NPG IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF OUR 2020 ESSAY SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST

NPG
July 8, 2020
Scholarship
1 Comment

NPG is pleased to offer challenging contests as part of our mission to enlist a new generation of activists, who will be focused on calling attention to the dangers of population growth. We send our thanks to all of our members and friends who have so generously contributed, as well as our appreciation for the tens of thousands of students who have competed in our contests. It is your support and participation that makes this critical program possible!

2020 Topic:
The 2020 U.S. Census will begin in April. In the past, our nation has grown by tens of millions of people each decade and experts predict our population will exceed 400 million by 2060. Is this good or bad for our country? What three aspects of your life do you think will be most affected by that growth?

Click on each name to view the text of the winning essay.

Award	Winner Name	School
Grand Prize $2,500	Anelyse Regelbrugge	Lewis and Clark College
2nd Place $1,500	Jessica Wen	Rice University
$1,000	Solana Adedokun	University of Chicago
$1,000	Cavin Alderfer	Colorado State University
$1,000	Kaysan Frueh	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
$1,000	Nicolas Genna	Oakland University
$1,000	Harrison Hall	Liberty University
$1,000	Makenzie Hrabina	Edgewood College
$1,000	Jesse Roy	Yale University
$1,000	Reece Sodano	Pennsylvania State University
$1,000	Manu Sundaresan	University of Chicago
$1,000	Brennan Thompson	United States Air Force Academy
$1,000	Zakkariyya Yandle	Wayne State University

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One Reply to “NPG IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF OUR 2020 ESSAY SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST”

Kaysan Frueh

July 12, 2020

Thank you so much for awarding me a scholarship! I am so honored and grateful to your organization. I will use the scholarship well to further my studies and academic opportunity in college. Thank you!

New NPG Forum Paper Examines Past Pandemics in Relation to the Current COVID-19 Crisis

NPG IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF OUR 2020 HANDMADE POSTER SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST

Anelyse Regelbrugge
Lewis and Clark College
$2,500

Looking at the impacts of contemporary U.S population growth, one might reasonably recoil at the shady ethics involved in justifying the social and environmental grievances that almost inevitably ensue. Strangely, however, ethics are often absent in the American discussion about population growth; instead, economics dominate the conversation.

Unsurprisingly, many economists loudly proclaim the national benefits of population growth. A Forbes article contended that the increased demand generated by more people is fulfilled by a corresponding increase in laborers to bolster service and production sectors, which, the article maintains, facilitates economic prosperity (Ozimek). Wharton School went even further when, after considering that most future U.S population growth is predicted to stem from immigration, rather than native births, they stated that we should not only embrace growth, but strive to escalate it by inviting more working-age immigrants.

Despite this costs-benefits approach, I believe that such arguments reflect a myopic consideration of the variables, especially since they only tackle one of the three UN Pillars of Sustainable Development: economy, society, and environment (UN). Without addressing all three, I feel that any discussion about the ramifications of U.S population growth is ineffectual.

What about the last two pillars: environment and society? Economic arguments tend to base their predictions upon current resource availability statistics, but it is fallacious to assume that such values will remain constant in an era of environmental degradation and climate change. Already, we humans consume far more resources and exude far more waste than what Earth can support (Dimick). Adding people to our country means more resources needed, and, contrary to the assertions of economists, having a larger national working force won’t help us meet that demand if there are no natural resources left from which to draw upon.

Already, over 10 percent of U.S homes struggle with food insecurity (USDA). How will we conjure up enough agricultural yield to satisfy an additional 70+ million people by 2060 (US Census)? Freshwater, clean energy, and arable land – the building blocks of resource production – exist in insufficient quantities to meet such fantastic demands (Dimick).

Instead, we will be forced to rely increasingly on technologies to grow, harvest, process, and transport necessary commodities. If current trends continue, this means more pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified organisms, Co2 emissions, and energy expenditure, all of which will exacerbate our damaging national waste output (Dimick).

As we develop newer, more desperate ways to exploit nature, the environment is bound to suffer the consequences, and so, eventually, will society. Our veneer of national security is beginning to crack under the strain of the social injustices that increase the longer the American people remain complacent. Dwindling supplies of clean water and fresh air, and shortages of food and land will inevitably increase costs of living, proliferating issues of social inequity, as environmental goods and burdens become unequally distributed among a teeming populous.

By the time the U.S population hits 400 million, I will be 60 years old, but I’ll feel the impact well before then. Firstly, my future career will be affected, since my intended majors are environmental studies and environmental law. The kind of work I’ll be doing will directly respond to the many ethical and legal violations that arise as consequences of a bustling human population exhausting its environment.

American ecosystems will undoubtedly be changed during our climb to 400 million, as the spread of humans and the waste we generate causes diverse plant and animal species that existed in my childhood to be poisoned and crowded out of their habitats (Dimick). Climates and geographies will change in response to human actions, and the ecological U.S of 2060 will likely be very different from that of today (Dimick). Thus, my environment will be a second impacted area of my life.

As if these concerns weren’t enough, population growth will affect my future health, as well. Denser populations result in more severe air, water, and land pollution, not to mention the increased risk of contagion that accompanies overwhelming urban concentrations – demand for medical services will be higher than ever (“Urbanization Effects”).

Using the Three Pillars of Sustainable Development as a reference, increasing U.S populations can only be interpreted as a woeful omen for the future of our environment, society, and, yes, economy. In a future where there are more people vying for jobs, resources, space, and services than the amount of those things available, the opportunities, choices, and freedoms of Americans will be more limited than those of the past several generations. Population growth portends ill for those of us who will be among the 400 million U.S citizens in 2060.

