Global Over Population

Introduction
Global population has soared past 7 billion. Every second of every day, our global population grows by three people. In 2010 the average person lived 69 years, whereas in 1960 the average life expectancy was 51. Each year there are more than 1.43 million unplanned births in the U.S. At the current rate, the population of the least-developed countries will double in the next 31 years. Today about 783 million people lack access to improved drinking water: that's about a tenth of our world's population. Overpopulation is beginning to degrade the quality of life for many, and is significantly depleting precious natural resources that we need to survive. The first billion took from the dawn of humanity until 1830.
The second billion took only 100 years -- from 1830 to 1930. Three billion more arrived in the next 60 years. The next billion will take only 13 years unless there is a tremendous effort to slow world birthrates. The ideal population of the United States was what it was around 1950, when factors like housing, jobs, and pace of life, crime, and pollution were at comfortable levels. Some say there is a connection between runaway population growth and human suffering. It has been said that while recent environmental victories are very important, they will become meaningless if demand on the earth's resources continues to escalate as it has in the last century. In this essay we will cover concerns such as 1. The human footprint, 2, Renewable energy sources, 3.Water and Agriculture and go over possible solutions.

Global Population Concerns
The Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Global Warming calls population growth the driving force in global warming. Birth control and family planning are not available to all men and women. Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, recently said that, "We need to strengthen our resolve for greater economic and social justice, gender equality and global protection.... The issues are not different problems, they are part of the same synoptic worldview. Whether we approach it from one direction or another -- the answers and approaches are linked. Bill McKibben, an environmental author, recently concluded in The Atlantic Monthly that, "The next fifty years are a special time. They will decide how strong and healthy the planet will be for centuries to come. Between now and 2050 we'll see the zenith or very nearly of human population. With luck we'll never see any greater production of carbon dioxide or toxic chemicals. We'll never see more species extinction or soil erosion. We need in these fifty years to be working on all parts of the equation -- on our ways of life, on our technologies, and on our population." It is evident the environment is being severely damaged by the impact of rapidly growing populations and over-exploitation of the earth's natural resources. There is a direct population connection between human activities, global warming and the greenhouse effect. Almost all of the world's people now have access to modern family planning services, but they need to be educated and motivated to use them to have smaller families and to gain greater independence and self-determination.

The Human Footprint
At the present growth rate of 1.1% per year, the United States' population will double to about 560 million in about the next 60 years, if current immigration and related trends continue. Each year over 3 million people are added to the U.S. population. Over 70% of the United States' annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida and New York) results from immigration. Every person leaves an "ecological footprint" on the Earth -- that amount of land which, assuming it is endowed with an average amount of resources, is necessary to sustain one human being indefinitely. The average American's ecological footprint is about 25 acres, an area far greater than that taken up by one's residence and place of school or work and other places where he or she is. Those 25 additional acres supply the average American with food, fiber, and other resources, as well as capacity for waste assimilation and disposal. (The average footprint of everyone in the world is about 7 acres). One acre of natural habitat or farmland is converted to built-up space or highway for each person added to the U.S. population. More than 99.3% of the U.S. food comes from land, while less than .5% comes from aquatic systems. Of the nearly 470 million acres of arable land that are now in cultivation in the U.S., more than 1 million acres are lost from cultivation each year due to urbanization, multiplying transportation networks, and industrial expansion. In addition, about 2 million acres of prime cropland are lost annually by erosion, salinization, and water logging. If present population growth and other trends continue, over the next 60 years, both degradation and urbanization will diminish our arable land base of 470 million acres by 120 million acres. Only 0.6 acres of arable land per person will be available in 2050, whereas more than 1.2 acres per person are needed to provide a divers diet (currently 1.6 acres of arable land are available). A doubling of the American population will accelerate the need for food. For every 1% increase in food demand, the price at the farm gate increases 4.5%. Currently the U.S. earns $40 billion per year as the largest food exporter in the world. About 60% of the oil used in the U.S. is imported at a cost of $75 billion per year. About 400 gallons of oil equivalents are expended to feed each American, about 17% of all energy used, each year. If present trends in population growth, domestic food consumption, and topsoil loss continue, the U.S. food exports (and the income from them) will cease by 2030.Fossil energy use in the U.S. has increased from 20 to as much as 1,000-fold in just four decades. Currently, 92% of U.S. energy needs are provided by finite fossil fuels, with 6% of the total energy used for agricultural production. Renewable Energy
Renewable energy sources, like hydropower and biomass, provide 8% of the U.S. energy and are increasing very slowly. Approaching 2050, most of the oil and natural gas in the United States will be exhausted, and world supplies will be ever closer to depletion. A renewable energy source, solar energy, would require the use of about 20% of the U.S. land area (about 450 million acres) to support a system that would supply only 1/2 of all current energy consumption, and the U.S. oil and gas reserves will have nearly run out by 2050, leaving us with environmentally problematic coal, or nuclear energy. Water and Agriculture Water is essential for all life, including productive agriculture. Agriculture consumes about 85% of all fresh water consumed by Americans. In the West, water shortages are increasing. Rainfall is used directly by crops, is stored in diverse water bodies and in underground aquifers. Groundwater provides 31% of the water used in U.S. agriculture. Groundwater is being depleted 25% in excess of recharge rates.
Even if water management were to be substantially improved, by 2060 the 560 million Americans will have only 700 gallons/day/capita, considered a minimum for all human needs. This assumes even distribution, which is not the case -- much of our population and agricultural production is in arid and semi-arid regions. Almost every house that can afford one now owns some type of water filter. Water quality is decreasing, as are our sources of potable water, due to development, salinity, and pollution.

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Solutions
To avoid the harsh outcomes projected for the future, we must stop population growth. We must conserve our land, water, and energy resources that are vital for a sustainable economy, environment, and quality of life. Family planning is essential not just at home, but globally. Consciously lowering the global birthrate must become an accepted practice. Careful land use planning must supersede greed, development, and the carelessness of wealth. Farmable topsoil must be kept undeveloped and unpaved, watersheds must be preserved, and housing must become more efficient. Old growth forests and original tropical rainforests must be left unscathed to preserve the remaining valuable species of plant and animal life necessary for medical cures and for maintaining a fully balanced ecosystem.
Every residence must begin to raise at least a portion of its own food. This can be done in many forms, such as sprouts, window boxes, edible vines up walls, gardens, cultivating abandoned lots and isolated corners, pea patches, and shared land spaces. If everyone were actively involved in producing food, several important advantages emerge: 1) the global food production is increased, 2) by growing our own food, we have control over toxins, pesticides, and poisons, and can eat the freshest, most local, and most organic food possible, 3) the food strains can be once again diversified and preserved, thus avoiding mono-cropping, seed monopolies, and genetic engineering. Every house in the world with any solar exposure at all should utilize heaters. Our values must become more globally realistic and less selfish and consumer-driven.

References
Royal Society and the US Academy of Science – Climate Change: Evidence and Causes; February 2014
The Atlantic Monthly; Bill Mckibbon, May 1998
United Nations Population Fund; Dr. Nafis Sadik Executive Director; April 2014
TEDTalks: Humanity’s Future; Jane Mcgonigal, Jared Diamond, Harvey Fineberg; 2011