The human population has continued to grow through the decades. The increasingly large number of people that have become apart of the world population has become a major problem. The consequences of the world being overpopulated has numerous effects which include: Environmental effects, depletion of natural resources, effects on the economy, food and water instability, and mass species extinction. Without a solution to the rise in human population, by the year 2020, 8 billion people will live on earth and by the year 2050, 9 billion people will inhabit the planet.  .
Such an increase will bring about an overwhelmingly large usage of the planets resources. This result could bring about massive destruction for humans, animals and the planet. .
With solutions to the ever growing population increase, reducing our population to a sustainable level will ensure that all species that inhabit planet earth will have a chance to survive. Solutions to maintaining world population will decrease overcrowding and human poverty. "Solutions to sustaining population growth include: education which warns people about the effects of overpopulation, family planning, sex-education, and health care. These things will allow people to acknowledge the effects of overpopulation, hopefully encouraging world stability" (Kulkarni) .
Overpopulation effects on the environment means big trouble for the earth and the atmosphere. Larger farming practices are being used, along with large amounts of fertilizer. The fertilizer is then washing down into rivers and streams and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. Fertilizer draining into the Gulf has killed off life. These places are called dead zones. Fishing has also increased do to mass population growth. Over fishing occurs which depletes fish populations within the ocean. .
"Around the world, as populations grow, deficiencies in available freshwater supplies are starting to take their toll on already fragile economies, particularly those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)" (Aidan Luce) Middle East and North Africa countries rely on America and European countries for fresh water.