Jessica Wen
Rice University
$1,500

As everyday Americans continue to shape the future of our country, we must also take a look at the potential consequences. Improved medical technologies, lack of family planning, and unchecked immigration are just a few of the contributors to the ever-increasing population of the United States. In just 40 years, experts predict that the U.S. population will increase by over 70 million. At this rate, natural resources will be rapidly depleted, the effectiveness of medical care will be compromised, and the overall quality of life will be drastically reduced. It is imperative that we start analyzing the effects of overpopulation now, before it is too late.

Already, we are exhausting the earth’s natural resources by consuming them at a rate faster than which they can be replenished. As the population increases, so too will the amount of food, water, and energy needed to sustain the population. The efforts put into obtaining these resources, such as farming and mining, will lead to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as well as damage to ecosystems and arable lands. Climate change, which is already a major environmental concern today, will worsen, as a larger population will require the burning of more fossil fuels. Food will become scarce, and freshwater sources will become even more difficult to access. Not to mention, the clearing of lands in order to accommodate urban sprawl will lead to deforestation and massive loss of biodiversity. These environmental consequences will have detrimental effects on one’s quality of life. Most Americans, including myself, will have to adapt to living in more polluted areas where resources are limited and difficult to obtain. This will ultimately force individuals to become aware of their environmental impact and encourage them to live much simpler lives.

Overpopulation may also have a significant impact on modern day healthcare. Advancements in the medical field, such as vaccines and treatments for serious illnesses, have increased the human lifespan over the last couple of decades. However, overpopulation will lead to negative effects on human health. For example, the pollution of air as a result of overpopulation will put Americans at a higher risk for developing asthma or other respiratory illnesses. Similarly, the pollution of water will increase the likelihood of contaminants entering our bodies and negatively affecting our health. Because resources are limited, we can also expect food and water shortages throughout the nation, which will lead to malnourishment and congenital birth defects. Perhaps the most pressing concern of overpopulation in regards to health is the spread of disease. The more humans there are, the closer they are together, and the easier it is for diseases such as tuberculosis, and COVID-19, to be transmitted. As an aspiring healthcare professional, I am deeply concerned about our country’s future. It is time for us to trust the science that supports the fact that overpopulation is unsustainable and dangerous. If population growth is left unchecked, I believe that other healthcare professionals and I will spend the majority of our careers addressing the consequences of overpopulation.

Lastly, overpopulation will have grave effects on our economy. In the past, population growth was a source of economic and industrial progress. New ideas, stronger workforces, and capable leaders came about as a result of a growing population. Now, we are in danger of suffering from the consequences of overpopulation. The number of jobs available will not increase quickly enough to accommodate the speed at which the American population is growing. As a result, unemployment rates and living costs will skyrocket. Many Americans will be thrown into poverty, and they will not have the resources they need to improve their living conditions. This is especially concerning for younger and future generations. We may be the ones to suffer through the consequences of an exponentially increasing population. It may be extremely difficult for us to find jobs and provide for our families.

The United States is on a dangerous path. The consequences of overpopulation can and will endanger the environmental, medical, and financial aspects of our lives. If the U.S. population does in fact exceed 400 million by 2060, we may be looking at massive habitat loss, strain on medical institutions, and a high unemployment rate, all of which will severely decrease the quality of life of Americans.

Solana Adedokun
University of Chicago
$1,000

Gently, I crack my eyes open and notice the soft beams of morning sunlight illuminate my room through the blinds of my window. I slowly turn my head to look at my digital clock: 7:45 AM on June 28th, 2060. I notice my breathing. Normally, it’s the shallow breaths of an athsmatic, like it has been for most of my life, but lately I can’t catch my breath at all, even with the help of my inhaler.

I rise out of the bed, stretch my arms high in the air, and start my morning routine to get ready for work. I take a shower, brush my teeth, and make my way downstairs to eat breakfast. As I’m munching on my cereal, I look over at the news on the TV: more violent demonstrations. “Too many Americans” the news anchor says while shaking his head, “and not enough resources”. I shake my head as well. The United States becoming overpopulated has done nothing positive for the country and has diminished my quality of life. My asthma has gotten worse not only because of the lower air quality from the increasingly high vehicle use in my city, but the surge in population has led to more smokers becoming prevalent in cities like mine, destroying any chance of me being able to properly manage my asthma.

I speed walk to the subway, feeling slightly lightheaded from the smog, but my pace is broken when I step in a hole on the road. I look down at my feet. The sidewalks are mangled from the wear and tear from protest after protest. They happen because the government is stuck in a deadlock of what to do about the massive increase in the population. The spirit of the congressional debates seem to permeate into the minds of my fellow passengers on my subway ride to work. Some believe the onus is on the families to manage the amount of children they have so they shouldn’t receive government benefits while others believe the key to solving the issue is to open up more family planning centers and set up more places for women to get aboritions. The few outspoken radical thinkers believe the country needs to implement a law similar to China’s one-child policy.

When I first heard these discussions when I was younger, I decided to seriously reconsider what I wanted my family to look like. So, early on, I decided that I would adopt one child instead of bringing more children into the world.

After the subway, I arrive at my job, settling in for the long day ahead. I just recently got this job and I still have imposter syndrome. After getting an undergrad degree then going for my masters and PhD, I thought I would never have to worry about not having a job, but in America it has been harder and harder to secure well-paying positions because of the population increase. I was laid off from my last job because my company was going bankrupt and I had to scramble to find a new job. It was already extremely hard to get into many colleges and programs when I was younger, now many undergraduate and graduate programs and jobs are nearly impossible to get into. My younger siblings have mentioned to me time and time again how hard it had been for them and their friends just to get into programs at colleges and universities that were once easy for me and others my age to get into. Even many job positions are cutthroat just to get an interview.

I shake my head and stare out the window. The sky is gray, but blocks away the lights from a massive protest are illuminating the sides of buildings. The demonstrators want to push Congress towards a solution to this issue. I wish too, that a solution could’ve been found earlier to prevent this catastrophe.

