Increasing Population & Impact on Environment

The world is the home of 8 billion people distributed over the globe in an uneven pattern. Man is the single most important powerful geographical factor transforming the earth surface at a high pace. Vast areas including the hot and cold deserts, the polar regions, the mountainous region, are either uninhabited or very thinly populated. On the other side , the fertile plains with favourable climate are very densely populated. The Agricultural and Industrial revolution are important ecologically because population numbers and densities are at the heart of the relationship between humans and the natural environment. When there is change in the population, everything is liable to change, including land use, settlement forms, economy, migration patterns and social mobility.

Rapid increase in population remains a significant underlying factor of environmental decline and a risk to sustainable use of natural resources. It diminishes the quality and quantity of natural resources through excessive exploitation, intensive agriculture, and fragmentation of land. Areas with high population pressure experience scarcity of fertile land, resulting in shorter or eliminated fallow periods, reduced soil fertility, and decreased farm income due to land division. Additionally, landless individuals or those with small farms settle or cultivate marginal lands, encroaching on natural forests in search of more available land, which disrupts the balance of carbon absorption and release in the environment. Limited farm income from small-scale farming not only worsens food insecurity for farmers but also hampers their ability to adopt certain climate change adaptation technologies. All relevant parties should take prompt action to address the challenges posed by rapid population growth and change the relationship between population, natural resources, climate change, and adaptation.

Effects of Growth of Population:

1. Depletion of Natural Resources:

The effects of growth are quite severe. The first of these is the depletion of resources. More population means more needs. The Earth can only produce a limited amount of water and food, which is falling short of the current needs. Most of the environmental damage being seen in the last fifty years is because of the growing number of people on the planet.

2. Degradation of Environment :

With the overuse of coal, oil and natural gas, there are certain serious effects on our environment. Rise in the number of vehicles and industries have badly affected the quality of air. Rise in the amount of CO2 emissions leads to global warming. Melting of polar ice caps, changing climate patterns, rise in sea level are few of the consequences that we might have to face due to environmental pollution.

3. Pressure on Infrastructure

Development of infrastructural facilities cannot keep pace with the high growth of population. The result is lack of transportation, communication, housing, education, healthcare etc.

There is an increase in the number of slums, overcrowded houses, traffic congestion etc. It could create immense pressure on nature.

The growth rate seems to have reached its peak now and is expected to slow down gradually in the future. The pressure of population can contribute to human deprivation, especially in poor rural areas where population – resource development is unstable. Rapid population growth has also aroused many problems in cities. The capacity of countries to support growing populations is improved when countries achieve a sufficient, equitable distribution of wealth and natural resources.

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