A big issue in the world today is intense human population growth. reasons for this recent, rapid, boom is due to expansion of agriculture and industrial production with lower death rates because of better hygene and medical technological advances. so right now the number of births and immigration is far surpassing that of the emmigrating and dying. because there are so many people for the earth to sustain, its resources have been, and will continue to dwindle. especially us americans, we tend to overconsume and therefore our "ecological footprint" is too big for our own good.
Yes, of course the fertility, and birth rates need to be controlled, but that's easier said than done. becasue of culture, and tradition, it is hard for some families and communities in developing countries, to "break the mold" and change the standards that define how a family is supposed to look. for example, India, yes... India. although we hear about it ALL THE TIME, its true, there are too many people. a factor of this problem is lack of educated women. traditionally, in India, a man runs the household, and has sole sayso on what happens within his family; including number of children. to the wife's liking or dislike she will have as many children as he wants; usually until she has a boy or two. but until then, she is stuck with, what seems like, five or so girls....that nobody wants. these girls are a burden, and as soon as the father can rid himself of her, she gets married...and the whole process starts all over again. this leaves an economically struggling nation with an out of control (and growing) population, with no means of sustaining them, or providing them with chances to enhance each and every person's (including women's) quality of life. thus, the need for family planning is evident.
explosion of human population is an issue that is hard to solve. an easier task would be eduacating the masses on how much damage our "privledged" countries are doing. currently the united states is the leader for overconsumption. it is time that we distinguish between "necessities", and "wants". if everyone lived off of pure necessity, the world would be in fine condition. but because we are so frivolous, and in constant desire of ... everything we are deeply affecting the natural wonder of this earth. because of pollution, and degredation of many natural habitats our resources are becoming scarce. basically we have too many people with too little of supplies. it is time for people to wake up and have some respect for this awesome place we live in (not necessarily Bakersfield). i think too many times, we take things for granted, and if we keep up the style of living it might all be gone.
so yeah... recycle, and give a tree a hug!
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Hi Dr. Singh!
This is Isabella B. So I was just wondering what you think will happen when the population reaches a maximum and how we as humans will have to deal with this. I keep reading predictions which state that 2050 marks the year that all human necessities (animals, fish, etc...) will die out or reach extreme endangerment. How do you think the government will deal with this? Do you think that every person or couple should be limited to a certain amount of children? I recently read a TIME Magazine article which showed how China's One Child Policy ended up having negative side effects, in that now that their average citizen has a higher GDP and a better education, they want fewer and fewer children which has reversed population growth into not enough youth and too many elderly people. What are some other solutions? Thank you.
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