Overpopulation is the root of many political conflicts and virtually all environmental problems. Aside from avoiding nuclear war, lowering the human population needs be set as a top priority. The limits of the human population are debatable, but the repercussions of having more then 7 billion humans inhabit the planet are not. One could argue that the issue at hand isn't the current population per se, but rather, it is the exponential growth of the human population that is a cause for concern. Data suggests that the world population grows by two percent each year. Some speculate that another two billion will be added to the world population by the year 2030. This rate of growth is far beyond reasonable. Overcrowding in poorer nations can cause countless immigrants to flee to many western nations as well. This is a large factor in the growth of richer nations as well. For example, theU.S.population will grow by over 100 million by year 2050. Either way, overpopulation has played the leading role throughout history in famine, warfare, political organization, political disorganization and arguably countless other social problems.

   The conflicts that arise from overpopulation are often very obvious. For example, the spread of disease is magnified by a dense population; overcrowding invariably leads to territorial disputes; and in order for a society to maintain sustainable consumption rates of natural resources, higher populations require lower per-capita consumption rates. Problems such as climate change, pollution, and soil erosion can all be attributed to the fact that the number of humans far exceeds this planets capacity.

   Logic would state that any given population should be able to survive solely off of their natural, immediate environment, and in the case that required resources or an abundant food supply is not readily available, the group may migrate, in the best interest of survival, to another region in order to meet their needs.

Possibly one of the largest contributing factors, however, is the overproduction of food. After the birth of agriculture, the ability to produce food outgrew the need, and the overabundance of it led to an intense population explosion. Overproduction of food allows for more people to be born and, therefore, allows for a greater population. Human population growth is a rapidly cycling positive feedback loop in which food availability drives population growth. Some suggest that advancement in medical science is the greatest influence over the population. Medical science and technology greatly affect the mean life expectancy, but play a small part in the population equation.

 No matter what the definitive cause, the Earth simply cannot sustain more then 7 billion humans. If humans are to survive on this planet, we need to drastically begin to reduce our population. Coupled with conservation efforts and the spread of environmental awareness, we might stand a chance, but overpopulation is nothing short of a crisis, and needs to be addressed with urgency.