Mr.

Jordan Taylor

English 321

Dr. Burkette

November 12, 2004

A Nifty Title

Have you ever witnessed what happens when you come across a group of butterflies in a small jar? If you have ever had a butterfly collection, you have noticed that as you keep adding butterflies to a limited amount of space, competition begins. With limited resources, each butterfly must take action to ensure survival. The butterflies begin to eat one another and continue doing so until the living conditions return to a manageable state. The same thing occurs in every species and only the strong will survive. The world is currently going through an unprecedented stage of population growth. Metaphorically, mankind will become butterflies and the world will become a jar too small to accommodate further growth. The results will be catastrophic unless the problem of overpopulation is accepted and a proper solution discovered and administered.

By now, it is no secret that the population of the world is growing at a tremendous rate. According to Laurent Belsie, staff writer at the Christian Science Monitor, world population has grown from 1.6 to 6.1 billion in the twentieth century alone. Estimates by the United Nations have that figure reaching 12.8 billion by 2050 if fertility remains constant (Motavalli, 26). Being the genius that I am, I can see that this will present a problem to the inhabitants of the world in the not-too-distant future. With limited resources available for consumption, the world cannot sustain current population growth without jeopardizing the extinction of important natural resources. With a greater population, the inhabitants of the world are using fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide into the air when used. The emissions from these fuels have raised the temperature, globally. Already, "Central Asia is plagued with drought, North American forests are burning because of drought, ocean temperatures are rising, coral reefs are dying, sea levels are rising, tornadoes are larger and more numerous than before, malaria and other tropical diseases are spreading geographically, glaciers are melting, water supplies are disappearing and agriculture is being threatened by climate change" because of the rise in temperature. (Geiselman, 4)

Global warming is just one of the many effects of overpopulation. We are continually cultivating land once occupied by other plant and animal-life and sending those species into extinction. Urban areas with high population density are experiencing increases in pollution, which in return harms the population in that area. Overpopulation also causes unemployment within nations, as well as creates lower quality of life in those nations. Ultimately, overpopulation will lead to the extinction of human life unless action is taken, immediately ().

To know what corrective actions should be taken, we first need to pinpoint the causes of overpopulation. Scientists believe that the population of the world started increasing with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution. Naturally, when a population encounters a problem, parts of the population die out until it reaches a level that can overcome the problem. However, with the coming of the Industrial Revolution, "even when famine hit one region, trains began to bring in excess grain - something that would have been too expensive for pack horses in medieval times (Belsie)." The mortality rates also fell because cities incorporated sanitation practices by "treating sewage and providing clean drinking water" to its inhabitants. Nowadays, modern medicine allows people to overcome extremely serious illnesses that would have been unimaginable one hundred years ago. Perhaps, Nicholas Eberstadt says it best, "It's not because people started breeding like rabbits. It's that they stopped dying like flies (Belsie)." Whether by the aid of medicine, new innovations, or help from other nations, mortality rates have declined significantly and have allowed population to increase to its current levels.

We often hear the phrase "If we are not aware of our history, we are destined to repeat it." I believe a possible solution to overpopulation is to educate everybody about the risks of overpopulation and the harm it has on our environment. Population Action International advocates providing educational opportunities for girls and women to improve their lives while slowing population growth (). Most of the overpopulation we see occurs in impoverished nations. Families produce more children in order for them to help around the house or to work in sweatshops and bring home more money. Women feel it is their ability to have as many children as they would like and are against government implemented plans and programs limiting that ability (Motavalli, 26). Some women feel it is their role in life to, to bear children, but if we could simply offer them an education and show them the opportunities the world has to offer, they may feel they have a purpose other than creating babies (Williams, 96). Obviously, the horrors of global warming and eliminating natural resources seem frightening enough to scare people into making a change. I believe if we could educate everyone about these dangers, as well, we could effectively change our current consumption levels and demand less from our natural environment as a global population.

I believe another possible solution to overpopulation would be wide spread distribution of contraceptives as well as the practice of family planning. Distributing contraceptives, along with proper education about the matter, could effectively eliminate population increases in areas that cannot sustain such growth on its own (). There are many different contraceptives that exist that can effectively prevent pregnancy such as birth control pills, sponges, foams, condoms, and spermicides (). By properly practicing sex with these items, highly industrialized nations such as the United States and Britain have decreased the growth rates of their respective nations. I believe if these nations pool together and donate contraceptive devices to nations in need, we could slow population growth. As it stands, "The current 'unmet need' for contraception averages 70 percent in Asia and Latin America. Around the world, 123 million women do not have adequate access to family planning (Motavalli, 26)." Historically, the United States has been the largest contributor of family planning assistance to nations in need, but has experienced a dramatic decline in contributions under the Bush administration (Motavalli, 26). We would need to see