Is the world overpopulated by humans?

Question

Personally I think it is and I would not disagree if governments of the world put limits on the number of children we can have like China does. DO you think its overpopulated and would you agree with a limit on children we can have?

Im not saying I want government controls like China, its not a matter of giving up our freedoms and rights, its a matter of our own salvation. The world doesnt have unlimited resources we need to take steps now to secure our future.

Yes there is still space that humans can populate but this just contributes to development in areas of nature.

Answer 1

I've read that 3 billion is what earth can comfortably sustain. We're currently at 6.5 billion and growing exponentially. In 50 years we'll be at 10 billion at our current rate of growth.....with zero fossil fuels, zero coal and other natural resources. Wars will be fought over water. The third world countries will be burgeoning.

Will technology save the day?.,....doubtful. Will we change our ways and avoid the impending training wreck?....unlikely. Will there be some cataclysmic event to bring us back down to more sustainable levels?....probably.

Answer 2

Yes we are over populated or if not yet we are definitely headed there and FAST. I believe the main reason is that with all our scientific advancements there' really nothing holding us back. Because of this many other problems arise such as people-environment relationship and the interaction between the distribution of resources and urbanization. We are very quickly depleting the Earth's resources such as natural gas. Us humans talk about exponential growth especially in the context of the economy but we often forget amongst the infinite talk that we live in a FINITE world. The Earth can only sustain so many of us and tolerate so much abuse. We need to change the way of our life and thinking our ideals, as Al Gore in his documentary (and as David Suzuki advocates) has suggested in order to prevent drastic consequences in the future. It is because of the life we have adopted that puts a demand on us to consume the Earth's resources - we need to put a stop to this consumerists culture. Of course the people sitting up at the top could care less about their kid's future and more about money coming in their lap.

Answer 3

The world is a long ways from being overcrowded, despite what the chicken-littles are saying. Next time you take a long-distance flight, look out the window. You'll see that there is still a LOT of totally uninhabited wilderness out there.

Also, who decides what the "proper" number of humans should be? I have seriously met environmentalists who think the ideal human population is ZERO. Such people make me shudder. Still many others regard humans as, quite literally, a cancer upon the Earth. This level of belief goes beyond zealotry, such people are sociopaths.

Now, you say you wouldn't want a China-like police state to enforce birth limits, but quite frankly, how else would you do it? People rather like having children, and telling them they can only have 1 or 2 is about the surest way to make them want to have more.

All that said, you don't have a lot to worry about. Many of the industrialized nations already have either stable or declining populations. Unfortunately, nations with considerably decreasing populations like Japan and Italy are discovering a whole new set of problems. First, labor shortages. Having many unfilled positions in an economy leads to stagnation and economic contraction. Second, gov't programs like Social Security are in a very real sense pyramid schemes, and when you have a booming elderly population and a shrinking young population, suddenly you find out there's not _nearly_ enough money for the gov't to meet its obligations....

If you're concerned about human population growth, there are two things I can suggest that don't involve forcible restrictions on reproducing. First, encourage a good educational system. The more highly educated people are, the fewer children they tend to have. Second, get rid of all welfare for the poor. Tell people they are free to have as many kids as they want, but they will not receive any financial aid in raising them. You'll see a lot less mothers popping out 4, 5 or 6 kids. Any parents who have more kids than they can afford to care for, will either have to beg for money, work more, or be arrested for child neglect.

Education and personal responsibility. If you want fewer people without a police state, that's the way to go.

Answer 4

Short answer? Yes.
The whole limits on children thing? It didn't work so well for China and its many murdered, abandoned and aborted children (mostly female) are a testimony to that. And no, this isn't about abortion, it's about not being right to interfere in people's lives to that extent.
Educating the population and stopping religious interference in the choice of how many children and/or birth control methods you should have would be a good thing too.

Answer 5

i really believe there should be a limit. we may actually be overpopulated some day. its better to be safe than sorry.
i notice a lot of teens having children and they cant even take care of themselve.
there should be something to prevent young teenagers to stop having kids.
i also notice some women who have part time jobs and a husband who doesnt make enough either have 8 children. no joke their my neighbors.
there should be a limit. what are you going to do with 12 children of your own? start a farm?
having children is wonderful. as the first child of 3 i can honestly say that 3 is enough. one of my siblings raises hell each day by stealing our truck and running away. i keep wondering, what if my mom had two more kids. she wanted two more kids but my dad was against it. thank god.

well thats just my opinion.

Answer 6

Yes, I do think the world is overpopulated. We're already well over a comforatable amount of people.
Yes, I definitley think that the US should set a limit for how many kids people can have. I mean, if people don't agree with it, they don't have to live here. I think we should set it as soon as possible, because it's easier to take control of things when they aren't chaotic yet.

Answer 7

Yes, I believe the world is overpopulated, but no, putting limits on how many children you can have means wholesale infanticide. That's not how you fix a problem like this.

Answer 8

It absolutely is, and we´re well on the way to poisoning ourselves if not to extinction then a major decrease in world population. Fear not, mother nature will do a balancing act, and it will include getting rid of huge numbers of human beings...Maybe by the time they rebreed themselves to this level once more they´ll have learned to be respectful of the planet (MOTHER earth?) that has given them life! If not, maybe future gov´t´s should enforce laws to prevent stupid people who have 12 kids when they only have resources to raise one properly, who in turn grow up to follow mom and pops intelligent example, and have 12 of their own each...from doing the same type of mindess reproduction, and a pee-poor job of it in many cases, as seen all over the place today!.

Answer 9

yea i think the world is over populated. i dont think its a bad thing to have alot of people in cites i love cities but there is just not enough jobs for people not enough food in the world for people, food only grows at a certain rate and has to be shipped form one place to another and alot of non replaceable resources are being used.

Answer 10

the world is overpopulated by humans...but I wouldn't want to limit the number of children that we can have unless the family cannot afford to have that many children...if a family is struggling financially..then I believe that they should limit the number of children they can have.