Population affects a country in more ways than one, from economy growth to labor supply. However, extreme increase in population has significant impact as well. Overpopulation can affect a country and the world in different ways.
1. Negative Effects on the Environment
With the evolution of technology and the increasing demand for transportation and jobs, there has been a rise in the burning of coal, natural gas and oil. All these activities needed to supply the demand of overpopulation lead to more carbon emissions that is harmful to the environment. This hastens global warming is contributory to extreme weather conditions in all parts of the world.
2. Destruction of Natural Resources
With overpopulation, there will also be an increase in the demand for housing, food and water. This has a staggering effect since natural resources are mostly limited like water. Because of the growth of population worldwide, there is also an increase in waste products that contribute to different kinds of pollution like water, noise and air. Moreover, there are those who cut down the forests and convert them to agricultural lands while in some areas, some agricultural lands are converted into residential and industrial structures. In the next years to come, natural resources might be depleted.
3. More Restrictions
As the density of the population increases, governments around the world will have to accommodate the growing demands of the overpopulation as well as control the actions or activities of the people to balance supply and demand. In order to do this, there will be changes in policies and laws while there will also be limitations on what people can do, say, amount of electricity and water consumed.
4. Increase in Unemployment Rate
If a country becomes overpopulated, there will be a demand for more employment opportunities for people to sustain their lives. With more people born each day, the number of students will rise and there will be more graduates each year. Consequently, there will be an increase number of unemployed individuals since the business sectors will not be able to accommodate all the new graduates looking for employment.
5. Higher Poverty Rate
With overpopulation, there will be more demand for food and because of the increase in the gap between supply and demand, the cost of living will also be higher. When this happens, families in the lower and middle income will have a hard time to provide for food, shelter and education. This can also lead to poor nutrition and malnutrition. Also, this can lead to an increase of crime rate because of the need of the people to survive.
6. Prevalence of Diseases
A report from the World Health Organization said that over population and its negative effects on the environment can lead to the prevalence of diseases. This is due to malnutrition that is also an effect of overpopulation. Malnourished people have weaker immune systems and are more susceptible to diseases. The more number of people needing medical attention, the more the problems of inadequate hospitals, medical services and staff will not be solved.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
