For many women, becoming a mother is the final and ultimate goal - the last hurrah, the step towards which they have been marching all their lives. The idea of having children is ingrained in us since childhood, and the importance of reproduction is also rooted in religion. In the Christian creed, Adam and Eve were given to Earth for reproduction, for the creation of the human race. Of course, all of this is additionally influenced by pop culture - films such as Najeta mama (Baby Mama, 2008) or What to Expect When You're Expecting? (What To Expect When You're Expecting, 2012) perpetuates the idea that the children we have alone will somehow fulfill our entire lives. Maybe it's true, maybe children really do make our lives worthwhile. They also make it more stressful - from social, financial and environmental aspects. Even science says that reproduction is a bad idea. In the article, we can read what are the main reasons why science believes that children should not be had.
1. Hunger
In the last two years, one in eight people in the world is estimated to be a victim of chronic hunger. That's about 842 million people who walk around the world hungry. Most of our planet is not suitable for growing crops, producing food, and land for arable land is becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Although the number of those suffering from hunger has decreased in the last two decades, the human race is reproducing too rapidly to meet all the needs of the population, which is now estimated at 7,357,390,159.
2. Lack of water
The issue of the lack of water resources on Earth is probably even more pressing than hunger. About 2.5 percent of the world's water is fresh water, less than one percent (0.007 percent) is available for immediate use. Although we are spoiled and convinced of how easy it is to get clean, potable water, elsewhere (especially in developing countries) we would disagree. There are desalination processes that turn saltwater into potable water, but it is neither purified enough, much less readily available for immediate use by the entire population, which currently stands at 7,357,391,531.
3. Global warming.
Unless we're part of a surprisingly large group of people who think global warming is a myth, then we know how dangerous it is. Temperatures are rising as more and more people release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Simple and seemingly harmless actions, such as driving a car or running a gas stove, work with fossil fuels and further endanger the environment. These actions are destructive on an individual level, but let's imagine that we are all doing it at once. The results are terrible. Climate change is a very real thing that we need to address, and one way to start is by limiting the number of people in the world, which currently stands at 7,357,391,702.
4. Pollution.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. More people, more pollution. From shaking cigarette butts on the street, to throwing (non-recycled) plastic and garbage into the sea, pollution will become more and more intense if more and more people contribute to it.
The current world population is 7,357,391,921.
5. Space constraints.
The lack of space is also a concern. In New York alone, there are more than 8.3 million people in 777 square kilometers. By ignoring the damage caused by urban sprawl—when an overcrowded urban area seeps into surrounding neighborhoods—the urban environment suffers from oversaturation of people crammed into a single space.
Heat levels are higher in overcrowded cities, the amount of pollution is higher, green spaces are shrinking faster and more electricity is being used. Even if we continue to expand beyond urban areas, the time will soon come when there will be no more space.
The current world population is 7,357,393,007.
READ MORE: Graffiti with strong environmental messages that communicate an uncomfortable truth
Humans can be selfish and make conscious decisions without considering others. Unfortunately, saving depleted resources is impossible, even if people use resources with others in mind in the world, if we do not try to alleviate the problem of overpopulation in the shortest possible time.
In a very famous and influential work, first published in the journal Science in 1968, Garrett Hardin depicts the dilemma known as "The Tragedy of the Commons". Hardin describes tragedy as a problem arising from situations in which people act rationally but in their own self-interest, depleting shared, limited resources, even though this loss affects everyone in the long run. Tragedy is not just a horror film intended to (over)frighten us into caution, but also the real problem we are currently facing.
The current world population is 7,357,394,346.
The number of the population of the world summarized by the website www.worldometers.info/world-population, in an average time interval of five minutes.
