This pledge closed about 1 year ago
The problem that I am addressing is over population. Over
population is a global issue and occurs in dozens of countries. One billion
people are added to the world's population, every twelve years, which is about
220,000 people born per day. With the rapid growth of population, the world
could end up having many issues in the future. For instance, some countries are
low on supplies, such as water, and water shortages affect about one billion
people and cause for lack of water for sanitation and agriculture purposes.
With a population growing in an area with limited water supply, it can lead to
a disaster in the future, unless the population rates decline to a reasonable
rate. Over population leads many to become homeless, especially children,
because the area becomes so crowed, the spaces for homes are very tight. Even
the poor are left without a home at all and are forced to live on the streets.
Over population can also affect the world's air quality. Asthma rates in
children have risen in about the last twenty years, due to the quality of the
air. With the population rising, the air quality becomes poorer because so many
people are polluting. For example, over population can affect someone's commute
to work every day because more and more people are getting more jobs. The
pollution from the chemicals in cars also affects the air quality as well. The
growth of the population needs to decrease and we must find a solution before
the world heads into a major crisis in the long run. It is an issue the entire
world needs to participate in to help decrease this rapid rate.
One country in particular is India. India is the country
that adds more to the world's population more than any other country. The birth
rates are starting to exceed the deaths rates, therefore causing the population
to grow. In India, the women have a cultural pressure to have baby boys because
when they become older, they take care of their in laws when they get married.
They also avoid using any method of birth control; so many families have
multiple children. In some cases if a woman, has three children, and are all
girls, she and her husband will try to have a boy until they eventually do
because they want them to be able to take care of their in laws. Woman often
get married at a very young age as well, some as young as fifteen. There is a
lack of education in birth control for woman because they don't believe in it
and when they get married, they start to have children right away. Around 95% of
marriages in India are arranged, and often the two don't meet their husband or
wife until a few days prior to the wedding.
Daughters are seen as gifts when they get married. They are the ones
that provide the children to create the new family and are in a way given away
to the husband. But not all marriages are decent. About 25,000 women are killed
from domestic abuse from their husbands and many are often raped. Because there
is a cultural pressure to have a baby boy, there are about 35 million fewer women
in India, than men. Woman can average about five children each, but many do go
above the amount. With the rate growing in India, their population alone could
double, if not triple, by 2050.
If the rate of the
population continues to escalade at this rapid rate, the world could face many
problems for the future generations.
Here are some helpful sites for more information: