also increase. As the population grows the resources to sustain life are shrinking.

The more people there are the harder it will be to deal with the problems associated with the growing population. There is already not enough food for everyone which is causing food riots. Natural resources such as oil, coal, and natural gas are not only bad for the environment but we rely on them so much to fit our energy needs. These resources are limited and if we keep using them at the current rate then they are going to run out much more quickly than we thought. With the growing population we are going to need more resources to fit our energy needs. Because of the lack of energy to grow food more people are starving and being forced into poverty. As the population grows more people will be starving and in poverty. The rich can afford the higher prices on food and other necessities. So it does not bother them that prices are increasing, but to the poor it does matter. They do not have the money or the resources to afford food, contraceptives, and birth control to control their birth rates. The population is growing mostly in the less developed countries because of their lack of resources. Population Matters is an organization the campaigns to stabilize the global population. They try to increase the resources for family planning in the less developed countries.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/23/why-population-growth-costs-the-earth-roger