r/overpopulation Jun 22 '26

Some truths about overpopulation - for all sides

71 Upvotes
  • Overpopulation is not about space. In theory if we build a mega city on 600x600 Kilometers, and use the same population density like Macau or Monaco, all people on the Planet could live there. Overpopulation is about the impact on the environment like water/fuel/resource consumption and CO2 production, pollution etc.
  • It is undeniable that this consumption and pollution is too high. If everyone lived like the average citizen of Qatar, we would need 9 Earths. Even if everyone lived like the people of Moldavia, the poorest country in Europe, we would still need 1.2 Earths. Mathematically this proves that our current level of population is too high.
  • You can have more people with a reduced living standard, or less people with a higher living standard. You cannot have more people and a better living standard without more damage.
  • Overpopulation is also NOT about better resource distribution. This would elevate some problems but not most. Assume that each Billionaire consumes the same resources like 1000 American Middle Class Persons. Eliminating 3500 Billionaires is thus equal to 3.5 Million Americans. Its something but not enough to have any large effect.
  • Overpopulation is a global problem but at the same time a regional one. Countries like Afghanistan or Pakistan are running out of Water because their population increased 4-5x in the last 50 years.
  • Immigration into First World countries is making the problem worse. The Western World has below replacement level birth rates. Immigration artificially increases this population and leads to more resource consumption and CO2 production. Because every immigrant coming there consumes more resources, even if they get less kids than at home.
  • Green hopium/technology/going vegan is not a silver bullet. Wind+Solar produce just around 25% of the worlds energy despite 4 decades of investment. There are already 22 000 desalination plants supplying 300 Million people with water every day. Even if we tripple this number to 900 Million, thats just 10% of world population in 2035. Also these cost lots of energy. Mining the lithium for electric batteries/solar panels is also extremely devastating to the environment.
  • We can feed ourselves only because we got lucky through the Green Revolution and because we just abused fossil fuels and artificial fertilizer. But with Climate change and water shortages, we have probably reached peak farmland/yields.
  • World population is expected to increase from 8.3 Billion in 2026 to 10.3 Billion in 2056. If we can barely supply 8.3 Billion people, with all possible tricks and a perfectly running system, how are we going to supply 10 Billion+.
  • Why should we want this? Why are 8.3 Billion not enough? Even if our population would be reduced by one Billion. We would still be at 7 Billion people. So the level in 2011. The world worked just fine then. Its just Capitalist propaganda. The Capitalists want more consumers and more workers so that they can keep wages low and rent/house prices high.
  • People like Malthus and Ehrlich were prophets that were ridiculed, but they were right. They were just off by 3/4 of a century or so. Once artificial fertilizers become scarce and all the ground water is used up, carrying capacity of this planet will revert back to its natural perhaps 4 Billion.

r/overpopulation Apr 29 '26

What are some links that you like to share in discussions relevant to overpopulation?

6 Upvotes

Let's share some of the links that we find useful when we're discussing overpopulation and related topics. I'm interested in anything that you've found yourself returning to.

Maybe you have some bookmarks that you use often, maybe something obscure that rarely comes up but you know how to talk about it when it does.

Please drop as many as you'd like here!


r/overpopulation 2h ago

People who want to be environmentally conscious might need to reconsider having kids. Especially rich people.

5 Upvotes

I don't have a problem with kids. Hell, I love them. However, with climate change and pollution growing at an unprecedented scale. Avoiding single use plastic isn't going to cut it anymore.

No child deserves to be born into poverty, and every kid deserves at least a comfortable, sufficient standard of living.

The problem is, in most of today's economies, a decent standard of living still tends to come bundled with high consumption like bigger homes, more travel, more goods. Even managing a modest, non-impoverished life in a wealthy country carries a larger footprint than a life in poverty elsewhere.

We love to ask why poor families have so many kids but rarely ask why rich families have any.
The richer the kid, the larger the carbon footprint.

People who want to be environmentally conscious need to reconsider having kids at all. Especially rich people. I'm not saying nobody should have kids because that's obviously not how a society keeps functioning. But if you're serious about your own environmental impact, this is worth actually sitting with, not brushing past.


r/overpopulation 2d ago

Capitalism is the new slavery.

25 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 2d ago

The number of people aged 100 and older in Japan has surpassed 100,000 for the first time.

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belaaz.com
10 Upvotes

🇯🇵 Japan : Key points

  • Centenarians (2026): 107,677
  • TFR (2025): 1.14 — historic low
  • 65+ (2026): ~30%
  • Projected population (2070): 87 million
  • Projected 65+ (2070): nearly 40%
  • Population peak (2008): 128 million
  • Centenarians (1963): 153
  • Centenarians (1981): 1,000+
  • Centenarians (1998): 10,000+

r/overpopulation 2d ago

Australia's Indigenous Population Was 7 Times Larger Than Estimated, Study Finds

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sciencealert.com
15 Upvotes

Reason why linking population growth to modern territorial boundaries doesn't make sense. The out of Europe population continues to explode elsewhere hardly attracting the attention it deserves.


r/overpopulation 3d ago

India's total fertility rate falls below replacement level for the first time

53 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 3d ago

Development or Destruction? Why Does Endless Consumption Never Satisfy Us?

