Resources Depletion, Ecosystem Destruction and Overpopulation

Chunji Liu and Qinghua Li

Journal of Sustainable Development, 2026, vol. 19, issue 1, 119

Abstract: Overpopulation has led to resource depletion and ecosystem destruction, the increasing population growth has posed threats to global sustainable development. The optimal population for sustainable development is 2 to 3 billion. The garbage discharged by human society, which is normally damaging environment, exceeds the nature’s capacity to process it. There are too many people competing for the diminishing quantity of essential resources. There are four factors responsible for overpopulation- the increase in birth rate and the decrease in death rate brought about by scientific and medical achievements, birth control violates religious beliefs and cultural tradition, women of childbearing age in developing countries lack modern reproductive knowledge and do not have scientific contraceptives, and population-first developing strategy. We conduct empirical analysis to test the relationship between overpopulation and carbon dioxide emissions, global warming, and the number of global threatened species respectively. The outputs show that overpopulation is the driver for global carbon dioxide emissions and global warming, and it accounts for 85% for the increase of the number of global threatened species.

Date: 2026
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