Free Slowing Or Halting Population Growth Essay Example

In today’s age, the population is growing at an almost breakneck speed. Modern medicine and technology allows us to take care of ourselves better as well as heal our sick in ways that humans have never dreamed possible. Nearly everything that is happening today concerning the longevity of human life and the size of the world’s population would be considered nothing short of a miracle by those living 1,000 years ago. The concept of slowing or halting this progression would sound like something out of a dystopian novel to many, if it were not for the many obvious downsides that this population growth will eventually yield for the world’s future generations. Several aspects of environmental disaster, a drain on natural resources, and an inability to feed the world’s population are only a few reasons why we, specifically the younger generation, need to begin curbing population growth.
It is no secret that even now, with the world’s population at just over 7 billion, that we are putting a severe strain on the world’s climate. Everything we, as humans, do, leaves a mark on the planet. Whether it is on its surface, in its water, or in its atmosphere, we are damaging the only place we have to live just by living here. Many of our plants and factories, for example, dump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The many miles we drive a year also cause our cars to do the same. Even we, human beings, pump carbon dioxide into the air each time we breathe out. Carbon dioxide is poisonous to humans and helps create what is known as the greenhouse effect, which accounts for the warmer temperatures we have been experiencing over the last several years. It is fortunate that green plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, converting it into oxygen, without which we would die. These green plants are intended to create a cleansing effect on the environment. However, thanks to deforestation to clear paths in order to make room for more of these poisonous factories, we are running out of green plants to help us clean up after ourselves. The more people there are the more factories will be necessary to make goods in order to sustain the population. This will result in more carbon dioxide and less green plants to remove it. The cleansing impact the green plants once had will be erased almost entirely. As a result, the temperatures will continue to rise and the atmosphere will become increasingly unhealthy. The rise in temperature will give way to global warming. Melting of the polar ice caps could effectively cause a shift in ocean currents which could cause major changes in weather patterns. The sea levels may also rise, changing the shapes of land masses and even erasing entire coastal cities. In the worst scenario, this would result in another ice age, killing all life on earth, all because we did not put a stop to population growth.
The speedy population growth also puts a drain on natural resources such as coal and oil. Oil, as many know, is a valuable commodity that our entire transportation industry relies on entirely. Without it we would have no way to get around, with the exception of ancient coal engines, and even coal will run out. The depletion of natural resources would send us back to the Stone Age in many ways. The young generations do not seem to listen about population growth when phrases such as this are uttered but they need to because the effects would be disastrous. Those who are alive now, burning up all of the oil, carelessly using all of the resources, will be dead or dying by the time they are depleted. It will be the younger generations who will have to go without, which is why it is the younger generations in particular who must pay attention. Living life without planes, trains, or automobiles would be next to impossible in this day and age.
Another important reason today’s population should think about halting, or stopping population growth is a lack of food. There are people starving in parts of the world already. 7 billion mouths to feed have already proven to be too many; how does anybody expect us to feed more without breeding hunger, pain, and death? More importantly, relatively small areas that suffer from starvation today will only continue to grow as time passes and the population count continues to rise. Eventually the pain of hunger will be far-reaching and unstoppable. The agricultural industry would struggle to feed the initial 7 billion, while everybody else struggled to stay alive. This, of course, is assuming there was any suitable land left to sustain an agricultural community. Keeping in mind the amount of factories needed to sustain the world’s growing population, land might become an issue. This would make food even scarcer, leaving a larger number of people hungry.
In sum, while halting population growth may seem archaic to some it is actually for the best. Bringing more people into the world does not make any sense if you are not bringing them into a good world. Young people in particular need to worry about population growth. Global warming, greenhouse gasses, and the changing weather patterns will affect them the most because they will be around the longest. Likewise, young people need to heed warnings about the world running out of natural resources. Those who are enjoying the last of the natural resources now will be dead, and not have to worry about the repercussions when there is not enough to go around. Most importantly we all need to consider that there is not enough food to feed the amount of people living on the planet right now, so it is reasonable to think there will not be enough 50 years from now if we continue growing like this. Younger generations will pay the price for the insolence of older generations if they do not speak up and do something about this frivolity. It is time to take a stand so that we are not left to pick up the pieces of a life led by those who could care less about people who would be forced to go without.