Cavin Alderfer
Colorado State University
$1,000

This April, the U.S. is conducting its 2020 Census. Population scientists and demographics experts predict that, in accordance with the trend we have seen in the past decades, the population of our nation will continue to increase at a considerably high rate. Such significant population growth will certainly be accompanied by both positive and negative side-effects. However, in my opinion, the negative consequences will far outweigh the positive benefits, both for our nation and my own life, as our alarmingly high rate of population will, if not addressed, lead to higher unemployment rates, extensive environmental devastation and increased depletion of natural resources, and a decline in social infrastructure and the standard of living.

The primary source of our significant population growth, for an extensive period of time, has been perpetually increasing immigration rates. According to a United Nations study, taken in 2015, the U.S. leads the world in immigration rate, and it’s unlikely this status will change anytime soon. While immigration should certainly not take on the full blame for our unsustainable population growth, if it combines fully with the steady growth of our native population, the effects on our economy will be devastating. As an incoming college freshman seeking to pursue an engineering career in the future, I am worried about the detrimental effects our population growth may have on my career field and others, particularly on the unemployment rate within these fields. The notion that economic growth and the creation of new jobs accompany population growth, though pleasant to consider, is undeniably unrealistic. With such unsustainable population growth, our nation will be unable to avoid higher unemployment rates and perhaps even economic stagnation, which I feel may impact my life, as well as our nation overall, in a negative way.

Perhaps above all else, it is the environment that will suffer most from our growing population. Habitat destruction and air and water pollution will accompany any and all attempts to make our nation suitable for population expansion. Even now, however, the U.S. is already among the top five in the world in hydrological and atmospheric pollution! As an aspiring environmental engineer, I am concerned that our nation’s population growth will create or intensify environmental issues that scientists will be unable to effectively address, and without proper government attention, these problems will only grow worse. Personally, I do not want to have to face a future world afflicted by global warming and habitat loss. Our nation’s current environmental state is already alarming enough! However, with our nation’s population growth rate continuing to increase, such concerns may soon become our reality, and materialize as issues I’ll have to encounter as an adult.

Finally, I believe that our nation’s unsustainable population growth will, for the reasons discussed in the previous two paragraphs, contribute to a decline in the quality of our nation’s social infrastructure and standard of living. With such a high rate of growth, our healthcare, education, and transportation systems will be unable to effectively address our nation’s needs in a quick and efficient manner. This will, in turn, result in a decline of our nation’s standard of living. Our country has always promised its citizens the best chance to achieve enjoyable living conditions through hard work. However, I fear that, as I progress through adulthood, our nation will be unable to meet the high standards it previously set for itself due to rising unemployment and declining social infrastructure and environmental integrity. The promise of the “American Dream” may no longer be one our nation can make.

At the moment, I do not place extensive blame on our nation or any other group for that matter for allowing such significant population growth to occur. However, I sincerely hope that efforts by our federal government will be made in the future to reduce this growth to a more sustainable level. If such efforts are not made, I’m confident that the effects on our nation’s citizens, our environment, and, if I may, on the future aspirations I have for my life, will be devastating.

Kaysan Frueh
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
$1,000

Since its founding, the United States’ population has grown exponentially. While the growth rate has been decreasing within the last few decades due to the decrease of immigration and the birth rate and death rate beginning to cancel each other out, the US is far from having an optimum, supportable population level (New York Times). Our country is reaching uncharted territory as we enter a fifth phase of demographic transition about which we can only hypothesize. While the last census may show hope for manageable population growth, our population growing by even the 0.5% rate gained last year is problematic as our country can only healthily sustain a finite number of people (US Census Bureau). Also, as population increases, the resources that the US has stays the same, and so do those of the entire Earth. There are only so many resources for the American people to share. Our ability to maintain a sustainable population is critical in shaping the future of all Americans. I see the impacts of U.S population growth affecting me most prevalently through decreased job opportunities, a potentially lower standard of living, and negative environmental impacts.

As a soon to be high school graduate, I look forward to continuing my education and landing the perfect job. However, our population growth and technological advancements are making non-technological jobs scarce and many professions highly competitive (MIT Technology Review). Since the US is a developed country that is viewed as a beacon of opportunity, I will be competing with Americans and people from all over the world for a job in the US. This could make a significant impact on my life through unemployment and other setbacks derived from intense job competition. Furthermore, an economist writing for the Economists Discussion webpage noted that “not only does increased competition for work make it tougher to find a job, employers can hire employees for a lower wage because there are more applicants than jobs to go around”. I may be faced with reduced job opportunities and competition, but population growth will add another dimension that could diminish compensation. I hope that I can be economically stable and have a reliable occupation, but with our population growth, I cannot be assured of this.

I live in Issaquah, Washington, a small town incorporated in 1892 with a population of 600, based on the mining industry (Downtown Issaquah). Since then, the town has been growing exponentially due to Boeing, Microsoft, and other industries expanding in the area. The population is now almost 40,000 people crowded into one small town of 13.2 square miles with a growth rate of 2.9% (World Population Review). Since I have lived in Issaquah, I have seen firsthand the effects of overpopulation, like the increasing amount of developed land, the pollution from crowding and traffic, even new invasive species inhabiting the area due to climate change. This backyard case study has made me realize that the future health of our environment will be determined by our ability to manage our population growth now. Our lifestyle pollutes and destroys valuable ecosystems, resources, and habitats that support plant and animal life as well as human life. Since we need a healthy, functioning environment to live, we must take action to protect it, or our future will be made extremely uncertain.

There is no question that Americans have a high standard of living. We want to eat well, own a big house with a yard and fill our garage with cheap products. A report by the Australian Science Foundation indicated that an “average middle-class American consumes 3.3 times the subsistence level of food and almost 250 times the subsistence level of clean water”. As a society, we are not aware of the destructiveness and unsustainability of our daily practices. If we continue living like this, magnified by increasing population, our future standard of living is in jeopardy. Our Earth does have substantial replenishable resources; the responsibility to organize and manage them sustainably falls on humanity. A study published by BBC news reported that “if everyone on the planet consumed as much as the average US citizen, four Earths would be needed to sustain them”.

