Does it really come to a shock that our overall human population is expected to exceed nine billion by the year 2050? Well, when you consider the fact that our population has grown more then two thirds its size since 1963, bringing our overall global population to a mere 6.6 billion, the possibility of a population growth of less then 3 billion people in the next 40 years is a considerably possible task.
It is believed that our overall population growth is the cause for many (if not all) of our environmental issues such as climate change or the loss of other species. We as humans may not realize the great deal of destruction we are causing our own planet Earth.
"Trends such as the loss of half the planets, the depletion of most of its major fisheries and the alternation of its atmosphere and climate are closely related to the fact that human population expanded from mere millions in prehistoric times to over 6 billion today" Robert Engelman of Population Action International.
Our planet Earth has been experiencing many global changes as our population has been increasing. The greatest fear for our future (within the next decade) is that more then half our worlds population will unfortunately experience "Water-stress" or "water-scarce" conditions. In other words this means that in some parts of the world, water will either become very difficult and in some cases almost impossible to find. Another growing concern is our high consumption levels, mainly in developed nations.
For example: The United states of America represents about 4 percent of our intire global population, yet they consume over 25 percent of all resources
The reasoning is that our resources are being unequally distributed. People who have easy access to their resources (DCs) will use more then they need as it is easily accessible, while those in LDCs will consume less and in proportion to what they actually need, rather then wasting their "precious" resources.
Unfortunately these are not the only concerns we are facing in the ne’er future. As LDCs we are creating industrialization, thus contributing to climate change, ozone depletion and over fishing. We are teaching the rest of the world how to become consumption-heavy, creating a global population of over-consumers (which we do not need any more of!)
Lastly, but definitely not least. Are LDCs contributing to any of our Environmental imperatives? Yes. Being less developed, they lack many necessities we have, such as birth control (to control the size of families). This causes a very rapid population growth, resulting in an increase in poverty. Not only is it a case of poverty, but the number of people who suffer from malnourishment, lack of clean water and shelter as well as overcrowding, AIDS and other serious diseases are increasing steadily in their populations.
