Population Explosion, the rapid and dramatic rise in world population that has occurred over the last few hundred years poses a great problem. The world’s population increased from 1.65 billion in 1900 to 3.02 billion in 1960. The United Nations estimated that the population reached 6 billion in late 1999.
Thus, the size of the population nearly quadrupled in the span of 100 years, a historically unprecedented rate of increase. Most of this growth is now taking place in the world’s developing countries, where rates of natural increase are much higher than they are in industrialized countries. Concern that this might lead to overpopulation has led smoke countries to adopt population control policies.
Although it is true that the rate of population increase is now much slower in the developed countries than in the developing countries. It would be a mistake to assume that the population growth problem is primarily a problem of developing countries.
In fact, because larger amounts of resources per person are used in the developed nations, each citizen from the developed counties has a much greater environmental impact than a citizen from a developing country. Conservation strategies that would not alter life-styles out would greatly lessen environmental impact are essential in the developed world.
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Evidence now exists suggesting that the most important factors necessary to lower population growth rates in the developing countries are democracy and social justice. Studies show that population growth rates have fallen in areas where several social conditions have been met.
In these areas, literacy rates have increased, and women are given economic status equal to that of men and are able to hold jobs and own property; also birth control information is more widely available, and women are free to make their own reproductive decisions.
There is vital need of controlling population growth as many of the countries of the world have already started this process and they have succeeded. In the similar way, the developing and underdeveloped countries have to initiate and implement the measures for controlling the growing population.