Since the American way of life requires an extremely large amount of resources, I hypothesize that population growth will lower the American standard of living. If growth continues, critical shared resources like air, water, and the food supply will come under even greater stress, and the price for these basic resources could skyrocket. To elaborate on one example, the water supply is becoming stressed as demand is exceeding the finite supply of this resource. Scientist Rick LeBlanc hypothesized that “2/3rds of the world’s population [will] be living with water shortages by 2025” and with increased water pollution, the supply of clean water will decrease significantly. Day by day, the demand for basic resources is expanding, which can be directly attributed to population growth – it is a ticking time bomb. We have the data and the facts, it is up to us to change the outcome and ensure a prosperous future. If action is not taken in the US, I may find myself without a job, fighting for resources, and experiencing a markedly lower standard of living. We hold an immense responsibility to manage the Earth’s resources, and since population is a crucial, defining factor in this process, we must manage it to an optimal level. Individual, government, and global action must be taken.

Works Cited

Debasish. “14 Major Negative Effects of Population Explosion.” Economics Discussion, 11 Aug. 2019, www.economicsdiscussion.net/population-explosion/14-major-negative-effects-of-population-explosion/4461.

Dovers, Steven, and Colin Butler. “Population and Environment: a Global Challenge.” Australian Academy of Science, 7 Nov. 2019, www.science.org.au/curious/earth-environment/population-environment.

“Issaquah History.” Downtown Issaquah, 31 Dec. 2019, downtownissaquah.com/issaquah-history/.

“Issaquah, Washington Population 2020.” Issaquah, Washington Population 2020 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs), 2020, worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/issaquah-wa-population/.

LeBlanc, Rick. “The Environmental Impacts of Overpopulation.” The Balance Small Business, 31 Aug. 2018, www.thebalancesmb.com/how-overpopulation-impacts-the-environment-4172964.

McDonald, Charlotte. “How Many Earths Do We Need?” BBC News, BBC, 16 June 2015, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33133712.

Rotman, David. “How Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 12 June 2013, www.technologyreview.com/2013/06/12/178008/how-technology-is-destroying-jobs/.

US Census Bureau. “Population Estimates Continue to Show the Nation’s Growth Is Slowing, Release Number CB19-198.” The United States Census Bureau, 30 Dec. 2019, www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2019/popest-nation.html.

Vigdor, Neil. “U.S. Population Makes Fewest Gains in Decades, Census Bureau Says.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/us/usa-population-growth-decline-census.html.

Nicolas Genna
Oakland University
$1,000

The United States continues to grow at exponential rates and if predictions are correct regarding our future population, this isn’t going to slow down. In fact, experts are predicting that our population will exceed 400 million by 2060. In my opinion this is bad for our country, but it isn’t just my opinion. There are many facts as to why this could be extremely harmful to our country. Experiencing over population in the United States can lead to problems that will affect the land, the economy, the government, energy consumption, and people directly. Our largely growing population is definitely doing more harm towards our country than good overall, and a multitude of research supports this.

Something that is very surprising is that our country’s population is actually considered by many to already be too large let alone growing to be even larger. It is estimated that the United States can only sustain a population of around 150 million regarding current consumption levels. Also, if everyone were living as an average American, it would take almost 4 planet Earths to produce renewable resources and absorb the wastes needed to support us. This is mainly because people living in the United States are using renewable resources twice as fast as they can be regenerated. When it comes to land the more people living in America means the more built land and highways that will be used by people which means less land available for growing food. Although this would be extreme circumstances, it is possible that we could run out of open land for food growth all together if our population continues to grow and take up space. Not only do people use up space, we also use up energy. The more the population in the United States grows, the more our energy consumption will grow, which isn’t necessarily just bad for our country, but is also potentially bad for the planet as a whole. An aspect of our country that might not seem like it would be affected by population is our government, but it absolutely is. When it comes to government, overpopulation affects representation in our democracy. The more people we have in our country, the more people each member in the House of Representatives has to represent which dilutes our citizens’ representation. Looking at a big picture perspective, our population growing at exceeding levels will inevitably lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, pollution of land water and air, less open land, overcrowding, species loss, and habitat destruction.

When it comes to my life personally, I definitely think I will be directly affected by the growth of the population in the United States. I believe the aspects in my life that will be most affected will be regarding food, land space, and renewable resources. Clearly, as an American I take up built land space in our country. The more people living here cuts into our space for growing food. So, either I will be affected by the drop in food availability that we no longer have room to grow, or my needed land space will be cut into personally. Also, if our population continues to grow exceedingly, so will our use of renewable resources, meaning we will be even slower in regenerating them, therefore leading to me and all other Americans potentially being deprived of these resources. At the end of the day, I do believe there is such thing as a population that is too large, and this could lead to problems for my personal well-being as long as for our entire country.

Harrison Hall
Liberty University
$1,000

The year is 2060. Peering out the window of my apartment, I spot a faint image of the sun fighting to pierce through the thick smog. The air quality index is in the purple, very unhealthy, again today. Before heading to the car, I strap on my mask which is essential for someone like me, now with severe asthma, to use when air quality is poor. It would be best to stay inside today, but I must hurry to the store, along with the droves of others in need of hurricane supplies. Once again, I fear for my life. I fear I could lose everything. This will be the fifth major storm this season to plow through the place where I have lived all my life — Kissimmee, Florida. I remember the days of my youth, playing soccer in a green grassy field where sweet-smelling orange trees lined the sidewalks. The field, however, was long ago replaced by brick and mortar to make way for the people, many from outside of the United States, who keep coming… and coming.

The population of the United States is expected to break the 400 million mark by 2058 (US). If this projection is realized, the lives of all Americans will be negatively impacted. Personally, I will be faced with increased health problems, financial insecurities, and a fragile mental health.

