Population growth is an inevitability with immense consequences for the future of the planet. This case study focuses on how population growth impacts the environment in various ways throughout the globe.
Videos: Overpopulation—We Beat Around the Bush, The Science of Overpopulation, Overpopulation: A Growing Problem (Infographic)
Climate Change
The issue of climate change only becomes more pressing as the global population grows. Demand for and use of energy resources is directly tied to the population, leading to a proportional increase in emissions and population growth in the modern industrial age.
Article: Climate Change Article
Family Planning and the Environment
Discussions of exponential population growth and family planning go hand in hand. Environmental issues are also often connected to population growth. However, the specific connection between family planing and environmental issues is almost never explicitly made even though the issues are closely related.
Fact Sheet: United Nations Population Fund
Web Page: Environmental Sustainability: Population, Poverty, and Development
NY Times Article: Breaking a Long Silence on Population Control
Article: Is birth control the answer to environmental ills?
Starvation by Overpopulation
One of the major resources that is diminishing due to overpopulation is food. As we grow, the ability to feed all of us decreases. Although there is enough food to feed the current population, starvation and hunger exists.
Article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/full/10.1525/bisi.1999.49.3.205
Web Articles: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/253677/20111122/overpopulation-increases-chances-food-troubles-2050.htm#.UWNgw5OWbzw
http://www.howmany.org/environmental_and_social_ills.php
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2097720_2097782_2097814,00.html
Medical: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0010055
