The world population currently stands at approximately 7.2 billion. However, the United Nations released a report that provided three projections of the global population by 2050, that is, low, medium and high. All these figures will impact the international community in a significant way. The high projection, at 10.9 billion, however, will have a tremendous impact on the way the world operates (Population Reference Bureau, 2013). It will produce an overwhelming effect on natural resources. People will have to clear out forests to find places to develop structures such as houses. It will also cause degradation of the environment and an increase in unemployment.

On the other hand, although the low projection will not put too much pressure on the existing natural resources like that of the high one, it will bring about significant change. With numbers at, 8.3 billion, the cost of living, especially in the developing nations will skyrocket, and people will not be able to afford food, water, and other essential amenities. Rates of unemployment will go up, and there will also be an increase in conflicts, especially those concerning land and other rapidly reducing resources. The medium projection, at 9.6 billion, therefore, means that although the consequences of the increased population will be there, they will not be the worst as compared to that of the higher projection.  However, the cost of living will increase in the internationally, food and water will be scarce, climate patterns will change, and the planet’s resources will reduce considerably.

Global Warming

The increase in the three gasses namely, methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide causes an increase in unnatural warming of the earth. Usually, greenhouse gasses trap heat and prevent it from escaping in the atmosphere. They do this through the formation of a blanket that slowly and steadily increases the temperature increases, mainly because heat is unable to escape. In light of this, when the blanket thickens, so does the earth get warmer. When the gases increase to inconsiderable levels, the planet finds itself in a situation called global warming. This situation may cause extreme climate changes or an increase in the sea level, which, in turn, may render coastline residents such as plants animals and people, homeless.

Additionally, this level of global warming may have a tremendous effect on natural conditions such as temperature and water pH, causing the extinction of a considerable number of living things, both plants, and animals. This elimination of thousands of species will be as a result of habitats, both on land and in water, and those communities of organisms unable to adapt to the changed environment will die (Siegel, 2019).

Cost of Natural Resources

In the global south, many of the countries in that category peg their fortunes on natural resources such as oil. It, therefore, means that these economies will depend on oil as their chief source of energy and income. Higher prices of the commodity will mean a rise in transport costs which, ultimately, determine the costs of production of most companies. This situation will hurt the economy severely and cause an increase in the prices of food and other essential amenities. The scarcity of food means that most people will starve, creating political instability, as a hungry nation is an angry nation. On the other hand, developing countries such as the United States do not suffer much impact on the increase in oil prices as they have a diversified economy characterized by many contributing sectors. These industries shield the nation from extreme conditions in case of a change in oil prices which, ironically, may have a positive impact such as job creation due to the availability of room for exploitation by the oil companies.

References

Population Reference Bureau. (2013). United Nations Raises Projected World Population – Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.prb.org/un-world-projections/

Siegel, K. (2019). Global Warming: What, How, Why?. Retrieved from https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/global_warming_what_how_why/index.html

VOA. (2019). Rising Oil Prices Haven’t Hurt US Economy. Retrieved from https://www.voanews.com/a/rising-oil-prices-us-economy/4582240.html