The decline in air quality, relative to the increase in population, continues as cities grow unregulated (Vidal). Soot and other pollutants from construction, transport and industry fill the air and the lungs of the people living in it. This in turn causes the development of more cancers and health complications and worsening asthma symptoms. Of concern to me is ozone, found in greater amounts in areas where there are more people and consequently more cars. Ozone, highly irritating to the lungs and airways, leads to intensified asthma attacks (AAFA). This is a frightful thought for one already experiencing bouts of gasping for breath.

Financial difficulty often follows natural disasters, which will occur much more frequently due to overpopulation. Increased human activity brings increased burning of fuels which raises the carbon dioxide levels in the air. This gas builds up in the atmosphere trapping extra heat, creating the greenhouse effect. This heat causes climate change which scientists warn “will lead to more intense hurricanes and storms, heavier and more frequent flooding, increased droughts and more severe wildfires” (“Air”). Natural disasters result in injury and enormous cost in personal property damage. Florida is already notorious for hurricanes. With a continued rise in such occurrences, I would constantly be faced with fears of impending disaster and financial ruin.

Social interaction and mental well-being will be negatively impacted due to lack of natural beauty to enjoy. In addition to unclean air outdoors, the plowing down of forests and clearing of lands to make room for swarms of humans leads to considerable shrinking of green spaces and loss of wildlife. This kind of aggressive development in the next fifty years may usher in the extinction of one third of the world’s animal species (Ewing). Studies have shown that experience with nature increases a person’s happiness, social interaction, and positive state of mind (“How”). Without the green grass, bright flowers, and a variety of wildlife to enjoy, my life will lose its color in more ways than one.

Decreased health, potential financial disaster and decreased social and mental health are but a few of the aspects of my life that will be affected by too many people in this country. Americans must open their eyes to these impending consequences and change this course. In response to an award bestowed upon him by Planned Parenthood, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Overpopulation is solvable by means we have discovered…what is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solutions but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of billions who are victims” (Planned). To alter this continued path of overpopulation, it is essential that the youths of my generation, victims of the population explosion, rise and fight for a change.

Makenzie Hrabina
Edgewood College
$1,000

Some might say “the more the merrier”, but maybe not in the case of our growing U.S. population. Have you ever considered what our lives will look like when our population is bursting at the seams? Experts believe the population will reach a staggering 400 million by the year 2060. I certainly consider a growing populations impact on my future now more than ever, especially as a health pandemic sweeps our nation. Will we have adequate water and food supplies, will pollution continue to get worse and how will it affect my future career?

I do believe a growing population has and will continue to affect our nation in many negative ways. One way I believe it will affect my life in the future is through food. Not the lack of it per say in the U.S. , but the unhealthy nature of it. I fear the mass quantities produced to feed a huge nation are subsequently ruined with pesticides, additives and other dangerous chemicals. Food filled with high fructose corn syrup, weed spray and GMO’s used to create higher yields of food in general are only helping the manufacturers. Unfortunately, leading to more health problems and disease that already exist today.

Secondly, I believe an obvious side effect of overpopulation is pollution. This will come in many forms and will overtime increase. I think pollution will ruin water supplies through industry pollution and run off from massive farms into fresh streams, rivers and other bodies of water. We will continue to pollute our air with vehicle emissions and with a booming population it can only get worse. We are a country that thrives on more and bigger and better everything, we waste unimaginable amounts of everyday items. Where are we putting all this trash and how will it effect our food, water and air in the future?

Lastly, I wonder how the growing population in this country will affect my future career. In some cases, I feel there will be an astounding amount of competition for certain jobs and a lack of skilled persons in others. Will we have enough trained professionals to deal with the growing health problems that exist? I ultimately plan on pursuing a career in special education. I worry that class sizes will continue to grow above and beyond what a single teacher can manage. Will there be enough space and money to provide more schools to meet the demand?

There are many reasons a growing population can have negative effects on a country. As a young person, I feel I am already seeing some of the effects firsthand. Living in a smaller community I witness the pollution of water in our lakes, rivers and streams. We had alerts all summer to “Stay Out” due to rising concerns of algae in our local swimming holes from farm runoff . We fear eating the fish because of water filled with toxins and trash. I’ve watched the crops being dumped full of pesticides from above and worry that is what my family will be eating. I witness our overflowing trash dumps from all that we waste and the sunsets at dusk producing beautiful colors enhanced from our local pollution in the air. The outbreak of COVID-19 definitely has me worried about over population in the United States, let alone the world. I hope our current situation will prepare us for the next disaster, as the booming population growth will only mean more to care for.

Jesse Roy
Yale University
$1,000

Unchecked development, water scarcity, environmental degradation, infectious disease—such threats may seem united only by their deleterious effect on our quality of life. Yet what contributes most to the gravity of these issues is that we, humans, lie at their root. Specifically, the overpopulation of the United States, as well as of the world at large, has left future generations vulnerable to an ominous environmental, economic, and epidemiological landscape. I fear that we are heading toward a perilous future ravaged by the unsustainable human population growth to which we have grown accustomed.

In ten, twenty, or thirty years, how will the overpopulation of America touch my life? To tackle this question, I will first consider overpopulation’s consequences on quality of life. Currently, I am fortunate to live in a peaceful environment where resources like water and natural produce are readily accessible. Minutes from my home, I can enjoy a walk through the park, unperturbed by the noise and air pollution of highways and construction sites. A short drive away, a local farmer sells fruits and vegetables fresh from his fields.

