Assignment on Population Growth

Running head: POPULATION GROWTH 1
Population Growth
Name
Institutional Affiliation

POPULATION GROWTH 2
Population growth
At the beginning of the 20th century, the world population was at 1.6 billion and as of
now, the population is at over 7 billion people. It shows that the population is growing at a rapid
rate. With the phenomenal rate at which the population is growing, it has renewed an ongoing
debate on the number of people that can be supported by the earth (5). It is the view of some
people that the most vital problem facing human being is overpopulation while others point out
that humans have to employ ingenuity to solve their issues. According to the most recent revision
to the projection of worldwide human population in 2100, the population will be at 11 billion and
the life expectancy will rise to 83 years from 70 years from 2010 to 2015 (6). This estimation
increases the urgency for human beings to formulate sustainable solutions that will mitigate the
negative effects of the high population rate.
Most people have the misplaced belief that overpopulation is the single root cause of
almost all the world’s issues such as economic problems related to neoliberalism. These
individuals hold the viewpoint that overpopulation in free markets increases the income gap.
However, this is not the case, if population growth is handled in the right manner it can turn into
a positive for the world. In the past, it was feared that population growth would lead to increased
poverty rates but this is not the case. The growth did not increase the rates but it remained the
same or reduced with 10% of the world population being poor(2). With increase populations, it
means that there will be more people to offer their ingenuity on how to increase resources for
human use. Also, when there is pressure on food supply and other resources people will have to
come up with solutions for these shortages it is well known that necessity is the mother of all
inventions. Thus, this means that population growth positively affects the economic growth and

POPULATION GROWTH 3
other aspects of global growth. In my opinion, people should rejoice with this population growth
because it shows our victory over death(3).
There exists evidence that even if the earth faces these challenges, it will not affect the
growth of population and rise in life expectancy and also that the earth can overcome the issues
brought about by overpopulation. The first evidence is that with the continuing technological
advances in the agricultural sector. With these advancements, it means that food can be produced
to feed the growing population without overstraining the earth as proposed by the Malthusian
theory, which asserts that an increase in population will facilitate a food shortage. Also, the
health sector has seen advancements in it with the eradication of diseases such as smallpox
which previously caused a drop in life expectancy (4). Scientists and medical practitioners
continue to develop new and improved techniques and medicines to tackle existing diseases or
health issues. In addition, the increased social awareness on environmental degradation has
enhanced the measures to facilitate ecological and economic sustainability. Social justice and
demographic characteristics are closely linked environmental conservation and economic
sustainability especially regarding the income gap (1).
All in all, even though there are challenges associated with population growth it does not
mean that people should have a pessimistic view towards it. With growth, it should spell as a
positive thing for the world as shown by the economic growth and other advancements being
made. The focus should be on balancing population growth and availability of resources for the
people through increased human ingenuity instead of on the negatives of overpopulation. As
problems and new challenges occur, there will be more people to provide solutions. Thus this
means that more research needs to be done on the subject so that people can have a positive
outlook on the subject.

POPULATION GROWTH 4
References
1. Cervellati M, Sunde U. Life expectancy and economic growth: the role of the
demographic transition. Journal of economic growth. 2011 Jun 1;16(2):99-133.
2. Coale AJ, Hoover EM. Population growth and economic development. Princeton
University Press; 2015 Dec 8.
3. Eberstadt N. The demographic future: What population growth—and decline—means for
the global economy. Foreign Affairs. 2010 Nov 1:54-64.
4. Lee R. The outlook for population growth. Science. 2011 Jul 29;333(6042):569-73.
5. Robertson T. The Malthusian moment: global population growth and the birth of
American environmentalism. Rutgers University Press; 2012 May 7.
6. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The 2015 Revision of World
Population Prospects http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site. Accessed March 10, 2016.