Population Explosion Essay

The people of any country are its real wealth, an important component of the country. People are the real owner of a country's resources, and according to them, countries' policies are decided. And the country is ultimately known by the people of that country. Moreover, the population of the world is unevenly distributed; some countries have large populations. Whereas some countries on the other hand have a very low population.

At the start of the 21st century, the world witnessed a population of 6 billion. China is the most populous country in the world and has a population of 1.42 billion. India follows it with a population of 1.39 billion.

On the contrary, countries, like the Vatican, have only a Population of 510, which makes them the least populated country in the world. The world's population is unevenly distributed for some reasons, for example, climatic conditions of that country, agriculture, employment, health facilities, etc. Apart from these factors, several factors contribute to the growth of the population. When population growth is out of control, it is called population explosion.

The term population explosion refers to a quick or fast increase in the population of any area. And when the area's population is growing rapidly, the economy of that area cannot cope with the growing population. And due to a large chunk of the population's economy suffering, it cannot provide facilities to the country's people. Since meeting the needs of a large chunk of the population economy needs more resources, countries have limited resources, and it hampers the nation's growth.

Several data and research papers revealed that the countries in the developing phase or those in the category of developing nations contributed most to the population explosion. When we look at the population growth in India, we see that the population is growing rapidly. According to the UN report, India will become the most populous country by 2023. Within India distribution of population is uneven. Some states have a population that is more than the population of some countries, whereas some states have a very low population. For example, Uttar Pradesh has the largest population in the country.

On the contrary, Lakshadweep has the least population in India. Population explosion has a serious relationship with the development of the nation. It has universal relations with the development of the nation. When the population of a country increases in the rapid phase, it automatically hampers the growth of the nation. It is considered the mother of all evils in our country because a country with limited resources cannot support a large population. When we look around ourselves, we can only see the crowd.

Causes of Population Explosion

Several factors contribute to the population explosion. These are-

1. Decrease in the Mortality Rate

The main reason for the population explosion is the rapid fall in the mortality rate, creating an imbalance between birth and death. The mortality rate is decreasing rapidly due to advanced medical facilities and development in healthcare. Moreover, due to these advancements total fertility rate has also increased. All around the world, due to changes in lifestyle and eating habits lifespan of people's increasing.

In earlier times, the lifespan of people was very less, but it has now increased rapidly. For some of us who live today, there is so much probability then we will live longer than many of our ancestors. Also, globally, life expectancy at birth has increased, the mother mortality rate decreased, and the infant mortality rate decreased, ultimately contributing to the population explosion.

2. Less Use of Contraception

Contraception is the artificial method used to prevent pregnancy or any sexually transmitted diseases during sexual activity. Various types of Contraception are condoms, contraceptive pills, etc. Controlled contraceptives are still limited, and a small population uses them. But as awareness increases, the use of contraceptives also increases, but their potential is still underutilized.

Women are not using this contraceptive for various reasons: lack of education, rumours of side effects, the social stigma attached to it, religious beliefs, etc. And when people with low education backgrounds are unaware of the benefits of contraceptives, they engage sexually, which causes unwanted pregnancy and ultimately leads to an increase in population. And when the use of Contraception is limited in any area, it automatically creates a population explosion.

3. Low level of Female Education

One of the most important causes of population explosion is the low level of education. Because of the low level of education, women don't know about contraceptives and their effective usage. Because of their low education level, they cannot resist some social stigma attached to using contraceptives, such as infertility, causes the deformity, etc. In the rural patriarchal family, their opinion is of no value; sometimes, they bear a child even if they are not ready to. Due to enhanced health conditions, the infant's life expectancy at birth increases, and women's fertility rate also rises.

4. Advancement in Agriculture

When food grain production increases, it automatically leads to population growth at a rapid phase. In earlier times, when there was insufficient food to feed the family, families were small because the food had to divide among the fewer members. But due to technological advancements, especially in agriculture, when food production is sufficient and can feed many family members, the number of family members has increased. Thereby increasing the population.

5. Better Use of Medical Facilities

The facilities provided by health care automatically increase people's life expectancy. Due to the advancements in technology, the services provided by healthcare are of great quality due to a fall in death rate, increased life expectancy, decreased IFR, etc. Also, these happened due to the easy availability, and affordability, of healthcare services.

6. Immigration

When people move to other countries permanently is termed immigration. It is also one of the causes of population explosion. People in search of employment, better health services, high standard of living move to other countries mainly developed. And these migrations create a population explosion because developed countries already have their population. When people from less developed or underdeveloped countries move to developed countries, they create a population explosion.

Harmful Effects of Population Explosion

1. Deterioration of Country's Natural Resources

Countries have limited natural resources, which supports only limited people because the regeneration of natural resources takes time. Suppose the population's growth is at a rapid phase. In that case, natural resources are regenerated, but people use all the natural resources, and the country takes a backseat in the development.

2. Environmental Damage

When the population grows at a rapid phase, it deteriorates the environment. Some areas are prone to changes, and they support only a small section of the population, but when the population is more than that the area support, it starts the degradation of the environment. People cut trees, deplete natural resources, etc., Thus, leading to environmental degradation.

3. Overpopulation Leads to Conflicts And War

When there are more people in any country, but the resources are limited, it only supports fewer people, leading to conflict between people for scarce resources.

Sometimes conflict can be seen between nations. For example, when the population of a certain country increases, it expands its physical boundaries for allocating its people, and moves into other nations' physical areas, leading to conflicts.

4. Increase in Unemployment

The most negative effect of the population explosion is unemployment. When the jobs are fewer, but the number of people demanding jobs is high, it leads to unemployment. And from unemployment, other hardships come up. If people have no job, it leads to poverty and starvation, which ultimately leads to death. Moreover, the low level of job availability creates an environment under which people enter into other activities such as crime, theft, etc., which creates an additional burden on the country. Because of that, the growth of the nation gets hampered.

5. Shortage of Water

The availability of fresh water is limited all over the world. Only 1% of water available in the world is fresh, which supports people's life. But when the population is rapidly growing, its usage is in a rapid phase, it creates an additional burden of water shortage and low availability of fresh water.