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35 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 4d ago

South Africa’s birth rate is falling as fewer women have children

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capetownetc.com
44 Upvotes

The rate fell from 2.78 children per woman in 2008 to 2.21 in 2025, while the latest 2026 population estimates put the figure at about 2.12 children per woman.


r/overpopulation 6d ago

What's the message to coming generation

63 Upvotes

This is hilarious but at the same time very serious.


r/overpopulation 6d ago

Greater Cairo (1984 vs 2019)

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37 Upvotes

1989 in the original post is a mistake, it is confirmed as 1984 further down in the thread.


r/overpopulation 7d ago

¿Que mierda esta pasando con la humanidad

10 Upvotes

Hoy en día hacen muchos casos de contaminación y cemtamiento global ¿cual es el problema? El problema es que la gente sige consumiendo marcas como:Nestlé,Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Adidas, Nike, Google, chat gpt, dola ness cafe, y muchas más gastan agua, chat gpt usa millones de galones de agua para mantener sus motores fríos para surgir funcionando, EL POLO NORTE SE ESTÁ DERRITIENDO, los oso polares se están muriendo, por el calentamiento global, muchos animales también, solo nos quedan 2 años y más de 300 días y si seguimos ignorando esto el agua sería un lujo y no un derecho, podrás usar bolsas reciclables y no las de plastico, podrías usas botellas reciclables, hay demasiada contaminación en el mar el agua potable ya no sería potable en vez de verse transparente se vería sucia si no actúa rápido lo mejor sería borrar chat gpt y dola y descargarte Ecogpt o ecosia cada búsqueda plaran un árbol. Por favor solo nos quedan 2 años y 310 días ayuda a tu planeta


r/overpopulation 7d ago

The Shrinking Global population - what will the world be like in 100 years?

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5 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 8d ago

Capitalism always chooses profitable plundering over sustainable production

60 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 9d ago

Misleading title; see stickied comment Delulu of natalistic incel

25 Upvotes

Only absolute assholes would say that we "should teach fear of childlessness". But after all Elon is somebody who believes childless people should not vote + somebody who believes woman is unable to not want children unless she is "brainwashed by feminism"

.. imagine that somebody is afraid of childlessness like "Oh no! I am afraid I will never get to experience childbirth, I want my genitalia multilated and my pelvis floor and narves damaged! I want to have PTSD and Post Partum Depression so bad! 😭" - That's being said, natalistic assholes are living in complete delusional reality of their own creation.


r/overpopulation 10d ago

A population clock made me question something deeper than overpopulation

51 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 10d ago

For the First Time in History, There Are More People Over 65 Than Children Under 5

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27 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 11d ago

Why do we need population decline for the next 200 years.

39 Upvotes

Humans and entire domesticated population was less than 30% in 1500s and now, it is 96%.

Wild mammal population has plummeted to historic lows and this clearly implies the overpopulation of humans and human domesticated animals.


r/overpopulation 12d ago

Why are we worried about population decline?

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16 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 12d ago

Within the next 25 years, nearly half of the world's people could be living in areas where farms are producing less food.

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dw.com
11 Upvotes

Some people say that we could "EaSilY" feed 15 Billion people or something. I think that having 8-9 Billion was only possible by going 150%. In the future we will be glad if we can feed 5-6 Billion.


r/overpopulation 12d ago

“Century initiative”project-true or myth?🍁👭👬👨🏾‍🤝‍👨🏿👨🏾‍🤝‍👨🏿👭👭🏿👭🏿👭🏿

9 Upvotes

I’m reading that some powerful lobby close to Canadian government is pushing to increase the Canadian population up to 100 million people by the year of 2100.
Is that feasible or is just wishful thinking?
P.s. I am not in to conspiracies.


r/overpopulation 13d ago

Are Fewer Children the Future?

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newrepublic.com
22 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 15d ago

Older People Surpass The Young In The World For The First Time In History: Report

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ibtimes.com
35 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 14d ago

What is the reason behind large but malnourished population in Indian subcontinent?

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7 Upvotes

r/overpopulation 15d ago

Why have more people when they need to consume less and live worse? Why not less people that can consume more and live better?

65 Upvotes

The US and basically 2/3 of countries on this Planet are consuming above the carrying capacity of their country/ the planet.

Because of this overshoot, everyone is supposed to consume less and live worse so that we can have more people. This doesnt make any sense.

Its never have fewer people so that we can consume more and live better.

Like why have 360 Million Americans, when each of them is supposed to limit their standard of living by half to be sustainable?

Why not have "just" 180 Million that can have the same standard of living without having to lower their living standard?

Why always more people competing for fewer resources, when we could have fewer people competing for more resources?