World population dominated by youth
Numerous problems arise when populations are made up of young people. Young people are more likely than middle-aged people to protest, migrate, and have children. As world population continues to grow and global resources decline, human conflicts will inevitably grow stronger. Climate scientists just declared a global climate emergency, and many people understand that we must make drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. However,
few people are declaring population growth an emergency, but they should be.
Some scientists believe that it is too late to achieve a sustainable future by controlling population growth. The numbers are so large, and the need for fuel, food, and fiber is so great, that our forests and soils have become too wasted to supply needs of our current population. There is some hope. Learn more.
Here’s an excerpt from a discussion of the age-distribution problem published by the New York Times.
By Somini Sengupta
The World Has a Problem: Too Many Young People
“AT no point in recorded history has our world been so demographically lopsided, with old people concentrated in rich countries and the young in not-so-rich countries.
“Much has been made of the challenges of aging societies. But it’s the youth bulge that stands to put greater pressure on the global economy, sow political unrest, spur mass migration and have profound consequences for everything from marriage to Internet access to the growth of cities.”–Somini Sengupta
