Twenty-two dimensions of the population problem.

An examination of the economic social ecological and political facets of overpopulation portray the stresses and strains associated with continued population growth in a world already inhabited by four billion people. A lack of facilities and the effects of poor nutrition on intelligence make illiteracy especially common in areas of high population growth. Overfishing and pollution of oceans has lowered the productivity of oceanic fisheries and even at maximum levels oceanic production cannot meet food demands. Access to recreation areas is becoming increasingly limited. Waste has increased to a point where the ecosystem can no longer readily break it down and absorb it and pollution results. Inflation caused when demand exceeds supply is a result of large population gains. A growing share of all illness and death in the world today is directly attributable to human changes in the environment stemming from population growth. The recent downturn in per capita grain consumption the inability to rebuild grain reserves the acceleration of world dependence on North American grain exports and overgrazing are direct results of growing demands for food. Providing decent living quarters for a rapidly increasing population is extraordinarily difficult. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and dust in the atmosphere have changed the climate of large regions of the earth. The rural exodus has increased urbanization and crowding in both rural and urban areas has deleterious effects. Large population growth offsets gains in economic growth lowering the per capita income. Demand for land for agriculture and wood for fuel has caused serious deforestation. Energy and mineral demands cannot be met and water is in short supply. Health services cannot keep up with population growth. Individual freedom is compromised when limitations and guidelines must be imposed by the government for the common good.