My neighbors and I need not look far, however, to comprehend the fragility of our environment’s future. As the population of my state and my country reach historic levels, the signs of overpopulation only become more apparent: residential complexes replace forests, agricultural lands and recreational spaces; deer, foxes, and raccoons, displaced by endless strips of suburbia, find their habitats compromised; and amid this growth, water tables run dry, depleted by too many users. A short, congested trip on I-95, a concrete symbol of America’s ever-bustling, ever-growing population, brings me to New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the country. Crossing the state’s border, I am welcomed by vast power plants, conscripted to fuel an energy grid that drains natural resources. If my region’s population continues its upward trend, the tranquil natural environment I have always known will soon perish, acre by acre.

Another way America’s growing population will impact my life is by intensifying the climate crisis. As the Center for Ecological Biodiversity states, in our fight against climate change “we not only need smaller footprints, but fewer feet.” ^[1] Given the average American’s outsized carbon footprint, especially in comparison to other developed and developing countries, reducing our population is imperative. If the US follows its projected upward population trends, as it has for decades, our energy demands will strain our supply, likely resulting in a further dependence on nonrenewable resources and heightened carbon emissions.

As a Delawarean, I fear that rising sea levels, a product of climate change, could one day swallow up my state’s coast, displacing thousands of residents and changing the face of my densely developed home state. Seaside summer camps I used to frequent as a child may too disappear. Globally, rising seas will engender throngs of climate refugees and thereby exacerbate the United States’ immigration boom. Already, the Pew Research Center projects that future immigrants and their descendants will constitute 88% of the nation’s population growth within the next 45 years.^[2]

One final consequence of America’s unbridled population growth perhaps stands out as the most timely: the heightened risk of pandemic. To date, the novel strain of the coronavirus has claimed tens of thousands of lives at home and abroad and devastated several fragile economies. Locally, thousands of residents in my small state have been infected, and one of my family members has tested positive. Life has changed for millions of Americans, and we can only hope an end is in sight.

A brief study of the coronavirus’ origin, as well as that of numerous other wildlife-borne infection diseases, from SARS to Lyme, reveals the striking relationship between population growth and viral outbreaks. At the root of the coronavirus crisis lie the population-fueled trends—residential and infrastructure development, and consequent ecological degradation—earlier acknowledged in this essay. As human population balloons, societies like ours intrude further into wildlife habitats, increasing the likelihood of the human-wildlife interactions at the crux of Covid-19, SARS, Ebola, and many other diseases. Moreover, as Americans cluster into dense cities, and greater numbers of people travel, our landscape becomes ever more vulnerable to pandemics.

As a young adult soon to join the American workforce, it is my hope that our nation recognizes the need to curb our growing population, the root cause of issues as grave as climate change, wildlife degradation, and viral outbreaks, so that my generation’s future will remain bright.

^[1]https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/climate/

^[2]https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2015/09/28/chapter-2-immigrations-impact-on-past-and-future-u-s-population-change/

Reece Sodano
Pennsylvania State University
$1,000

As a 21 year old American woman, the prospect of Americans numbering in excess of 400 million is frightening. I am currently a sophomore in college for early childhood education, so the future of the country is important to me as it affects my future students, and my future family. The three aspects of my life that would be most affected by this growth would be the limited resources, the effect on the environment, and the education of American children.

One earth can only produce so many crops, clean oxygen and water. With a growing population, we will see more and more people losing accessibility to clean natural resources. We are already seeing the effects with our current population, let alone its expansion. “The Global Footprint Network, whose Earth Overshoot Day fell on the earliest-ever date of August 1st in 2018, has concluded we’re consuming the renewable resources of 1.7 Earths – a 70% overshoot” (Ware, Gardner). If we are already overshooting our use of renewable resources by a considerable amount with the current population, an increase can only lead to more soil depletion, and more waste. This affects not only my life, but the wellness of everyone’s life. This means less crops, less clean water, more polluted air, and more.

It is no secret that the world has not treated the health of our environment kindly. One of the biggest issues we are currently dealing with is a rise in carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide is produced from burning fossil fuels, which is used by industrial factories for energy. Carbon dioxide is a totally natural greenhouse gas- at the right amount. Humans have been overloading the environment with CO2 emissions for decades. The planet can usually regulate these emissions itself, but people have provided things such as deforestation where it cannot regulate the greenhouse gases itself. This is leading to erratic temperatures, melting polar ice caps, more frequent and more severe weather, and the list goes on. “The indicators present compelling evidence that many fundamental measures of climate in the United States are changing. Average temperatures across the contiguous 48 states have increased since 1901, with an increased rate of warming since the late 1970s”(EPA). Let me remind you that this is all with our current population, let alone a growing one. Not to mention the waste that people bring. “The average person produces 4.3 pounds of waste per day, with the United States alone accounting for 220 million tons per year” (Renewable Resources Coalition). This affects my life because it is only getting worse, and being a young woman, it is concerning for future health conditions that may arise from this, and the quality of life these drastic changes will bring to the United States.

As an early childhood education major with the aspiration to be an elementary school teacher, I know that public schools are zoning and rezoning their boundaries because they’re struggling to fit the number of kids as it is. Amanda Litvinov of the National Education Association reports a growing class size, and to make it worse, more budget cuts. The NEA tells a story of Melissa Hagen, a junior high science teacher. She lost two coworkers, and now her class sizes are around 38-41 kids per class, and that is assuming that all the other workers are there or a substitute came in. There was an experiment done in Tennessee on the effects that a class size has on a student, and the results spoke loudly. “An average student assigned to the smallest classes had a reading score nearly 8 percent higher than students in the medium-sized classes. The smaller-class students, on average, achieved 9 percent higher math scores” (Woods). Small meaning 13-17 kids and medium meaning 22-25. With a population growth, a bigger class sizes, teachers will not be able to do their job effectively, therefore leaving the incoming generations of American children without a proper education. This affects me deeply, as it is a dream of mine to be the best teacher that I can be, and to help children reach their full potential.

When I think about the future of Americans, I think about clear blue skies, and citizens not being worried about where they are going to find a clean water source, not being inundated by severe weather or extreme amounts of waste, and kids all over America being able to get the best public education that we can give them.

