Off - Campus, Foreign

A Scarcity of Resources due to Population Growth

2011-10-04 Observer

The UN predicts that Earth's population will exceed 7 billion in October, 2011. Also, the UNFPA (United Nations Fund for Population Activities) launched the "7 Billion Actions" Campaign on the occasion of World Population Day designated by the UN. The campaign aims to express concern about resource shortages and increase the awareness of the world's people. Half of the world's population will be living with an inadequate water supply. On average, world water consumption must decrease by 1000㎥ per person a year. Population growth will experience a twofold increase compared to usable farmland, and oil is on the brink of exhaustion. Most world trends are toward serious resource shortages. The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) warns, "If we don't change current consumption habits, we will have to produce the same amount of food in the next 40 years that was produced during the previous 8000 years combined, which means we will need 3 planets the size of earth by 2050 in order to sustain the population." Based on these realities, we have to realize the need to develop more thrifty habits for the future in order to prevent hunger and waste.