Population Regulation for Environmental Conservation Essay

In the past few years, the worlds universe of discourse has been steadily rising. At present, global population reaping rate is at 1.167% while world population as of July 2007 is approximately 6.6 billion (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007). Demographers predict that in the prototypic decades of the 21st century, world population will bloat up to another 2 million (Global Science Panel, 2002). The rapid growth of population is very grand due to the massive threats it poses to the environment. In fact, many experts have observed that the increase of population is the major cause of environmental issues (Pebley, 1998, p. 378). This paper has identified three slipway in population negatively affects the environment. For one, an increase in population would mean an increase in the demands for resources. May these resources be natural or manmade, the main supplier of these resources food, water, and raw materials is the environment. The environments resources, however, is limited . It cannot support a continuously increasing population. Scarcity results from this constant demand of resources that the environment cannot provide. At present, the world is experiencing the effects of this scarcity. In southwestern United States, for example, the demand for water exceeded the available water flow. Researches predict that in a decade, water shortage will continue to spread tocopherol and northward (Resources and the Environment, 1972, p. 81). As much as this scarcity affects people, it also affects the other components of the environment such as plants and animals. Plants and animals also compete with humans for resources. Of course, in the rivalry for natural resources, humans obviously have the upper hand (due to technology) while plants and animals are often left to die because of the lack of available sustenance. In extremum cases, scarcity of resources causes the extinction of plant and animal species that cannot compete with others. Second, an increase in population signifies a need for bigger space in which people may put up settlements. Two situations may arise as an answer to this need for space. Either forestland is converted into housing areas (deforestation) or the number of people sustentation per square area of land increases. Usuall(a)y, both situations are implemented. As such, two unlike consequences also arise. The former often results in the destruction of natural habitats, which in turn may also lead to the extinction of species. On the other hand, pollution and poor sanitation arise from the latter. The succeeding discussion further explains this point. Lastly, a bigger population produces larger amounts of toss off. Waste here is often the by-product of consumption. As population increases, consumption also increases. To meet consumer demands, production is also increased. The unserviceable remains of production are disposed of as waste. After the population consumes these products, waste is also the outcome. The danger to the environment comes with waste disposal. Not everyone practices proper waste disposal. In addition, with the increasing volumes of waste products, solid waste management also becomes a problem. Because of these problems caused by population growth, there is a need to regulate the growth of population all over the world. As such, interactions among members of the global community are important because the problem that needs to be addressed encompasses a global scale. With assure to this, it is interesting to note that large increases in population sizes are characteristic of developing countries more than true countries. The 2006 World Data Sheet (2006) shows that more developed countries only exhibited a 0.1 rate of natural increase while less developed countries exhibited a 1.5 1.8 rate of natural increase (p. 5).The main causes for this may be the lack of proper education and awareness regarding birth control methods and family planning among developing countries an d the lack of policies that encourages the population regulation. Therefore, it becomes important that in the international level, leaders of different countries commune to create international policies that push for the regulation of world population especially in developing countries. In the local level, local governments should also grounds for population control in their areas. All these efforts emphasize the need for the interaction of different communities to regulate population. Through all these, it is evident that human beings can greatly affect the environment humans may either affect it positively (through efforts to conserve and preserve the environment) or negatively (as shown by the negative effects of population increase to the environment). At present though, most of the effects of human activities on the environment tend to lean towards the negative end of the spectrum. The environment is suffering a lot because of this massive air, land, and water pollution, dest ruction of natural habitats, and extinction of plant and animal species. In the end, it is clear that something should be done about this destruction of the environment. Otherwise, all things on earth will suffer the grave consequences of this human abuse.ReferencesCentral Intelligence Agency. (2007). The world factbook. Retrieved July 22, 2007 from https//www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/xx.htmlGlobal science panel on sustainable development, The. (2002). Population and Development Re see, 28. Retrieved July 22, 2007 from http//www.jstor.org/view/00987921/sp030002/03x0023w/0Pebley, A. R. (1998). Demography and the environment. Demography, 35. Retrieved July 21, 2007 from http//www.jstor.org/view/00703370/di009189/00p0020b/0Population Reference Bureau. (2006). 2006 world population data sheet. Retrieved July 22, 2007 from http//www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2006/2006WorldPopulationDataSheet.aspxResources and the environment. (1972). Studies in Family P lanning, 3. Retrieved July 21, 2007 from http//www.jstor.org/view/00393665/di961137/96p0083e/0