To what extent has overpopulation impacted the lives of Chinese citizens?

AP Seminar

2019

Word Count: 2200

 The notion of overpopulation has existed since the spark of the first Industrial Revolution

and has been a problem worldwide. Overpopulation has been a growing problem in China today

with its country having the largest population of 1.3 billion people (Verrill). Population is

increasing by the moment, but excessive population is known as overpopulation. China, despite

being the fourth largest country in the world, is notorious for its highest population. Margaret

Thatcher, formal British Prime Minister in her speech to the United Nations General Assembly

in 1989 claimed that there is a “...vast increase in the amount of carbon dioxide reaching the

atmosphere. The annual increase is three billion tonnes: and half the carbon emitted since the

Industrial Revolution still remains in the atmosphere” (Thatcher). Mark R. Montgomery, Ph.D., a

professor in the economics department at Stony Brook University in his research of “The Urban

Transformation of the Developing World” explains that “…increases in city size drive up rents

and the many costs of congestion, discouraging prospective migrants and encouraging business

relocation, [hinting unemployment and insufficient land to suffice the population]”

(Montgomery). This brings up the question: To what extent has overpopulation impacted the

lives of Chinese citizens? Although an increasing population helps to advance a society

intellectually, too many people could be harmful to the country creating air pollution,

unemployment, and a decline in agriculture that can lead to serious health risks among residents

in China.

Overpopulation is caused by low urban mortality and high urban fertility in modern

times. If the birth rate equals the death rate, then the population would be stable. Instead, there is

a large gap between the number of babies born and the number of adults that die. There are

improvements in medical care that also spark overpopulation because it decreases the mortality
rates while the birth rates increase. The health effects of overpopulation result in different

consequences from situation to situation which are nonetheless profound. This is an imperative

issue because overpopulation can cause respiratory, mental, and nutritional health problems.

Moreover, overpopulation has directly resulted in more than “...20 million migrant workers…

…forced to return to rural areas because of a lack of work, according to a survey conducted by

the Agriculture Ministry…” (LaFrantiere). Residents can not afford food, education, and rent due

to unemployment. The rise of overpopulation has been a crucial problem in China that is a

necessary topic to address and has impacted the lives of Chinese citizens.

Initially, overpopulation leads to negative effects such as respiratory problems among

Chinese citizens as a result of air pollution. Due to human activities such as deforestation and

fossil fuel use, there are increased carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, ultimately

leading to global warming and acid rain. For example, “...burning coal at a power plant releases

more greenhouse gases than using oil or natural gas to generate the same amount of electricity”

(Bradsher). Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO​2​) get trapped into the stratosphere

where the ozone layer lies. The ozone layer traps the harmful ultraviolet radiation from hitting

the earth’s surface. With an increased amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the heat

that radiates from the earth to space is trapped in the atmosphere, causing the depletion of the

ozone layer and global warming. Moreover, sulfur dioxide (SO​2​) and nitrogen oxide released by

the burning of fossil fuels can lead to acid rain when they “...react with water in the atmosphere

to form strong acids…” (Lerner). A study by the Jinan Municipal Center for Disease Control and

Prevention scrutinized the health impacts of SO​2​ and CO​2​ on Chinese citizens and “...for every

10 µm/m3 increase of atmospheric pollutant SO​2​ concentration, the risk of death from
myocardial infarction (AMI) increased by 0.35%... [with a total of] ...40,843 AMI-related deaths

from January 1st, 2011 to December 31st, 2017” (Zhang et al.). This research was conducted in

only one city, Jinan with a population of seven million people. For seven years, approximately

sixteen Chinese inhabitants died daily from heart attacks. The research was limited and only

focused on the risk of myocardial infarction from increased SO​2​ and CO​2​ emissions but it was

acknowledged that this was the first report on the effect of SO​2​ death by myocardial infarction in

China. Outside of medical, “...the destruction on a vast scale of tropical forests... [is making the

conditions worsen as trees] ...are uniquely able to remove carbon dioxide from the air”

(Thatcher). As the population increases, CO​2​ emissions increase from humans directly. Trees

have balanced the amount of CO​2​ and oxygen in the air by performing photosynthesis. They take

the CO​2​ in the air, water, and sunlight to produce glucose, their own food and at the same time

produce oxygen. Clearly, overpopulation leads to myocardial infarctions among Chinese citizens

as a result of human activities such as deforestation and fossil fuel use. These activities increase

the amount of SO​2​ and CO​2​ pollutants in the air.

