Over Population?

Question

Is the increasing human population the biggest threat to the welfare of people?

Answer 1

I think the biggest threat to the human race is all the idiots out there trying to make us believe there is a threat to the human race.

Im not speaking of you of course, but that is how I feel. You seem like a fairly intelligent person.

Answer 2

Zak is right -- furthermore, population growth is something knowledgeable people quit worrying about many years ago. Fertility rates everywhere have dropped to the point that the world population is now growing very slowly -- about 1% a year but even that rate is declining ... the population will never double again, and is expected to peak out at about 9 billion and start declining during this century.

Population has already peaked and is declining in Japan, Russia, some East European countries, and we're close to that point if not already there in Germany, Italy, and Spain. Even in the developing world the same trends are at work.

This century's real problem will be DECLINING population, a problem the world will be experiencing for the first time in history.

Answer 3

I used to think that overpopulation was one of the worst maladies facing humanity when I was younger. After doing some research and reading a bit more on the topic, it isn’t a burgeoning population that is leading to dismal living conditions for mankind. It is the inefficient utilization of resources and land in servicing the population, that is the root of most of our problem. We have enough resources and space to accommodate much greater population growth. The problem is that greed and incompetence have unevenly distributed earthly gifts to where only a select few of us have more than they need at the expense of numerous others.

Answer 4

Phoenix13 is exactly right. I've never heard that said before, but it's an excellent notion.

The idea that we will all be killed off due to over-population, or global warming, or whatever the catastrophe du jour is, is ridiculous. There are all sorts of misleading statistics and research with large holes that makes it look like we are on the brink of destruction. But if you look closer, things are actually going pretty well (on the whole).

Answer 5

100%, absolutely, positively, NO!

Population Density of:

Honk Kong = 6,571 people per sq km
Taiwan = 685 people per sq km
South Korea = 477 people per sq km
Netherlands = 466 people per sq km

Sudan = 15 people per sq km
Congo = 22 people per sq km
Chad = 6 people per sq km

Now I ask you, in which countries/territories are the welfare of their people most threatened?

Population and welfare of the people have ZERO correlation. I provided the link that list the population densities of over 200 nations.
It is the economic freedom afforded to the people of a particular country that determines their overall welfare. Countries that have less economic freedom also have higher rates of population growth. But it not their population that is the threat to them. Any African country would love to have the standard of living of the countries I listed.

Some countries with high pop densities are poor (Bangladesh), some are not.
Some countries with low pop densities are rich (Finland), some are not.
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