There are many environment problems, such as pollution, untreated sewage, and overpopulation. Although all of these issues have an impact on our society, overpopulation stands to have the greatest impact on our environment. Overpopulation is excessive human population in an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources and environmental deterioration. The three most negative impacts overpopulation on the environment are water pollution and overconsumption

One of the major sources of water pollution is organic pollution, which is becoming more and more pressing on the environment because of the growing population of the world. It's a simple concept, the more people there are in one area, the more waste they will produce. For example, in a city there are so many people that the sewage plants and the environment can't take care of all of the waste and function in its usual manner. The sewage plants do their best, but the secondary discharge that gets into the water supply causes great problems. The excess waste acts as a food source for algae and the growth rate is uncontrollable. Everyone has been in a lake where there is a lot of dead algae on the shore and the water is clouded with algae. This situation is known as eutrophication, where algae growth is out of control and the water becomes oxygen depleted. There are natural cycles of eutrophication in the spring and fall, but the body of water can deal with those amounts. When excess waste is added to the water the body of water can no longer control the growth of the algae and the water soon becomes algae ridden and oxygen depleted. The water becomes oxygen depleted because the dead algae goes to the bottom and uses the oxygen in the deeper water to decompose, but if there is too much dead algae all the oxygen is depleted. Oxygen from the surface doesn't reach the bottom, because the warmer water is less dense than the deeper cooler water, therefor the warmer water floats on the colder water and they never mix, much like oil and water. Soon the dead algae piles upon itself and makes the lake shallower, until it totally fills in and dries up.
World population would not be a problem if there were unlimited land, unlimited water, and unlimited resources. Unfortunately, with overpopulation, there is the problem of sharing the same resources. We want the poor countries to improve their economic situation and to improve the family’s quality of life. This has been known lower the birth rate, but we want the rich countries to consume less, perhaps lower the lower the quality of life. We need to balance the quality of life between the rich and the poor. Overpopulation is not concern if there are enough resources to go around. Important resources like water of suitable quality for growing crops, drinking, cooking, and cleanliness. Impoverished people are usually forced to destroy their environment in order to survive.

Many scientists believe that the increase in temperature is caused by humans. The greenhouse effect increases because of the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gases, oil, and coal. These cause more heat to be trapped in the atmosphere than needed. Carbon dioxide is the most important gas that humans have affected. The amount of fossil fuels we burn each year has increased dramatically. This is causing a steady increase of carbon dioxide into our air. Another way humans increase the amount of carbon dioxide is by deforestation. Huge numbers of trees are cut down each year to clear land for farming and building. The rain forest are really needed because they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into our atmosphere. Also, when trees decay or are burned, the carbon dioxide that was absorbed is put back into the air. Deforestation is most severe in the tropical regions where the rain forests grow. Most of the rain forests are around developing countries. The people of these countries have to find a way to get land, buy food, and get money. The only way they know how is to go into these forests and clear land to create more space for farms.

We must make the connection that our population size is accountable for many unnecessary deaths, the depletion of our environment, the exhaustion of valuable resources, and the loss of top soil and water. This should spark up conversation and meaningful dialog on how to obtain solutions to the problem. We cannot lie to ourselves anymore, we must come up with a workable solution, otherwise the problem will take care of itself by nature wiping out the surplus. The developed countries must becomes partners with the developing countries in order to overcome the overpopulation problems. The United Nations International conference on population met in Cairo in 1994 and devised a Programme of Action to deal with overpopulation. This delegation recognizes the complexity of the issue and its urgency to come up with solutions. With the population at its current growth rate, it is expected that by the year 2050, more than 10 billion people will populate the earth. This is a problem that will have to be dealt with more than likely in our lifetime.