The Rise Before the Fall

Born and raised in the small, quiet suburbs of Antioch Illinois (population 13,341), my move to Los Angeles was a terrifying change. While I was happy to finally be in the same place as palm trees, I found myself drowning in a crowd wherever I went. Whether it was ordering food at a restaurant, trying to find products at Target, or just walking on the beach, I noticed how there was always a plethora of people within every space I inhabited. I felt suffocated. It wasn’t until recently when I stumbled upon a Pew Research Center article that my driving fear of overpopulation would take a backseat. 

There are too many people on this planet. You don't need some fancy scientist to tell you that. Now, what will happen when our resources run dry? Movies depict the answer in one of two ways: a space mission to find another inhabitable planet that will inevitably go awry or an apocalyptic society where only those with edgy costumes and high-tech machinery survive (my attempt at a shabby Mad Max reference). If you’re like me, you’d prefer neither of these outcomes and would like things to continue more peacefully. Luckily, we can find peace from Anthony Cilluffo and Neil G. Ruiz, two health and human research scientists at the Pew Research Center. They conducted a population study in 2019 and what they found is game-changing. Within their study, they found that the world’s population is projected to nearly stop growing by the end of the century due to a rise in fertility rates (Cillufo & Ruiz 2019). Immediately after learning this, I took a breath. However, after processing the information I began to unpack this statement and ponder what the future of human society is to look like if the population is set to stabilize. 

Essentially, there is going to be a huge spike in population before anything else. Is that what you wanted to hear? Well, neither did I. It makes my anxiety ache and my skin crawl. Our planet cannot handle a significant rise in population, yet that's what needs to happen for things to stabilize. Cilluffo and Ruiz discuss this, elaborating on how the increase in population will lead to a decrease in supplies and parallel, an increase in fertility rates. The triangle of cause in effect is crazy. In other words, our planet needs more people, before it can start to let them wither away. My mind was blown. 

I'm eager to see how it all starts playing out. The end of the century is a ways away and while I may not be around to see any significant change occur, I'm sure the events will start taking place very soon. The oceans are rising and things are heating up, but is there any possible way to fix or combat this issue? To be blunt, I'm not sure there is. It feels like people have known about the damage of overpopulation for quite some time, yet nobody has cared. Well, the clock is ticking and time is running out. Let's wait and see what happens.

Overpopulation Insanity: By Diane Parnell