Overpopulation
...rrying capacity. The worst-case scenario is a constant path that will continue with a total fertility rate of almost 2.5. With this amount of growth our world population would increase exponentially and would increase to 14 billion by 2070, doubling our current world population. The second path would be if we could lower the total fertility rate to 2.1. This would cause the world population to level off at around 10 billion by the year 2070. This would be very achievable. The best possible path would be if the world’s total fertility could be reduced to 1.6. This would cause the population to peak at 7.7 billion in 2050 and lower to 3.6 billion by 2150. This is a very optimistic prediction and would be a challenge to achieve successfully. To stop the world’s population from growing rapidly we must set up successful family planning programs in developing countries. This is the best solution because it’s the most realistic. If the birth rates drop in such countries and remain at a reasonable level, then the global population will ultimately stabilize at a more manageable level. The countries that still have high fertility and birth rates are putting a burden on their country. High fertility rates decrease the opportunity for economic development, increase health risks for women and children, and decrease the quality of life because it reduces access to education, nutrition, employment, and scarce resources such as potable water. For these reasons it is crucial to concentrate on introducing more family planning programs to developing countries. The effectiveness of family planning programs used in different countries varies greatly. There are a wide variety of programs currently being used today, but the oldest and most effective program belongs to China. China implemented an official policy to reduce population growth in 1978.3 This policy was very effective, it lowered the population growth rate from 1.2% in 1978 to zero by the year 2000. This policy put an emphasis on single-children families. China’s government uses a system of rewards and penalties, education, and a network of family planning, which provides information on birth control. It would be ideal to have all countries adopt the same kind of policy that China has. This would, in theory, cause the same sort of growth reductions worldwide. Unfortunately this isn’t possible because of cultural issues. Many countries have societies that that don’t allow women to have the freedom of making their own reproductive choices because they are considered property and don’t have any rights. Another obstacle that gets in the way of family planning is the anti-abortion movement. People involved in this movement would be completely against many aspects of family planning, which would cause many different altercations. The main focus of family planning programs is to provide education on contraceptive use and to provide actual contraceptives. This is especially needed in developing countries where contraception is not available. Surveys of women in developing counties show that a large proportion—from 10 to 40 percent—want to limit or space childbearing but are not using contraception.4 This alarming statistic proves that there is an unmet need for family planning in developing countries. Contraceptives are very important in family planning. Many pregnancies for women in their teens and early 20’s are unintended and could have been postponed if contraceptives were available.5 This could cause fertility rates to drop in countries such as Nigeria, where the TFR is 6.5. Even a small drop in this number would make a big difference overall. The time to t...