In the late 1940's and into the early 1950's, this was known as the baby boom era in America. Due to the number of deaths in WW2, the parents tried to raise the number of children to bring balance to the death toll from the war. As the baby boom generation was over, there was a significant increase in the American population, which caused a scare to the people. This idea was looked at by Paul Elrich, which he wrote a book about how overpopulation could affect us in the long run. As time went on, it was shrugged off until later when the population of many developing countries started to skyrocket. This scared many people again and really started the issue of overpopulation, but I do believe that there is really nothing to be worried about.
Immigration
The first example is immigration. Countries like USA and Singapore is a melting pot full of many different cultures, and they were brought in to the country by immigration, In the article, “'Overpopulation' and the Environment: Three Ideas on How to Discuss It in a Sensitive Way.”, they give a piece of evidence that does show the effects of immigration has on a country. They state, “So few children are being born in most developed countries that without immigration, populations would be declining. For example, in Canada, the fertility rate was 1.6 children per woman in 2011 (well below the replacement rate of 2.1). So if you think about it, the real environmental impact here has to do with how much people are consuming – and this varies widely both between and within countries,”. This connects in the way as immigration gives off a somewhat illusion to some countries and give them more population, (as said before). Without immigration, some countries’ population would start to decrease gradually. This does, however, show that some countries could be filling up if immigrants were to leave to developing countries, which studies have shown that the countries that are densely populated, are the ones that are developing countries.
Generation Spike
One way that gives off a spike of population increase is that the new generation is starting to have kids. In the past generation, the baby boomers are starting to have their own kids, and that then multiplies the population and gives off a major spike. On the website pewresearch.com, they believe that this current generation is going to outnumber the number of baby boomers. They say, “As of July 1, 2016 (the latest date for which population estimates are available), Millennial's, whom we define as ages 20 to 35 in 2016, numbered 71 million, and Boomers (ages 52 to 70) numbered 74 million. Millennial are expected to overtake Boomers in population in 2019 as their numbers swell to 73 million and Boomers decline to 72 million. Generation X (ages 36 to 51 in 2016) is projected to pass the Boomers in population by 2028.”. This does look troubling, but as time goes on, they reach a decline, then which the next set of generation. Since there is a big number, the number of children per parent start to decrease to then reach an equilibrium.
Population Demographics
I found that there is one thing that does give the reason why there is a surplus of people in many developing countries. I found the system known as demographics. This is based on the population of the birth and death ratio. This helps my cause because this can help give the impression that there is something to worry about when there is not. When a country is developing, the death rate when it comes to kids mostly, the parents have more kids to try to balance the numbers and make sure that their family moves on. Eventually, there will be a time where the country will start to have better medicine and vaccinations to help make the kids more healthy. This then starts to lower the death rate, but the birthing rate is still the same for some time. Which then brings in that big spike of population. If it was to stay the same, it can raise the population to become worry some, but once it starts to become borderline as an issue, they see that there it is due to the birth rate. Which then the country starts to lower the birth rate to make an equilibrium with the death toll to make it become more balanced, and then flatlining the population rate. An article by Nature.com, they have as a summary saying, “A population is a group of individuals of the same species interacting within the same space. The health and behaviour of a population are determined by the way those individuals interact with each other and with their surrounding environment. We can determine the status of a population by measuring and calculating elements common to all populations, such as size, density, fecundity, mortality, sex ratio, and age structure. These demographic statistics provide researchers with standardized metrics for comparing populations and assessing extinction risk. Just as a doctor can't diagnose an illness with only a blood pressure measurement, we can't manage populations based on demographic parameters alone. However, demographics provide a baseline for monitoring population health and offer insight into the mechanisms driving population declines.”. As people look at developing countries, thinking that they have a disturbing amount of people and kids per parent, this could help better explain the situation that they are in, and help calm the minds that think that they are the biggest driver in overpopulation, when it has a voice as well and, it might raise the population a small bit, but eventually, those countries can become more balanced.
Conclusion
Finally, overpopulation was once an issue that could create the idea of something that can end of all of the human race, but as time went on and there was more evidence to say otherwise. This issue is something to not worry about. The combination of immigration, new generation birth spike, and also the complex system of population demographics gives off a number of answers that might disprove overpopulation Another thing that does close the issue is that we have not seen the true effects of overpopulation as many other issues do have effects with them. Yes, graphs can look scary, but they don’t always predict the future.
More Info
Citations:
Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/introduction-to-population-demographics-83032908.
Allen, Liz. “Here's What a Population Policy for Australia Could Look Like.” The Conversation, 15 Mar. 2019, theconversation.com/heres-what-a-population-policy-for-australia-could-look-like-101458.
Dyke, James. “Can the Earth Feed 11 Billion People? Four Reasons to Fear a Malthusian Future.” The Conversation, 13 Dec. 2018, theconversation.com/can-the-earth-feed-11-billion-people-four-reasons-to-fear-a-malthusian-future-43347.
“Graph 2.3.3 Doctorate Holders in the Working Age Population, 2016.” doi:10.1787/888933618498.
Hodgkinson, David. “No Quick Fix for Overpopulation - Let's Focus on Climate.” The Conversation, 5 May 2019, theconversation.com/no-quick-fix-for-overpopulation-lets-focus-on-climate-33735.
Hoff, Derek. “A Long Fuse: 'The Population Bomb' Is Still Ticking 50 Years after Its Publication.” The Conversation, 19 Sept. 2018, theconversation.com/a-long-fuse-the-population-bomb-is-still-ticking-50-years-after-its-publication-96090.
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Nutshell, Kurzgesagt – In a. “Overpopulation – The Human Explosion Explained.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBT5EQt348.
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