How many people are too many? (Inquiry Project #2)

Hello everyone, I am Joshua Vas and my 2nd inquiry project is how many people are too many?

Currently, the world population is at 7.7 billion people and is rising…fast! and current statistics say that for every death, there are three new births and while life is the most precious thing in the world, how do we sustain it? This is a question that you never see the news try to answer, world leaders try to shy away from having a solution to this problem. You always see leaders having plans to control carbon emissions, get the economy rising, and make some country great again but the rising population of the planet seems to become an even bigger issue than ever before. Hollywood and popular media have certainly teased their ways of trying to solve the issue whether it be Thanos snapping his fingers to restore balance, the Hunger Games, or maybe aliens taking over the world exterminating people. And while scientists say that the ecosystem is a delicate balance of things, how many people does it really take to offset this balance and collapse nature unto the very foundation of itself?

1st research round: On my first research round I will be taking a look at the effects of overpopulation on our modern world and what countries (especially China, India, and the USA since they are the three most populated countries) are currently trying to tackle this issue. I may also wander into the effects that the rapid population growth may have on animals who share the land with us.

2nd research round: In this research round, I will analyze the rate of people in this world and compare the population of people to the population of other animals and take a closer look at the effects we have on animals and nature.

3rd research round: I will save the hardest round for last, while I try to find some solutions whether it is technologically possible or not. I will also look at the moral dilemma that some of these solutions are posing and possible ways to solve our crisis. I will also be analyzing the pros and cons of these solutions.

Here are some sources to help get me started on the topic:

• https://www.pop.org/overpopulation-myth/
• https://www.overpopulationawareness.org/en/
• https://www.everythingconnects.org/overpopulation-effects.html
• https://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/overpopulation-causes-effects-solutions/
• https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Human-Overpopulation-Its-Causes-Effects-and-Solutions

Personal thoughts:

Up until this research round, I didn’t really care too much about overpopulation. I really started to get concerned when my grandmother told me about the situation over in India. In India, it turns out that overcrowding is such a big problem that buses usually lean and are full of people that some take the dangerous risk of leaning on the sides of the bus and market places are full of people making it a very easy place to pickpocket and disappear without getting caught, poverty is also quite rampant where my grandmother lives. As I look through the news and current events, governments never really talk about overpopulation, going green and improving the economy seems to be the priority of every single government and no one really addresses overpopulation which really worries me. While people seem to be stressing the importance of life which is fairly true, no one seems to be talking about overpopulation which I feel is becoming the “elephant in the room” in which only a few are currently addressing.