Population Burst
The biggest threat to humanity
We, “The Humans”, are the smartest species that ever walked on earth. We have successfully established a stable global economy, controlled the power of god ( nuclear weapons ) and the first species to step on the moon. ( except aliens, who knows ). The current pace of our achievement has never been witnessed before by any generation. We have conquered the earth and earned the right to use the unlimited resource of our planet. But wait a minute, Does earth have infinite resources?
Resource Consumption
Before proceeding further, we need to understand what resource consumption is. Every living being on earth, whether it is animals and humans, it doesn’t matter if he lives in the villages of Vietnam or inside an apartment in California, he consumes numerous natural resources every day. However, the quantity can matter on the location and the facilities the subject is taking. Even when any person is peacefully sleeping at home, still he is using electricity, it means somewhere some fuel is burning.
There are different type of resources which we can consume, like electricity, water, processed food, oil, fishing, etc. Our society and surroundings are full of supplies. Even right now if you are reading this on a mobile phone, tablet or laptop, you are consuming the resources.
According to Global Footprint Network National Footprint Accounts 2019, If the global population starts living like an American, then we will require around five earth to fulfil our needs.
The Problem
On the one hand, After WWII, which is around 75 years ago, the global population became threefold, and it is prophesied to be over 10 billion around 2070.
On the other hand, we revolutionised industries, agriculture and other areas with technology. We have shown so much innovation there that the living standards of individuals also got multiplied by many times. Now, our resource consumption is way more than it was before.
The problem comes if we combine both of these stats. A massive population, impatiently waiting for high sustenance standards. Our mother earth has an abundance of resources, but all living beings use all those resources. Here is the problem, we greedily used all those resources vigorously because we consider ourselves supreme. We are showing the power tournament here, and other living beings are suffering because of this.
Red and Blue pills
Human beings become very smart now these days. A small number of intelligent people can significantly change the life of the masses. As living standards are inversely proportional to population growth, fate has given two options to humanity. -
- Low standards of living with a huge population.
- High standards of living with a low population
I believe most of us just want 2nd option only.
We already messed up everything!
Natural habitats
Environment and animals are the ones who are severely getting affected by the way we are using sources. Global temperature is increasing, and sea levels are rising — glaciers melting like an ice cube on a table. Marine life is rigorously impacted by it. Many of the species are even dying, and some are on the brink of extinction. We may not be aware of this, but our societies rely on sea life to be stable.
Pollution
Human beings are born to be an explorer, and they love to travel. But not only we create a mess at tourist places; we contribute a lot to pollution. The number of private vehicles is pointedly growing. Souls do not prefer to travel on public transport. We have to look for eco-friendly ways of commuting.
Deforestation
We have to feed our bodies, and for that, we have to remove forests and turn them into agricultural fields. It is reducing the woods and green places all over the globe.
A third of Madagascar’s fossas have disappeared in the last 20 years, a result of the continuous destruction of their forest by people. Only 3% of Madagascar’s rainforest remains. Worldwide, we have now destroyed over half of the forest that once flourished on our planet. Not only we are losing the animals that once lived in them, but we are also changing the climate of the entire globe.
And many more.
What to do now?
This mammoth problem came in a half-century, but it is going to take massive actions to resolve all the impacts caused by it. No individual can fight with this. We all have to come together and start making significant actions.
📚 Educate People
Education is going to be a masterstroke in battling this problem. We have to put efforts to educate our surroundings. We can start this with our friends and relatives.
📣 Spread a word
We have to start spreading awareness about this challenge. We can use the social media platform and organise talks & gatherings where we can discuss and share this concern. Cover benefits of the 2-child policy. Encourage citizens to have two children as the limit, although it is not mandated by law.
🤝 Donate and update your choices
As we all have busy schedules, we can financially help those who are putting their efforts in facing challenges of over-population. Moreover, we can try to use clean and renewable energy.
Let’s sum-up everything.
Though we have made so many mistakes in the past, it’s still not that late. We can again make our planet the heaven how it was earlier. Nature is very persistent and helping. There is always a chance of recovering, but we have to start acting now. We have to make the earth a liveable place for every living species.
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed”
That’s it!!
Huff, this writing was again a long one. I must start giving badges to those who read prolix blogs like this one.
📹 Special thanks to Our Planet to motivate me to write something on this topic.
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