Some experts argue that there are effective ways to decrease the amount of air pollution

in China. China is in the process of investing “…heavily in green technologies such as electric

cars, wind turbines, and solar panels” (Bradsher and Friedman). Environmentalists, such as the

minister of environmental protection Li Ganjie said that by 2020 “[c]hina is looking to set

tougher goals in a new three-year ‘green’ plan to improve air quality and tighten regulations”

(Leng). However, this plan does not include one of the three most polluted regions in China, the

Pearl River Delta. Changing to clean energy sources can be difficult because it is not cost

effective. Although solar panels are proven to decrease the amount of pollutants in the air, the
manufacturing and installing of solar panels still emit harmful greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere. The limited efficacy of these resolutions means that although certain actions seek to

limit air pollution, Chinese citizens are still subject to respiratory diseases from air pollution.

When a country’s population booms, it gives rise to unemployment as there are more

people than jobs available. This has ultimately lead to many cases of impaired mental health

among Chinese residents. According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control

and Population, people who were unemployed longer than one year have “...significantly worse

perceived mental health scores for nervousness, hopelessness, depression, increased effort,

worthlessness, [physical health, and mental health]” (Pharr et al.). The longer people are

unemployed, the lonlier they get, feeling useless to the community. Although Pharr, Moonie, and

Bungum’s arguments claim that the unemployed have a higher risk of having impaired mental

health in China, “[t]he BRFSS is a cross-sectional survey and therefore causation cannot be

determined” (Pharr et al). The possibility of mental health causing unemployment has not been

considered in the research as there is no confidence of the time-related sequence of mental health

and unemployment. This issue is also viewed from a social and economic perspective as

unemployment leads to poverty and decreased living conditions. Many who are unemployed are

worried about economic hardships as they can not pay for their own housing from increasing

rent. Additionally, increased food prices challenged residents because they need to pay more for

food in order to feed their families and themselves. With all the money spent on bills and food,

children are “...unqualified for proper local public schools…” (Gao). Parents can not afford to

get their children education. Many residents are forced to move to cheaper areas where their “...

child’s education depends on the low rent found in the container village” (Hornby and Lee).
These cheap, smaller areas that people can afford is a built village out of shipping containers that

have dimensions of 20x8x8.5 feet each. Consequently, unemployment has led to poverty,

decreased living conditions, and increased cases of impaired mental health among inhabitants in

China.

Researchers from the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation argue that

employment subsidy programs can help support the unemployed and those who have very little

work experience by training them (Kruglaya). Companies may receive tax breaks or subsidies for

the long-term unemployed. This avails to give them incipient confidence and on the job training.

It will be quite extravagant, however, and it can embolden companies to supersede existing

workers with long-term unemployment to take advantage of the tax breaks.

