Habitat loss for wildlife and global hunger are just two of the issues environmental ethics specialists attribute to overpopulation.
The U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 International Data Base indicates that in 1950 there were approximately 2.5 billion people on the planet; in 2050 there will be more than 9 billion people. This growth represents a predicted 25 percent increase in the world's population over the next 25 to 30 year period. The Global Education Project indicates that each person on the planet needs about 110,000 square feet (0.5 hectare) of arable, or agriculturally sustainable, land to live a healthy and adequately nutritional life; 1960 was the last time the population was small enough--at 3 billion people--for Earth's surface to provide such land. Global hunger is just one of many challenges overpopulation forces on the planet and its inhabitants.
Water Pollution
Life on this planet requires water first and foremost. The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health indicates that in the U.S. alone, pesticides have polluted 173,000 miles of streams, rivers and lakes, and that 90% of the waterways in Europe have nitrate pollutants up to 200 times the concentration of naturally-occurring nitrates. Ironically, agriculture, which feeds growing masses of humanity, often acts as the biggest cause of water pollution.
Global Warming
Municipal (housing and transportation) and industrial water pollution follows closely behind agricultural water pollution and also creates air pollution which destroys the ozone layer and contributes to global warming. These categories of polluters are man-made for the purposes of housing people and providing populations with everything from plastic trash bags to commercial airliners. According to the Sierra Club, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions constitute the primary source of global warming; they became 12 times greater when Earth's population grew from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion.
Diminishing Food and Water Resources
When the amount or arable land needed to feed each and every person on the planet began to sink below 0.5 hectare per person, it "peaked," meaning arable land resources are now diminishing on a per person basis. Other peaking resources include fossil fuels and water. Between 1990 and 2000, Worldwater.org reported that 80 countries had already reached peak water, and growing population and increased pollution are steadily adding countries to that list.
Peak Oil
Global oil consumption increased from 63 million barrels per day to 79 million between 1980 and 2002, and continues to increase according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The International Energy Agency puts consumption at 86.6 million barrels a day in 2010. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy commissioned a peak oil risk management study that indicated peak oil may have been reached already but certainly will be within 20 years.
Encroachment Upon and Rights of Wildlife
As world population grows, wildlife habitats shrink. According to the National Wildlife Federation, shrinking habitat causes disease and loss of food due to encroachment of invasive species of plants and animals. Furthermore, the same environmental challenges that face humanity are a detriment to wildlife: global warming, pollution, oil and chemical spills, and over hunting. Defenders of Wildlife lists over 100 categories of wildlife, from frogs to lions, that are endangered because of diminishing habitat and animal populations. They also list six threatened habitats as vast as grasslands and coral reefs.
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