Over the past 12 years, the world’s population increased by a billion people. How much growth can our planet take?
This growth is only a drop in the bucket compared to the total overall rise between 1900 and 2000. During this time the population grew from 1.5 billion to 6.1 billion people. This explosive growth is due to numerous reasons.
This infographic points to poverty, poor contraception, child labor, reduced mortality rates, fertility treatment, and immigration as causes for the surge in population. Some issues, like lower mortality rates, are reflected in the fact that the population of adults over the age of 60 is growing at a steady rate of 6% per year.
On the other hand, the effects of overpopulation are lack of water, resource consumption, lower life expectancy, increased intensive farming, extinction of natural habitat, and faster climate change. These issues impact the lives of people around the world regardless of income level.
The proposed solutions for controlling the population growth are policy changes, more education, and easier access to contraceptives. Population growth doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but if it’s happening for the reasons we mentioned above, it has to be controlled. Once you’ve done with this infographic, check out how small things have a significant environmental effect.