Introduction

Have you ever feel so overwhelmed in a place with lots of people? Are
you impressed by the billions of us the news says we are? Someone
knows which is the country with overpopulation? or the desolated
countries? How many people you think the human population grows by
every year? maybe one million, ten million? Thats why today we are
going to talk about overpopulation, but what is the meaning of this word,
according to Meriam Website dictionary is the situation in which too
many people or animal lives in a certain area. Specifically this evening
we are going to develop the history & causes of overpopulation what are
the effects of this issue and what we can do to avoid overpopulation.
History
Demographers have identify three distinct period of human population
growth that helps explain history of how our population has changed this
are:
The pre-agricultural period
Is the first period of human population growth, this period it is
considered anything before ten thousands years ago during the preagricultural period human population growth was very slow, and it took
tens of thousands of year the human population to double.
Although growth was slow, the population was able to increase due of
the development of tools. As people develop more advanced tools, they
were able to travel to new land and use their skills to adapt. This made it
possible for people to spread to new regions of the world and expand the
coverage of the human population. When the pre-agricultural period
ended around ten thousand years ago the human population was
estimated to be somewhere between 5 and ten million people.
Agricultural Period
The agricultural period is the second period of human population growth.
This period ranges from 10,000 years ago to about 1,000 years ago.
During this time period, the human population started to grow more
rapidly due to advances in agriculture. It was during this time that plants
and animals were domesticated for farming. There were also advances in
irrigation and plowing techniques that increased overall crop yield. As a
result of increased food availability and more nutritious food, the human
population grew faster than ever.
Unlike during the pre-agricultural period, when it took tens of thousands
of years for the human population to double, during the agricultural

period, it only took around 1,000 years for it to double in size. At the end
of the agricultural period, the human population had increased a great
deal to around 500 million people.

Industrial Period
The industrial period was the third period of human population growth.
This period is from 1,000 years ago to current day and is characterized
by advances in technology. Although there were advances in technology
during the early part of this period, it wasn't until the Industrial
Revolution in the 1800s that the advances in technology started to have
a profound influence on the human population.
During this time period, there were technological advances in agricultural
techniques that made it possible to grow crops on land that had
previously been unusable. This resulted in another increase in the
amount of food available, and therefore increased the number of humans
that could survive. Technology was also used to improve medicine and
sanitation, which helped save lives and increase the lifespan of the
average person.
As a result of the technological advances of the industrial period, the
human population grew at a rapid pace. Over the industrial period, the
time it takes to double the population decreased a great deal. During the
beginning of the period, it took around 500 years to double the
population, but more recently, the number has decreased to 50 years to
double. During the industrial period, the human population grew from
500 million people to the 7 billion people we now have on earth.

Causes of Overpopulation
Decline in the Death Rate:
At the root of overpopulation is the difference between the overall birth
rate and death rate in populations. If the number of children born each
year equals the number of adults that die, then the population will
stabilize. Talking about overpopulation shows that while there are many
factors that can increase the death rate for short periods of time, the
ones that increase the birth rate do so over a long period of time. The
discovery of agriculture by our ancestors was one factor that provided

them with the ability to sustain their nutrition without hunting. This
created the first imbalance between the two rates.
Better Medical Facilities:
Following this came the industrial revolution. Technological advancement
was perhaps the biggest reason why the balance has been permanently
disturbed. Science was able to produce better means of producing food,
which allowed families to feed more mouths. Medical science made many
discoveries thanks to which they were able to defeat a whole range of
diseases. Illnesses that had claimed thousands of lives till now were
cured because of the invention of vaccines. Combining the increase in
food supply with fewer means of mortality tipped the balance and
became the starting point of overpopulation.

More Hands to Overcome Poverty:

However, when talking about overpopulation we should understand that
there is a psychological component as well. For thousands of years, a
very small part of the population had enough money to live in comfort.
The rest faced poverty and would give birth to large families to make up
for the high infant mortality rate. Families that have been through
poverty, natural disasters or are simply in need of more hands to work
are a major factor for overpopulation. As compared to earlier times, most
of these extra children survive and consume resources that are not
sufficient in nature.
Technological Advancement in Fertility Treatment:
With latest technological advancement and more discoveries in medical
science, it has become possible for couple who are unable to conceive to
undergo fertility treatment methods and have their own babies. Today
there are effective medicines which can increases the chance of
conception and lead to rise in birth rate. Moreover, due to modern
techniques pregnancies today are far more safer.
Immigration:
Many people prefer to move to developed countries like US, UK, Canada
and Australia where best facilities are available in terms of medical,
education, security and employment. The end result is that those people
settle over there and those places become overcrowded. Difference
between the number of people who are leaving the country and the

number of people who enter narrows down which leads to more demand
for food, clothes, energy and homes. This gives rise to shortage of
resources. Though the overall population remains the same, it just affects
the density of population making that place simply overcrowded.
Lack of Family Planning:
Most developing nations have large number of people who are illiterate,
live below the poverty line and have little or no knowledge about family
planning. Getting their children married at an early age increase the
chances of producing more kids. Those people are unable to understand
the harmful effects of overpopulation and lack of ignorance prompts
them to avoid family planning measures.