TWO LONG TERM PROBLEMS: 

TOO MANY PEOPLE, TOO FEW TREES

Moti  Nissani

Main Theme

This essay, written by Moti Nissani, deals with ecology and change. it provides a brief introduction to the twin problems: overpopulation and deforestation, especially in the context of Nepal. these problems are interlinked because when there are too many people, forests get cut down more quickly and trees don't get replaced.

Summary

In 1992, over 1500 of the world's scientists signed The World Scientists Warning to Humanity, a document reflecting growing concerns about the state of the biosphere. They worried about what is happening to the world. The concern was also agreed by the Royal Society of London and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. The biosphere is becoming much polluted. The air and water are becoming poisonous and many types of plants and animals are disappearing. The population of the world is going up because people are living longer than in the past, and too many children are being born. Every hour some10, 000 new members are added to the already huge population that the earth is carrying. Our excesses don't end there. We have also dirtied space. We clean pollutants up rather than use cheaper and healthier means of prevention.

For the last few hundred years, human population has increased, especially in the Industrialized countries with the improvements in nutrition, sanitation, and health. People there are living longer and have longer fertility rate. Similarly the world population is growing by more than 80 million people. The population of Nepal has increased exponentially from 9 million to 23 million in less than 50 years. Nepal's population is expected to touch 46 million by 2026. There will be shortage of food and consequently the disappearance of trees. The land, water and air will be polluted. Towns and villages alike will be crowded. Food production and facilities for health will not grow at the ratio of population growth and it may make crime, ethnic conflicts and warfare more common. The world's resources are being used up and problems caused by pollution, like diseases and changes in the world's climate are getting worse. The world already has been facing frightening problems like desertification, depletion of nonrenewable resources (e.g., petrol, natural gas, and helium), acid rain, loss of wild species, ozone layer depletion, and the greenhouse effect.

Notwithstanding this, it is possible to stop the growth in population. This has happened in Sweden and Germany. Other countries like China, Thailand and Egypt have lessened their population through the active role played by their governments. Factors such as modernization, literacy, media campaigns and equal economic, educational, and legal opportunities for women, and information about how to avoid having babies (family planning) help reduce population growth. We know now how to control our numbers but we must put this knowledge into practice.

As the population of Nepal grows, forests are cut down to turn the land into farmland. The demand of rich people in the west for beef is also causing forest land to be changed into grassland for cattle farming. Rich people's demand for wood and paper products is also causing the destruction of forests. When forests are chopped down, the soil is destroyed and this can lead to disastrous flooding. Such is the pitiable condition of earth's forest cover that it has come down from 40% in the early part of this century to about 25% now. Indeed, the destruction of forests contributes to such things as the greenhouse effect, irreversible loss of many thousands of species of plants and animals, landslides, soil erosion, siltation of rivers and dams, droughts, and weather extremes. Eventually this ongoing deforestation would damage the quality of life on earth, reduce the number of life forms that share the planet with us, and hamper the ability of the biosphere to sustain life.

Deforestation can be reduced if the increase in the number of people is controlled. Education, family planning and changes in the way we use wood are important. The short term remedy would involve massive tree plantings on abandoned deforested land and on unused lands elsewhere. Sometimes, appropriate and economical technology like the use of smokeless stoves in countries like Nepal can reduce the amount of firewood needed, thereby increasing time to study and provide opportunity to practice other more profitable business. However, even though we know what changes we must make, we are not brave or clever enough to make those changes. Moti Nissani ends optimistically by telling us that the problem of overpopulation and deforestation can be solved by the application of wisdom, courage, and compassion.

Question-Answers

1. What are the causes, consequences and cures of overpopulation and deforestation? (2061/2066)

The world's population is going up due to high birth-rate and low death-rate. With advances in nutrition, sanitation, modern medicines and sound health of people with their ability to reach reproductive age, people are living longer disturbing the balance between birth and death-rate. Every hour we are adding 10000 or annually 80 million people to the total population of the world.

The consequences of overpopulation are horrible and destructive. Overpopulation is causing forests to disappear. The world's resources are being consumed up. We have created pollution inviting environmental decline to suffer from various kinds of fatal diseases like cataract, cancer, emphysema etc. Now we are uneasy due to air, water and soil pollution. We have made our food and drinks poisonous. Disturbing the balanced ecosystem, we are heading ahead being trapped by the signs of global environmental decline. We have lost some endangered species of land and sea creatures and again some are on the verge of extinction. Out attempts have failed to keep pace with population growth. Higher population density is causing crimes, racial conflicts and war.

 The rapid growth of population can be controlled if some preventive measures are taken in time. Sweden and Germany have proved it. China, Thailand and Egypt have remarkably slowed down the growth of population. Modernization, literacy, media campaigns, family planning, easily available contraceptives, equal economic, educational and legal opportunities can be some effective preventive measures for the reduction of population size.

The main cause of deforestation is overpopulation. People are cutting down trees for firewood, furniture, paper products, farmland, grassland and also for the constructions of houses. 

The consequences of deforestation are destructive and terrifying. Destruction of forests has created the problems of deforestation, soil erosion, flooding in the rivers, landslides, siltation of rivers and dams, droughts, weather extremes, greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion, acid rain, loss of animals and plants and many more.

The main cure of deforestation is to control the growing population. Education, family planning, financial supports for saving forests, massive tree plantation on barren, deforested and unused lands of riverbanks, highways and city areas can be the effective measures for saving forests. Moreover, heavy tax imposition and provision of smokeless stoves can also be taken into consideration. The more striking point is that we need greater determination, compassion and wisdom to avoid flooding. Great care is needed to conserve biodiversity and to save topsoil.

2. Are most living Nobel Prize winners optimistic about the future of humanity? Why or why not?

The Nobel Prize winners are guardedly optimistic about the future of humanity, because they are of the opinion that there could be imbalance between the natural world and human world if we don't apply positive attitude towards environment. They warn of the human beings' increasing possibility of inflicting irreversible damage on the environment and on its resources. They opine that if human beings don't check their current bad practices, then life on this planet of and of plants could be at risk, and it may also affect the sustainability of life in the manner we know or like. Thus, urgent change in our approach towards the environment, they say, could avoid the inevitable: irreparable degradation of the environment.

3. What leads Nissani to the belief that the world is facing an overpopulation crisis?

There are various negative indicators that lead Nissani to believe there is an overpopulation crisis. Every year 80 million people new mouths are added to the overburdened earth, which means there is more demand for food, and the corresponding damage to the forests. The trees are felled to clear land for farming. There is increase in pollution and pollution-induced diseases. 60000 Americans die each year because of human-induced pollution. What's more overcrowding has invited crime, conflicts, war, and mass migrations. Many animal species are vanishing or have vanished. Increased population has increased energy use, resource consumption and environmental stress too. Desertification, depletion of natural resources, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, droughts, floods, and weather extremes are other negative markers of overpopulation crisis.

4. What's wrong, in his view, with a treeless Nepal?

There is bound to be a lot of environmental and human disasters happening in the absence of trees in Nepal. Trees keep the top soil intact, however with their disappearance; the fertile top soil can easily be carried down by rivers, particularly during monsoons, whereby causing landslides and other natural disasters in the mountains and hills and devastating floods and siltation of rivers and dams in the Terai and beyond. Floods kill people as well as ruin standing crops, the source of food. The Koshi carnage is one infamous event in recent history. The bare mountain and hill land become a wasteland too. Many thousands of species of birds and animals could be endangered or lost forever. And, over a long period of time, felling of trees could inflict other environmental repercussions like the greenhouse effect, droughts and whimsical weather patterns

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