Human beings have an enormous impact on the natural environment and high population density is a major factor in all environmental problems. Human population has been exploring, expanding, evolving, conquering, utilizing, civilizing and industrializing for thousands and thousands of years. They are now destroying the very land on which we live. Human beings have an enormous impact on each other also. The needs of the human beings like energy, food, water, clothes, shelter, house etc. not only affect the availability of these resources for long term but also affect the earth's system well-functioning like hydrological cycles, climate systems, and other nutrient cycles in various layers of the earth like biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere.
The global population of the human beings is increasing at a rate of approximately 80 million every year i.e. the size of Germany as reported by the United Nations estimates recently. In the developed countries, the fertility rate is quite low but the population growth is mostly fueled by the high fertility rate in the developing countries, especially in Africa and Asia. Thus, due to high fertility in developing nations and due to low fertility in developed nations, 80 percent of the global population now survive in less developed countries.
Environment degradation is happening because of high population growth or population density. Population density is one of the most important factors in shaping the socio-economic environment. It has a great impact on the natural environment also. Human population affects the carrying capacity of our planet and affects the quality of life as a whole. An analysis of how high population density and population growth impacts the environment is mentioned below:
Earth's carrying capacity: Human interactions with the environment has a great impact on how earth endures the "carrying capacity". The maximum size of the population of any species that can survive in any environment on a long-term basis is defined as the carrying capacity. The carrying capacity changes, when there is a change in the environment. Both natural and social aspects are concerned with the population growth. Different areas have different carrying capacity. Though modern technology can alter it, but normally it happens only for the worse that exerts a pressure on the environment with the population increase. And, when there is degradation in the environment, it is no longer able to support itself as the carrying capacity actually shrinks. For a very long period of time, no population can live in the environment beyond its carrying capacity.
Food Production: Food is one of the most important necessity of the living beings. Food is required for all human beings, animals, livestock etc. Food production is impacted by the environmental aspects of producing the goods. Humans have good food production capabilities. Food production requires land for agriculture and other forms of substance production. A large area of the earth is already cultivated for agriculture. Most of the soil present on the earth are considered as the 'poor soil'. As the population density increases, it affects the farmlands and when enough farmlands are not available, it affects the food production and overall consumption.
Water resources: Other most important resource needed by human beings is the water. Oceans are the biggest source of water on the earth. Human beings need fresh water for day-to-day activities, for industries, for agriculture, and for recreation. Due to the huge population, many countries like Africa, China, India and the Middle East are already facing the severe crisis as there is a lack of fresh water. With the increase in population, other countries like the United States will face the shortages as well. Methods to desalinate the water are also available, but those are very expensive. With the increase in the population, a necessity of our daily survival i.e. water has been impacted.
Generation of waste: More and more waste is dumped into the environment due to destructive activities of human beings. As the human waste increases, the capacity of the environment to absorb more waste is reduced and leads to degradation of the environment. Air, water and noise pollution is increasing day by day due to human waste. As the human population increases, the wastes are increasing which impacts the ecological balance of the environment. For e.g., the material used in the Lithium batteries that are used for powering laptops, computers, electric vehicles and smart phones etc. is impairing a most important bacteria found in the soil called Shewanella oneidensis.
Strain on Forests: The forests have been destroyed by the human beings as they have developed housing colonies, highways, national highways, industries, hydropower projects etc. wiping out the forests. The destructive activities of humans are increasing with the increasing population and produces an imbalance in the ecological system.
Increasing home size's demand on the energy: Human beings are now moving towards building bigger houses with taller ceiling heights. In the United States, it has been observed that homes built after 1990 are 27% larger than the homes built earlier. The homes built in the 1980s were around 1800 square feet on an average. The average rose to 2200 square feet in the 1990s and to 2465 square feet in the 2000s. As the home size increases with greater ceiling heights, the heating and cooling equipment needs more energy. These houses need more lightning and high-energy appliances like the refrigerator. This has a great impact on the environment with the increasing population density.
Greenhouse effect: Due to destructive activities by human beings, the global warming is increasing and climate change has been observed. Due to high population density, greenhouse gasses emission is increasing in the environment. According to a report by UNEP, Buildings and climate change, it has been observed that one-third of the total global greenhouse gas emissions is contributed by the buildings, due to the burning of fossil fuels during their operational phase. The EIA data indicated that 48% of the annual greenhouse gas emission is from building sector in the United States, with 36 % of the direct energy-related GHG emission and 8-12% during the building construction.
These days, since the concept of Home alone is increasing, the increasing population thereby degrades the environment further. 28 percent houses in the United States have just one occupant while in Sweden this number is 47 percent.
Threat to biodiversity: More and more minerals present in the environment have been utilized by the human beings and the situation worsens with the increasing population density. The number of plants present on the earth is decreasing continuously and animals are also being hunted. All these factors, lead to lose of biodiversity and ecological imbalance.
Industrialization: Due to high population density in underdeveloped and developing countries, the policy of heavy industrialization is being followed which leads to the degradation of the environment. Industries like iron and steel, fertilizers, refineries, chemicals impacts the environment a lot as they increase air, land and water pollution.
Land Degradation: Due to high population density, intensive farming is needed which requires usage of pesticides and fertilizers on a large scale. Thus, land and water resources are over-exploited. So, high population density has led to the land degradation in the form of water logging, soil erosion, and salination.
Productivity: Economic productivity and human health are all impacted because of the environmental degradation caused by the destructive activities of the human beings. Air pollution, dirty water, improper sanitation, and land degradation causes serious diseases. The productivity level is also affected by all these activities. For example, Due to water pollution, there are lesser fisheries in ponds, rivers, and canals in both rural and urban areas. The economic activities in villages, cities and towns are also impacted due to the shortage of water.
Transport: The usage of transport vehicles is increasing day-by-day by the increasing population. Now, every person is having his/her own personal vehicle. These automobiles release very poisonous gasses and impacts the environment.
Conclusion
In the conclusion, it can be safely said that Human beings have an enormous impact on the natural environment and high population density is a major factor in all environmental problems. As discussed in all the points above, it is clear that the increasing needs of the human being with increasing population density produces enormous problems for the environment in which we live and this increasing population, if not controlled will be disastrous for the earth. Thus, it is the need of the hour to control the ever-increasing population globally.
Works Cited
E., Staphanie and Clark Reyna. "Population and Environment." Journal of population (2016): 265-390.
fewresources.org. Human Impact on the Environment & Environmental Impact on Humans. 9 November 2015. 15 March 2016 <http://www.fewresources.org/ecological-footprints--human-impact-factors.html>.
Hunter, Lori M. The Environmental Implications of Population Dynamics. Arlington: RAND, 2000.
