Some people believe that overpopulation is the greatest danger that the environment faces. I completely disagree with this point of view.
There are a number of threats to the environment that are greater than simply population sizes. The first of these is air pollution, particularly pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which is a direct contributor to climate change. This global increase in temperatures is expected to lead to increases in ocean surface levels, changes in weather patterns and the destruction of habitats which are vital to support various currently endangered species. Ultimately, this damage is a result, not of the number of people on the planet, but of the energy sources people are choosing to use.
Another danger that exceeds that of overpopulation is plastics in our oceans. Currently, millions of tons of plastic are floating in our oceans, breaking down into microplastics which enter the food chain. Also, larger pieces of plastic are choking waterways and forming giant patches in our oceans, which is responsible for the deaths of many coastal birds and larger marine animals. However, this problem cannot be blamed on total population sizes as certain countries such as Japan have large populations but little plastic pollution due to their effective recycling programs.
In conclusion, the greatest dangers to earth, climate change and damage from plastic, are due to human behavior rather than the total number of people in the world. Therefore, I believe that overpopulation is not the environment’s greatest threat.
Some
people
believe that overpopulation is the greatest
danger
that the environment faces. I completely disagree with this point of view.
There are a number of threats to the environment that are greater than
simply
population sizes. The
first
of these is air pollution,
particularly
pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which is a direct contributor to climate
change
. This global increase in temperatures is
expected
to lead to increases in
ocean
surface levels,
changes
in weather patterns and the destruction of habitats which are vital to support various
currently
endangered species.
Ultimately
, this damage is a result, not of the number of
people
on the planet,
but
of the energy sources
people
are choosing to
use
.
Another
danger
that exceeds that of overpopulation is
plastics
in our
oceans
.
Currently
, millions of tons of
plastic
are floating in our
oceans
, breaking down into microplastics which enter the food chain.
Also
, larger pieces of
plastic
are choking waterways and forming giant patches in our
oceans
, which is responsible for the deaths of
many
coastal birds and larger marine animals.
However
, this problem cannot
be blamed
on total population sizes as certain countries such as Japan have large populations
but
little
plastic
pollution due to their effective recycling programs.
In conclusion
, the greatest
dangers
to earth, climate
change
and damage from
plastic
, are due to human behavior
rather
than the total number of
people
in the world.
Therefore
, I believe that overpopulation is not the environment’s greatest threat.