LEARN THINGS THE EASY WAY

Essay on Population Problem - Growth & Explosion

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to

(a) define population problem in the world.

(b) describe world present population.

(c) identify the crisis for overpopulation.

(d) interpret the consequences of overpopulation to environment.


Population Problem

Population problem is a state when a country fails to provide basic needs to its population. According to the world population data sheet of 2017 of the World Bank, the world’s population was 7.53 billion. Since 1800, it has multiplied seven and a half times. The growth rate of the world population is very fast. It is currently growing by approximately 74 million people per year. Overpopulation in a country is now considered as population explosion. Asian especially South Asian and some of the African countries suffer from overpopulation.

Overpopulation in a country causes a lot of problems. It puts pressure on habitation, food supply, education, health care, transport, communication, natural resources, climate etc. In fact, it seriously affects the economic development of a country. The consequences of overpopulation are discussed below:


Accommodation

Overpopulation happens accommodation difficulty. A house is a basic need for human being. The more the people, the more houses are needed. To provide accommodation for the excess population, cultivable lands get occupied. For this shortage of land, houses cannot be constructed following the building code properly. Many people, especially the poorer section of the society remain homeless. That’s why slums are a common sight in almost all the third world countries.


Food

Feeding the people is a great challenge for a densely populated country. Because each country has a limited capacity for production. A lot of people suffer from malnutrition. Even there are people who cannot manage two square meals a day. To handle this overpopulation problem, the country has to import food from foreign countries which costs a lot of foreign currency. In this way, the government of overpopulated country falls in economic trouble.


Education

Education is essential for the development of a country. But an overpopulated country faces great difficulty in providing education to all its citizens. Generally the classrooms of such a country are overcrowded and the number of teachers is not proportionate to the number of students. A good number of children don't even get the opportunity to study in any institution. Seats in the higher educational institutions are also very limited, compared to the number of students. Same thing happens in the job field. Too many candidates have to compete for a post which raises unemployment problem.


Health Care

Health care is one of the most important needs of human life. It’s tough for an overpopulated country to give sufficient health care to its citizens. The number of patients is always bigger than the number of doctors in the hospitals. The facilities in the different sections of treatment are not in proportion to the needs of the patients. So, the authority cannot provide due care to the patients. Moreover, a great number of people are totally deprived of medical care.


Transport and Communication

The effect of overpopulation is severely felt in the transport and communication sector. Overpopulation creates communication complication. There are crowds everywhere – in buses, trains, markets, schools, colleges, streets etc. People climb on the roof of the buses and trains to travel as there is no room inside. This is why traffic jams and street accidents occur often in overpopulated countries.


Natural Resources

Natural resources play a vital role in building a strong economy of a nation. But overpopulation creates great pressure on natural resources. The extra people living in a country consume a lot of these resources and energies which hampers the industrial development to a great extent. Therefore, overpopulation is matter of worry of government in a densely populated country.


Environment

Environmental pollution is a common phenomenon in overpopulated countries. A huge population demands the construction of many buildings. For furnishing those buildings a great amount of timber is needed. To fulfil these demands, we have to cut trees and make bricks which results in pollution and deforestation that is related to an environmental issue. In many other ways, a huge population is responsible for global warming and natural disasters.