Overpopulation

How many people are on Earth? How does this number impact ecosystems? Learn more here!

Homo sapiens are the most populous species in the Earth. Overpopulation ends up being one of the deepest root causes in many problems today, including poverty and wealth disparity.

Majority of freshwater areas and forested habitats are lost solely due to expansions for new homes. Fixing overpopulation is a must to combat climate change, yet it obviously is not easy as it plays into every single other problem related to the environment.

As the population keeps increasing, demands for food products, solid goods, and water have rapidly increased. Our world is 75 percent water, of which 2.5 percent is ice water, and majority of that ice water is frozen into icecaps. Due to the escalated amounts of pollution resulting from larger human populations, it is estimated now there is only 0.003 percent of freshwater that is healthy and ready for human use. 0.003 for almost 8 billion.

Water shortage is not the only problem caused by overpopulation. Habitat loss and Species extinction are the next large problems. As the population swiftly increases over time, obviously more resources are needed to feed the population. This leads to more deforestation in hopes to create larger farm lands for higher crop productions.

Each person's contribution to the world is extremely important. Though overpopulation seems and is a problem that does not have an easy fix, it is possible for all humans to coexist in a greener society. Each person can take their own steps to limit their trash, cut down their emissions, and push for a better society. The amount of sustainability a person has in their lifetime is called a carbon footprint. The lower the footprint, the more sustainable that person is. Our goal is to have our carbon footprints each be close to zero so we can live in our world without a doubt.

With learning new sustainable ways, our collective carbon footprints will decrease. Education is the key to solve any crisis. Making sure everyone is on the same page with the correct knowledge is always the first step. Scroll down to the next section to test your knowledge on sustainability in order to learn what you need to do to lower your footprint.