by Pattarapan Wanitchai

Created on: August 28, 2010   Last Updated: August 29, 2010

On account of population growth having dramatically increased in recent years, the world’s population has hit approximately seven billion. Considering the imbalance between the population and limited resources, overpopulation leads to many sources of difficulty.

Firstly, many people in undeveloped countries are suffering from poverty and starvation inasmuch as there are some barriers to their opportunities. For example, the availability of occupations is inadequate to meet the demand, and the number of schools is also out of proportion with the number of children. So, when people are unemployed and uneducated, poverty - the most influential cause of starvation - will ensue.

Another widespread problem is pollution. More population brings on more energy consumption. Consequently, pollution which is the waste of the consumption is presently extensive throughout the world. If the pollution continues, there will be many environmental issues such as global warming and contamination of drinking water and toxic substances.

As the last point, the extinction of plants and animals, resulting significantly from the depletion of natural resources, also occurs partially from overpopulation, seeing that a large number of forests are destroyed for settlements and industries. Thus, plants and animals, which are obviously interdependent with forests, will come gradually to an end, and perhaps, regardless of how much the world’s population is, if this problem is unceasing, the human race will become extinct, too.

However, there are many solutions to this problem, and the first solution is to prevent the likelihood of pregnancy. The most common way is to use condoms in course of sexual activities. The second way is hormonal contraception which is available in both digestible and inject-able forms. Sterilization is the last method, and this method is the most efficient in that it stays permanent and is also done only once. Notwithstanding how effectiveness of each method is, there should be organizations which advise and educate people on how to effectively prevent pregnancy.

Another solution is to enforce the regulation of birth quotas - how many children married couples can have. For instance, without any additional payments, each couple can legitimately have only one child. In case that they desire to have more children, they have to pay higher extra taxes. The more children they have, the more they have to pay. Furthermore, this solution also prevents couples from the privation occurring from having too many children.

The last, ultimate solution is to build space habitats. This solution may sound peculiar these days. However, by virtue of technology development which changes rapidly, it may be possible in the near future. Truly, overpopulation results from not only an increase in births but also a decline in mortality rates. Therefore, when the population is immensely excessive and birth control cannot cope with the situation, building space habitats may be the only appropriate solution.

On the whole, even though dealing with the world’s population is an arduous task, it should seriously be a concern for the sake of us, mankind.

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