Daniel Pittman

Education Essay

Global climate change is an increasingly serious threat that is already

affecting life all around the planet. Many of its effects are already impacting
humans, and even more are creating severe consequences for other, less
adaptable animals. Some of the immediately observable effects of global
climate change so far include melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, and
longer, harsher heat waves. Scientists theorize that these problems will
continue to get worse, and many more are predicted to arise in the near
future (Global Climate Change: Effects). Due to the threatening nature of this
phenomenon, many people are looking for a solution to save the planet from
its gradual destruction. In an effort to do so, some have tried to pinpoint the
reason that the earths temperature is rising and weather is becoming more
extreme. As of right now, a majority of climate scientists agree that climate
changes primary cause is humanitys contribution to the severity of the
greenhouse effectmore specifically, human activity resulting in the
production of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and
chlorofluorocarbons. The excess of these gases in our atmosphere lead to a
degradation of the ozone layer (allowing more heat in), and a strengthened
greenhouse effect brought about by the chemical qualities of the gases
(keeping more heat in) (Global Climate Change: Causes). Currently, a large
portion of proposed solutions to global climate change relate in one way or

another to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (10 Solutions for Climate

Change).

Upon first hearing about global climate change or at last realizing the
true severity of the situation, it is not uncommon for one to begin doing their
own personal research, likely resulting in pages of websites about what you
can do to stop global warming and how to reduce your carbon footprint.
While doing your own part to help the planet is indeed important, you are not
going to fix global warming simply by driving a hybrid. In order to stop
global climate change, we must get back to the true source of the problem
humans. I speak of the somewhat underestimated issue of overpopulation.
Overpopulation refers to the state in which a population exceeds the
carrying capacity of its inhabited region (The population explosion, 1990). This
can be a serious issue because this state of being oftentimes leads people to
rapidly deplete local natural resources, causing a lack of food, water, and
fossil fuels and an excess of people, pollution, and atmospheric levels of
carbon dioxide (United States Census Bureau). Worst of all, the overpopulation
crisis is self-sustaining, as population tends to naturally grow at an
exponential rate. Although several nations have begun to reduce growing
population into a stabilized or even declining state, many others are still
expanding at an accelerating pace. In fact, the Earth as a whole is currently
overpopulated by approximately two billion. Currently Africa and the Middle
East are the worst offenders here, and these two regions also happen to
have significantly lower literacy rates than the countries whose populations

are beginning to stabilize or decline (Literacy Rates - World Statistics and Charts
as Map, Diagram and Table). It only seems reasonable, then, that we may infer

that a correlation exists between the two. Given this, the next logical step in
attempting to reduce overpopulation and thereby reduce the effects of global
climate change as well, is to ensure that at least fundamental education
(especially sexual education) is available worldwide.
It is estimated that up to 40% of pregnancies worldwide are
unintended (Cliodynamics). While this number may in part be due to
improper use of contraceptives or contraceptives failing, a large part of it is
still due to lack of information regarding birth control, or lack of access to
birth control resources. Even in the United States, often considered one of
the more developed countries in the world, the teenage pregnancy rate is
surprisingly high. Nearly 750,000 American teenagers become pregnant
each year, with 82% of these pregnancies being unintended (Reducing
Teenage Pregnancy). However, despite these seemingly large numbers,

teenage pregnancy in the United States is lower than it has been since the
1940s, and research has shown that this is likely due in part to an increase in
contraceptive use and a delayed initiation of sex as well, coming about as a
result of an increase in sexual education in the United States over the last
several decades (Effective Sex Education.). By making an effort to implement
similar awareness campaigns throughout the world, especially in lesser
developed countries, we may help reduce population growth over the next
several decades.

Another crucial aspect of reducing the overpopulation problem that

plagues the planet is ensuring that women are given opportunities to get
themselves a secondary education. Scientists even believe that doing so
may be a solution to global overpopulation by the year 2050. Giving women
the option to explore roles other than child bearer means they will likely have
fewer children, and possibly even contribute to the advancement of
sustainable technologies. In fact, studies conducted in Niger and Yemen
showed that women who went on to pursue a secondary education had their
fertility rates reduced by over 30% when compared to the average
population. Not only does this effort toward improving education for women
around the world promote population reduction, but it also helps make sure
that the children who are born live healthier lives, as the mother will be more
educated in raising a child properly, as well as having to only focus on a few
children, rather than having to stretch herself thin in an effort to take care of
a large number of children (Secondary Education for Females: A Primary Way to
Prevent Overpopulation). Ensuring that women have the opportunity to

acquire a secondary education is admittedly more easily said than done, but
as it has the potential to be a fairly simple solution to a very complex
problem, the effort required to get it in motion is very much worth it.
In conclusion, global climate change is a huge problem that is not to be
taken lightly. However, given its immensity, it is not something which can be
fixed overnight, either. To make progress toward solving global climate
change, we must make a global effort to put a greater emphasis on the

importance of education and its potential in reducing the very serious

problem of overpopulation, thereby providing relief for the planets currently
strained boundaries. By providing education and relevant resources to the
countries that need them most, we could collectively solve the issue of
overpopulation and all of the many other problems that come about as a
result.

Citations:
"Global Climate Change: Effects." Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. NASA,
n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/>.
"Global Climate Change: Causes." Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. NASA,
n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://climate.nasa.gov/causes/>.
Biello, David. "10 Solutions for Climate Change." Scientific American Global RSS.
Scientific American, 26 Nov. 2007. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/10-solutions-for-climate-change/>.
Ehrlich, Paul R. Ehrlich & Anne H. (1990). The population explosion. London:
Hutchinson. pp. 3940. ISBN 0091745519.

"United States Census Bureau." International Programs. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr.
2015. <http://www.census.gov/population/international/>.
"Literacy Rates - World Statistics and Charts as Map, Diagram and Table."Literacy
Rates / Countries of the World. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
<http://world.bymap.org/LiteracyRates.html>.
"Cliodynamics." - Introduction to Social Macrodynamics: Secular Cycles and
Millennial Trends. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://cliodynamics.ru/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=70>.
"Reducing Teenage Pregnancy." REDUCING TEENAGE PREGNANCY (n.d.): n.
pag. Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood. Web.
<http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/6813/9611/7632/Reducing_Teen_Pregnanc
y.pdf>.
"Effective Sex Education." Effective Sex Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/component/content/article/450-effective-sexeducation>.
"Secondary Education for Females: A Primary Way to Prevent
Overpopulation." Harvard College Global Health Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr.
2015. <http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/hghr/online/secondary-education-women/>.