Some of the known harmful effects of overpopulation include global poverty, virgin forests being depleted, climate change, and in some areas increased terrorism and conflict. Studies show that a good way to reduce these effects in the next century, especially carbon emissions causing climate change, is to suppress population growth today.
Family panning has proven to work. Women in India once averaged having 6 children I 1950, and now that is down to 2. Mexican women averaged 7 children in the year 1965 which is now reduced to 2.2. These are major countries with large economic and climatic contributions so this is a great advance, but not all counties have followed this trend. Women in Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Somalia, and Uganda all still average about 6 or more children per woman, as reported by the U.N. In fact, there are women in many areas that have never even heard of birth control. The Guttmacher Institute conducted a study reporting estimates of 215 million women want to avoid getting pregnant but have no access to contraception.
Possible solutions to these problems are not limited to condoms, birth control pills, and IUD’s alone. Increased education for women globally would decrease the amount of births, since educated women are more likely to have fewer children. Also eliminating child marriages would be a major progression for global family planning so that young girls aren’t convinced into starting large families without knowing any better. Amid the constant war over abortion laws, it must be considered that contraception prevents 112 million abortions a year, per the U.N., and is definitely a working solution to slowing the population growth in general.
Overpopulation: A Thermodynamic Approach 