Works Cited

Co, About Renewable Resources. “Top 17 Environmental Problems.” Renewable Resources Coalition, 16 Jan. 2019, www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/top-environmental-problems/.

“Greenhouse Gases.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 19 Mar. 2020, www.epa.gov/report-environment/greenhouse-gases.

Litvinov, Amanda. “Budget Cuts+Teacher Layoffs=Larger Class Sizes.” NEA, www.nea.org/home/35617.htm.

Rinkesh. “Overpopulation: Causes, Effects and Solutions.” Conserve Energy Future, Amazon Services LLC Associates, 12 Apr. 2017, www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-overpopulation.php.

Ware, Alan, and Dave Gardener. “Yes, (Over)Population IS a Problem!” MAHB, 15 Nov. 2018, mahb.stanford.edu/blog/yes-overpopulation-problem/.

Woods, Darian. “The Class Size Debate: What the Evidence Means for Education Policy”. The Class Size Debate: What the Evidence Means for Education Policy | Featured Research | Research | Goldman School of Public Policy | University of California, Berkeley, 23 Sept. 2015, gspp.berkeley.edu/research/featured/the-class-size-debate-what-the-evidence-means-for-education-policy.

Manu Sundaresan
University of Chicago
$1,000

Oracle of Multiply: My Future in an Overpopulated World

There is something peculiar and terrifying about the negative reciprocal function, . Perhaps it is in the way the gentle slope of the early negatives transforms into a sheer, ever increasing cliff as the graph approaches zero. What is perhaps more terrifying is its similarity to the population growth curve. But can this graph that approaches infinity be mirrored by our growth rate in a world defined by finitudes? Finite water, finite food, finite space, finite resources. Finite time to address the pressing ill that is American overpopulation.

As I write this, I enter the twentieth day of government-mandated stay-at-home orders as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Spending my days indoors, watching the death toll rise as demographers and epidemiologists estimate the impact of this crisis, a thought crosses my mind: would things have been different under lower population conditions? It isn’t a radical notion; fewer people interacting and serving as vectors of disease transmission leads to fewer cases of infection. But my overpopulated future may not allow for that. An almost prescient article from 2008 identified the susceptibility of emerging infectious diseases from animal origins and its relationship with population density. My dream is to enter the medical field in the future. Will I be forced to treat infectious disease in my patients? Will I have to inform someone of their grandmother’s passing? In a world with more than 400 million Americans, will epidemics like these become less the exception and more the rule? Modern epidemiology is a numbers game; the number we must focus on is that all-too-important population growth rate, and how we can bring it into the negatives our future demands.

In the face of war, climate change, and pandemics, it is difficult to emphasise the importance of our population growth on the economy. The Dow Jones’ bottom line doesn’t look too horrifying against the backdrop of hurricanes and plagues. But for the millions of Americans locked into our population growth system, economic hardship and overpopulation are familiar bedfellows. When I enter the increasingly competitive job market as an adult, I’ll be forced into jockeying for positions alongside innumerable peers. As we continue to expand our population growth, the number of available positions will continue its death march even as more people enter the job market.

British economist William Forster Lloyd wrote the seminal “Tragedy of the Commons” as a warning against an unchecked population growth rate. In the essay, he describes the inevitable burden on natural resources when an attempt to commandeer them is made by a large number of individuals. In modern usage, this tragedy has repeated itself across many spheres; the ecological, economic, and sociopolitical ramifications of an overpopulated society has repeated itself ad nauseam. In our day-to-day lives, we shall witness this play out in pollution and carbon emissions. As the national population grows, the development of mega-cities alongside continued urbanisation will contribute to massive reductions in air quality for urban centers. I had always seen myself living in a metropolitan environment in the future, with the job opportunities and lifestyle offered in cities. The effects of smog and urban pollution on public health have been well documented; from respiratory distress to carcinogenic ramifications, the United States of 400 million will be painfully infirm. But those ill effects are not restricted to cities. Across the country, the continued repercussions of climate change are producing irreversible damage to ecosystems, livelihoods, and living conditions. As oil production continues to remain in lockstep with population growth, we are in the midst of a global environmental crisis: disastrous weather events and receding coastlines are evidence enough. As these kinds of cataclysms become the norm, the working class, poor, and minorities will be disproportionately affected. Heat wave deaths already affect African-Americans at much higher rates than other ethnicities. As a person of color with respiratory health issues, these warnings serve as a stark reminder of what my future may hold. As consumption rises with our ever-growing population, global warming and climate change will result in consistent quality-of-life degradation.

This state has a simple solution; an end to population growth.

In the oft-quoted cliche, the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the Amazon can cause a tornado in Texas. In our lives today, population growth is that destructive butterfly. We can already see those currents traveling and expanding to our overpopulated future. It’s only a question of diligence, research, and action to keep us from the life-altering eye of that storm.

Bibliography

Infographic. USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, https://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/242/docs/National_Climate_GapFact_Sheet_FINAL.pdf.
Krzyzanowski, M., Apte, J.S., Bonjour, S.P. et al. Air Pollution in the Mega-cities. Curr Envir Health Rpt 1, 185–191 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-014-0019-7.
Hu H, Nigmatulina K, Eckhoff P. The scaling of contact rates with population density for the infectious disease models. Math Biosci. 2013;244(2):125-34. 10.1016/j.mbs.2013.04.013.
Jones, Kate E et al. “Global trends in emerging infectious diseases.” Nature vol. 451,7181 (2008): 990-3. doi:10.1038/nature06536.

Brennan Thompson
United States Air Force Academy
$1,000

The Negative Effects of Positive Growth

With projections showing a U.S. population exceeding 400 million by 2060, our country has a serious problem. As our population grows, the consumption of goods increases. Food, fossil fuels, land, and other vital materials are being used beyond a sustainable rate (“Sustainable Consumption and Production”). Simply put, as our population changes, but our living practices do not, we are putting an expiration date on our planet. As an avid outdoorsman and member of the U.S. Air Force, I find myself particularly worried about my future. I am concerned that the unchecked growth of our country’s population will destroy vast areas of land, overcrowd what few natural areas are preserved, and threaten the peace of our nation.

