Population pressure

{{Short description|Term used to describe the effects of unsustainable population growth}} '''Population pressure''', a term summarizing the stress brought about by an excessive population density and its consequences, is used both in conjunction with human overpopulation and with other animal populations that suffer from too many individuals per area (or volume in the case of aquatic organisms). In the case of humans, absolute numbers of individuals may lead to population pressure, but the same is true for overexploitation and overconsumption of available resources and ensuing environmental degradation by otherwise-normal population densities.<ref>{{cite web | title=World population growth: Are we too many? | website=Allianz.com | date=2014-07-11 | url=https://www.allianz.com/en/press/extra/knowledge/demography/140711-world-population-growth-are-we-too-many.html | ref={{sfnref | Allianz.com | 2014}} | access-date=2020-12-07}}</ref> Similarly, when the carrying capacity of the environment goes down, unchanged population numbers may prove too high and again produce significant pressure.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Biodiversity Areas under Threat: Overlap of Climate Change and Population Pressures on the Worlds Biodiversity Priorities|first1=Juliann E. | last1 = Aukema |first2=Narcisa G. | last2 = Pricope|first3=Gregory J. | last3 = Husak|first4=David | last4 = Lopez-Carr|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2017|volume=12 |issue=1 |article-number=e0170615 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0170615|pmid=28125659 |pmc=5268772 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1270615A |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Governments and international organizations have responded to increasing population pressure by implementing a range of policy measures that include family planning programs, investments in healthcare and education, and efforts to improve gender equality. These interventions aim to manage fertility rates and ensure sustainable development in high-density regions.<ref>{{Cite web |author=UNFPA |date=2014 |title=Population dynamics and policies |url=https://www.unfpa.org/resources/population-dynamics-and-policies |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=United Nations Population Fund}}</ref>

"Pressure" is to be understood metaphorically and hints at the analogy between a gas or fluid that under pressure will tend to escape a bounded container. Similarly, "population pressure" in animal populations in general usually leads to migration activity, and in humans, it may additionally cause land loss because of land conversion of previously-uninhabited areas and development. Advances in technology have also provided new tools to manage the effects of population pressure, including innovations in agriculture (such as vertical farming), water purification, urban planning, and clean energy. These technologies help support larger populations with fewer environmental consequences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodier |first=Rob |date=2013-07-11 |title=Ten technologies to manage overpopulation |url=https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/ten-technologies-to-manage-a-crowding-world/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Engineering For Change |language=en-US}}</ref> However, responses to population pressure must also consider ethical concerns. Experts emphasize that policies should respect human rights and avoid coercive practices. Rights-based approaches, which focus on education, voluntary family planning, and community empowerment, are seen as more sustainable and just.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why we must focus on human rights, not population targets {{!}} LSHTM |url=https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/expert-opinion/why-we-must-focus-human-rights-not-population-targets |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.lshtm.ac.uk |language=en}}{{self-published inline|date=October 2025}}</ref> When no space for evading the pressure is available, another severe consequence can be the reduction or even extinction of the population under pressure.

Based on ideas by Thomas Malthus as laid out in ''An Essay on the Principle of Population'', Charles Darwin theorized that population pressure must generate a struggle for existence in which many individuals die, and better-adapted variants are more likely to survive and to reproduce.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowler |first1=P.J. |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |chapter=Evolution, History of |date=2001 |pages=4986–4992 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03067-9 |isbn=978-0-08-043076-8 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite journal |last1=Urdal |first1=Henrik |title=People vs. Malthus: Population Pressure, Environmental Degradation, and Armed Conflict Revisited |journal=Journal of Peace Research |date=July 2005 |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=417–434 |doi=10.1177/0022343305054089 }} * {{cite book |last1=Abernethy |first1=Virginia Deane |editor-first1=Virginia Deane |editor-last1=Abernethy |title=Population Pressure & Cultural Adjustment |date=2018 |doi=10.4324/9781351298803 |isbn=978-1-351-29880-3 }} * {{cite news |last1=Shermer |first1=Michael |title=Why Malthus Is Still Wrong |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-malthus-is-still-wrong/ |work=Scientific American |date=1 May 2016 }} * {{cite book |last1=Kallis |first1=Giorgos |author-link1=Giorgos Kallis |title=Limits: Why Malthus Was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care |date=2019 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-1156-6 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Grepperud |first1=Sverre |title=Population Pressure and Land Degradation: The Case of Ethiopia |journal=Journal of Environmental Economics and Management |date=January 1996 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=18–33 |doi=10.1006/jeem.1996.0002 |pmid=12292334 |bibcode=1996JEEM...30...18G }} * {{cite book |last1=Dupâquier |first1=J. |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |chapter=Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766–1834) |date=2001 |pages=9151–9156 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/00295-3 |isbn=978-0-08-043076-8 }} * {{cite book |last1=Pingali |first1=P. |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |chapter=Population and Technological Change in Agriculture |date=2001 |pages=11742–11744 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/04158-9 |isbn=978-0-08-043076-8 }} * {{cite book |last1=Lindstrom |first1=D. |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |chapter=Emigration: Consequences for Social Structure in the Sending Population |date=2001 |pages=4428–4433 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02220-8 |isbn=978-0-08-043076-8 }}

Category:Population ecology