Overpopulation in 2050: Danger's of the Near Future

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Overpopulation in 2050: Danger's of the Near Future

"Humans interact with aliens". That may be the top headline in 2050. It is impossible to foresee the future but through recent patterns and careful observations, it is pretty safe to say that the world will face overpopulation. Overpopulation is when the amount of people in an area exceeds the carrying-capacity. Just sixty years ago the world's population was two and a half billion (U.S Census Bureau). That number has rapidly risen and now sits just above seven billion. Many demographers believe that number will exceed nine billion by 2050. There is no way the earth will have enough resources to support that number of people. The main population issues for 2050 will be overpopulation due to the advancement in medicines, the lack of female education and the continued poverty in developing countries.

Due to overpopulation, there have been significant changes in the medical field with anaesthetics, artificial hearts and vaccinations. It is inevitable that new discoveries and inventions will continue to be made. The future advancements in medicines will result in a massive decrease in death rates, for example the treatment of cancer will change and there will be a way to be cured faster. The average life span for a person was once just forty years but with all the medical improvements that number now hovers around sixty to seventy years old (World Development Indicators). It may sound ludicrous but is it impossible for that number to one day eclipse one hundred? The citizens from the "baby boom" are aging and entering their senior years, which will demand a lot of medical attention. With medicines still improving, these senior citizens will receive amazing health care to keep

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their systems running and with the younger generation entering the age of parenthood, a population will explode as the mortality rate becomes extremely lower than the fertility rate (Dynamics of Population Aging).

In 2050, another population issue which we will face is lack of female education. It is commonly believed that knowledge is power. Millions of females all over the world are denied access to reproduction education. Only forty-three percent of girls in developing countries attend secondary school (Empowerment International). It is important for women to know their rights. Women fail to possess the sense of knowledge to properly use contraceptives. The lack of knowledge that many women fail to gain often leads to early pregnancy. The fertility rate in Canada is only 1.6 (United Nations) thus resulting in a smaller population considering this rate is maintained and ignoring other factors that affect population such as immigration. Developed countries have more well educated and literate women (United Nations) thus making them it easier