Overpopulation and Resource Consumption

I see overpopulation as one of the greatest environmental risks we deal with today. Problems like overuse of resources and pollution are direct results of that growth. Werner says that there are five main concepts in population growth and resource consumption that need to be addressed:

1. overpopulation is a leading environmental problem,
2. exponential population growth and development leads to faster depletion of resources,
3. population grows exponentially,
4. why population prediction is difficult,
5. population is not evenly distributed throughout the world.

As the population increases, the carrying capacity is stretched, requiring further growth to come with efficient use of resources and space, as well as reductions in waste and pollution. In terms of energy, wasteful countries like the US will require significant changes in how we live as the global population continues to increase. The Human Population Growth we experience comes with a price; limitations on our planet to support those increases. I believe that de-urbanization and de-industrialization can be a part of the solution to meeting that challenge, but education needs to be at the front, teaching people everywhere about environmental limitations and risks to our efforts to maintain civilization.