Lastly, overpopulation causes a decline in agriculture. A limited amount of property and

a smaller share of land leads to a lack of space for agriculture. Agricultural decline from lack of

water can lead to a shortage of food and therefore, nutritional disorders. Furthermore,

peer-reviewed research by the Agriculture Global Practice describes that “[a]gricultural water

withdrawals will continue to be a major factor worldwide, particularly given the expected need

for an increase in irrigated area due to rising demand for agricultural products” (Scheierling and

Treguer). “With worsening water-shortages, there will be more crop-failures, which means an

increase in malnutrition” (Jamail). Water shortages are mainly caused by the overuse of water by

means of agriculture, people, or animals. More food is needed as the population of an area

increases and the demand for food increases. Without water, crops will not grow as efficiently

and there will be many more cases of malnutrition due to a shortage of food. Therefore,

malnutrition caused by excessive consumption of calorie-dense foods often leads to obesity,

nutrient deficiencies, or disease. Another widely held belief is that an increase in population

leads to “[i]ntensive farming practices [that] produce more and cheaper food per acre, which has

helped feed a booming human population…” (Tsiattalos). Intensive farming has resulted in

significant increases in production relative to the cultivated area. The utilization of large amounts

of pesticides for crops and medication for animal stocks is common in intensive farming,

resulting in more crops being produced. Although it provides higher production, research

conducted by the International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences &

Arts proved that “[t]he intensive farming system has not proven to be sustainable because of the

harmful effects it has on soil, air and quality raw materials implicitly on finished product

destined for human consumption, all of which lead to harmful effects on population health”

(Toderasc et al.). Consequently, due to global warming, intensive agriculture has become the

most colossal threat to the global environment and is responsible for most tropical deforestation.

Additionally, intensive agriculture leads to soil degradation that kills beneficial insects and plants

and causes genetic erosion of crops and livestock worldwide. Clearly, an agricultural decline

from lack of water can lead to a shortage of food and therefore, nutritional disorders.

China has several ways to combat this issue. According to Everett Kennedy Brown and

the European Pressphoto Agency, “ [b]y growing crops on the sides or roofs of buildings, or in

stacks inside, in the large cities where they will be consumed, food can be produced in a way that

saves energy and time…” (Aenlle). This is known as vertical farming. Additionally, Margaret

Thatcher suggested that in order “...to improve agricultural methods, good husbandry... [should

be practiced in order to] ...plow back nourishment into the soil...” (Thatcher). Although these

methods aid in increasing crop production and efficiency, the technology is costly and may not
be adequately scaled. There are extravagant urban properties and the wages would be high.

Vertical agriculture improves indoor farming options, provides controlled environments, and

allows urban residents to grow vegetables from local sources without the desideratum for

traditional farmland. This also enables farmers to grow crops on off seasons.

To a lesser degree, in order to slow down population growth, the United Nations (UN)

proposed to “... establish a Framework Convention on Population Growth – one akin to the Paris

Agreement for climate change with Nationally Determined Contributions... [by 2030]”

(Harding). This will reiterate and emphasize the UN International Conference on Population and

Development that was held in September of 1994 in Cairo, Egypt. This action will stress the

factor of overpopulation and will also take into account the diversity of the economic, social and

environmental conditions in China in order to reduce population growth. For instance, some

factors that will be brought up are decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

and encouraging renewable energy. This will preserve the environment, restore ecosystems,

decrease pollution, and stop defaunation. Implementing these new regulations can result in a

costly process. As a result, the UN should gradually implement its regulations.

Ultimately, overpopulation has negatively impacted inhabitants in China by causing air

pollution, unemployment, and a decline in agriculture. Furthermore, overpopulation can lead to

medical risks such as myocardial infarction, mental health issues, and malnutrition. Air pollution

has been related to increased myocardial infarction cases due to global warming and acid rain.

Moreover, unemployment causes poverty, decreased living conditions, and increased cases of

depression, nervousness, and mental health issues. Finally, agriculture has led to malnutrition, a

lack of nutrition because there is less to eat. Minimizing these effects overpopulation put on the
Chinese citizens are subject to economic hardships such as some being costly. This is inenvitable

as policies or work efforts that are being put in place are solving many of the issues that are

profound to be major effects of overpopulation but at the same time are introducing more

problems. One adequate way to limit overpopulation is to establish a Framework Convention on

Population Growth. Through a gradual process, overpopulation in China can be circumscribed,

instigating to a healthier and more productive lifestyle.

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