Our Exploding Population: Problems and Solutions
Section I Almost everyone thinks about the future. We try to imagine life in thirty, forty, or fifty years. What will life on the earth be like? According to many people, it will not be very pleasant. These people are very worried about the future. One of the main problems which worries them is overpopulation. In 1975 there were about four billion people in the world, and the population was increasing by about 2% every year. At the end of the twentieth century, the population of the world reached six billion people.
Section II Why is this increase in population a problem? First, a large part of the growth is taking place in countries that do not always have enough food for their present population. Without a great deal of money, food, and medical assistance from other nations, these countries will not be able to support their growing population. Many of their people, perhaps millions of them, will die of starvation or disease. But overpopulation is not only a problem for developing countries. It is also a serious problem for the countries of the world which do not usually have food problems. In wealthy, industrial nations, large increases in the population will have negative effects on life. We will have to heat and cool more houses, apartment buildings, schools and hospitals. We will have to transport more people to and from work. For all this, we will have to use more of the world's natural resources. Perhaps the world will not have enough oil, water, coal, and wood for all our needs.
Section III One solution which many people suggest is to limit the number of children who are born. There are now a number of safe, modern methods of birth control. A married couple who use birth control can choose the size of their family. A number of countries with large populations have government programmes for birth control. India, for example, advertises birth control on the radio and television. Teams of workers go out into the countryside and teach the people about the benefits of family planning. In China, couples who only have one child or no child get apartments before couples with three children or more. In many other countries, birth control is a subject that school students study in special classes.
Section IV But how successful are these birth control programmes? Some are very successful. In countries like Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Great Britain, families are quite small, and the population is increasing very slowly; in some of these countries, it is not growing at all. But these are wealthy, developed countries, which can feed their people without difficulty. In developing countries, many of the birth control programmes are not successful.
Section V There are a number of possible reasons for the failure of birth control programmes in developing countries. One reason is religion. Many people belong to religions which do not accept modern method of birth control. For them, birth control is wrong, and they naturally refuse to listen to family planning workers. Another reason for the failure of birth control programmes is economics. Often a large number of children are necessary for very poor families in developing countries. Children can work and help support the family. Also, without a welfare system, people have to depend on their children for food, clothing, and shelter in their old age. In these countries, people just cannot see any reason for small families.
Section VI For other people, birth control is definitely not the solution the world needs for the problem of overpopulation. In their opinion, government should not decide family size. It is not right. The solution which these people suggest is to increase world food production. They draw our attention to the progress that agricultural scientists are making. With irrigation, for example, we can now produce food in many parts of the world which did not produce anything fifteen or twenty years ago. We can even grow plants in water without soil. Scientists are also doing research into plants which grow quickly and into new farming techniques. The governments of rich countries will have to help the poor countries. Without economic assistance from the wealthy nations, poor countries will not be able to use the new products and farming techniques that scientists are developing.
Section VII Birth control and an increase in food production are two possible solutions to the problem of overpopulation. Perhaps there are other solutions. Almost certainly there is no one easy answer to the problem: we will have to use a number of solutions. Then perhaps we will be able to solve the problem of the population explosion.