ECOLOGY, OVERPOPULATION, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ECOLOGY, OVERPOPULATION, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Up until two hundred years ago, humans did not have a significant effect on the ecology of planet earth because there were not more than one billion people. Because of the massive increase in population in the last two centuries, damage to the ecology from human activities is considerable and may become much worse. Locally, people respond to the pressure of overpopulation in ways that destroy the ecology of the areas they live in. They cultivate the hilly areas, where soil erosion makes the land unproductive very soon. The disappearance of tropical forest – a result of countries attempts at economic development – is causing great damage to the natural resources and the ecology of those nations. The destruction of the world's tropical forests will have negative consequences for the entire globe.

Family-planning programs, which have proved successful in some developing countries, could contribute to the solution of the overpopulation problem. They could make economic growth increase. The number of children currently in the worldÚs population means that birth control cannot be the sole solution to the problem of overpopulation. The worldÚs population is sure to increase. Social and economic development is also an essential part of a solution to the environmental damage caused by overpopulation. Economic development, which is the answer to the problem of overpopulation, is also the cause of massive damage to the environment. Europeans and North Americans today are asking the people of the developing nations not to overexploit natural resources, which they have been doing for centuries to develop themselves. In both developing and developed countries, traditional economic development must be replaced by policies and practices that are sustainable.