My entire life, I have lived in rural areas. All of my childhood, I was free to roam beautiful landscapes right out my back door; free to explore, create, and learn from the natural world around me. I feel strongly that these opportunities have played a pivotal role in determining who I am today. In recent years, I have seen my untouched desert beauty, bulldozed to build vacation properties and my mountainsides clear-cut to make room for gated communities. I want nothing more than to give my children and grandchildren the opportunity to experience a childhood like mine; the ability to explore, imagine, and learn in the beauty of nature rather than in front of a television screen. I fear this might only be a dream, however, as I see neighborhoods being built to accommodate the demand for housing for our nation’s exploding population. Where once before there had been wilderness, now there is only asphalt and “cookie-cutter” housing.

In addition to enjoying natural wonders right outside my backdoor, my family always spent our vacations in national parks. I loved looking at the towering red rocks and listening to the stillness of the day as my family crunched up a mountain trail alone. These days, our solitary family moments are interrupted by giant, noisy lines of hikers, blasting their music as they trudge along the trail. Visitors by the tens of thousands have flocked to the parks daily where only a few years prior the trails were sparsely occupied. This massive influx of people has ruined the opportunity to enjoy the still beauty of nature. I can only imagine what 2060 will look like as undeveloped land continues to dry up and even more people flock to the national parks for a sight of what our world used to look like.

My biggest concern about our country’s unchecked growth, however, is in international relations. We have a limited number of resources on this planet and are using them at an unsustainable rate. Anyone trying to buy toilet paper these days can tell you how aggressive people get when demand exceeds supply. When fossil fuels, water, food, and so many other vital quantities become increasingly scarce, I have no doubt that international relations will become tense. Nations will become selfish, hoarding resources and waging war to get what they need and protect what they have. As a student training to become an Air Force pilot, war will directly affect my life. If that time comes, it will be me and my friends that are sent out to fight. While a hazard of the trade, it concerns me as I think how vicious things could become unless we begin taking measures to slow population growth and consumption of resources. I don’t want my family to have to deal with my life being at risk every day for something that could be avoided by taking action now.

With current projections of a 2060 U.S. population around 400 million, our country is quickly overrunning itself. I am particularly concerned about the impact this growth will have on my life. My childhood spent in nature, something I would love to give to my children, is becoming a thing of the past. Once sparsely inhabited expanses of land are becoming suburbs. As natural spaces become fewer and fewer, people are overcrowding what remains and ruining the experience of the national parks. Of bigger concern are the future conflicts over resources that could erupt in my lifetime and find my friends and I fighting for what our country needs to survive. We need to curb population growth and I am confident that human ingenuity and the efforts of groups like NPG will allow humanity to find a way to do this while continuing to see peace and prosperity for years to come.

Zakkariyya Yandle
Wayne State University
$1,000

As of January 28^th, 2020, the population of the United States was estimated to be 329,227,746 (United States Census Bureau), and by the year 2060 the population is estimated to be over 417 million people. As this growth continues, our nation will begin experiencing the negative effects of overpopulation, effects ranging from environmental impact, biodiversity loss, pollution, depletion of natural resources, and even extinction of species. My generation will start experiencing the brunt of these effects, and even my own life will be impacted in certain aspects due to unmoderated population growth. My financial, social, and my way of living will be changed severely down the road if overpopulation isn’t curbed.

The first aspect of my life that will be affected by unmitigated population growth is food security, for both myself and others around me. John Beddington, former UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, predicted in 2009 that supplies of food, water, and energy will need to be increased by around 50% in order to meet peak demand by the year 2030. Combined with extreme climate events (Food and Agriculture Organization), droughts and loss of arable land will only be multiplied by a nationwide population growth, making this goal extremely difficult to meet. This strain on the US food supply, and global, will begin to increase food prices and put a strain on the incomes and lives of working-class American citizens, me being one of them, and our modern way of consumption will be disrupted.

Another important aspect of my life that will be largely influenced by overpopulation is the depletion of fossil fuels/natural resources. Until we can begin to utilize renewable energies on a mass scale, the depletion and rampant unregulated use of fossil fuels will have numerous effects and could even trigger economic recessions. In the 1973 oil crisis, the US price of petroleum had risen 400% percent (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian). This brief bottleneck of access to fuel had led to a recession, causing mass unemployment and economic stagnation. If population growth isn’t properly managed, and we don’t begin to implement renewable energies in an economical way, we will reach the peak of our oil supply and begin to face increased prices, economic depressions, and more cascading effects that will directly impact my way of life in the future.

The most important and impactful effect of human overpopulation in the United States is the environmental impact. Sir David Attenborough, patron of Population Matters, was quoted as saying “All of our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people.” According to the Global Footprint Network, “today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste”. Not only is our current usage of earth’s resources unsustainable at our population, further population growth will only exponentially worsen this unsustainability. Not only will this make it harder for the human population to exist, this usage and growth will only increase emissions, climate change, and biodiversity loss (Cambridge University Press). This will directly impact my life inevitably, with all the exponential effects environmental destruction, overconsumption, and climate change have on anyone; an increase in the price of essentials, unemployment, droughts, poverty, etc.

In conclusion, the current trend of increased population growth and the associated overconsumption will make it increasingly difficult for the average American, or human in general, to continue the normal comfortable modern way of life. If we don’t make mass efforts to increase access to contraceptives, women empowerment, or family planning education, our unregulated growth on this planet will be our downfall. It won’t be an issue that you can read about happening in a third-world country either, my generation and myself will be directly impacted by this failure to mitigate overpopulation, and will directly reap the effects of it.