Overpopulation and Longevity

Overpopulation and Longevity

Historically, the topic of population and its contents have been feared and unknown to many. With the increasing human population on Earth accompanied by an array of factors such as disease, lack of resources, and increasing life spans, it becomes dramatically harder to look into the future and predict that the world is not being overpopulated by humans. However, despite the myriad of overwhelming issues regarding the concern of overpopulation, I posit through several key examples that we are not in danger of overpopulation and further, that we as a species are actually benefited by increased longevity.

It has been determined numerous times throughout the last several hundred years that overpopulation of the human race is looming and is an unavoidable fate of the human race which will ultimately lead to its self-destruction. One such theory, perhaps the most famous, belongs to Thomas Malthus whom lived during the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution laid the foundation for manufacturing on a massive scale which was accompanied by advancements in technology that also brought about an era of farming that was vastly more efficient. In 1798, Thomas Malthus predicted in An Essay on the Principle of Population, (which was revised to accommodate for criticisms,) that the human race could not account for its growth in terms of resources and sustenance as he believed the population increased exponentially compared to food supply (Malthus). Even with the advancements that made farming and growing food significantly more efficient, Malthus believed the extreme population growth due to birth rates as well as marriage rates, would outlast the world’s food supply. This example is one of many that show the human race succumbing to overpopulation. Malthus was wrong, however, and could not account for the production of food as it paralleled in growth to that of the population growth of humans (Clark). It is unreasonable to assume that any current theories could therefore predict such devastation to humans as a species in the future given that models in the past have not held up. However, this does not deter those whom wish to make claims about drastic population growth in other regards.

Other factors that are important to note when discussing population growth involve the increasingly long life spans around the world which are accompanied by birth rates slowing and a decrease in death rates (CDC 1999). This would indicate that despite disease and famine being prevalent around the world many areas, these factors do not lead to severe changes in population. These factors will be discussed in detail later on.

There are a multitude of worries and concerns that are consequential to overpopulation. Most of these problems are already considered to be taxing on the human race and therefore further increases in population would tip the scales of stability into catastrophe.