Population - the Culprit?

Since Malthus, there has been a long history of concentrating on population growth as the source for the world''s social, environmental and recently also political troubles. Deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, air pollution, global warming, unemployment, poverty and - most recently - terrorism are put down to high population growth, mainly to be found in the developing countries.

To solve these problems, governments and aid agencies have for many years often focused on population control efforts in developing countries. However, the correlation between rapid population growth and slow economic growth is far from being proven. Starvation and environmental degradation might be caused by unequal land distribution instead of increasing population sizes.

A significant share of the world''s environmental problems could be blamed on the disproportionate consumption of natural resources in the industrial countries and not in the "overpopulated" developing word. And finally, political instability might not be the consequence of overpopulation, but of frustration due to the lack of participation of the poor. This is not to say, that population growth should not at all blamed for the miseries of the people; but in our complex world we should remember that population is only one factor among many.

Sumber: http://www.escwa.un.org/popin