Overpopulation

Children's Literature - Danielle Williams

Advances in technology and medicine over the last century and a half have made life easier for humans and has resulted in longer life spans as well as a higher birth rate all over the world. Despite the fact that adequate healthcare is not available in every country, birthrates across the planet have increased dramatically over the last fifty years. The drain on natural resources all over the world due to overpopulation has not yet exceeded what is needed to survive, but overpopulation has also resulted in the loss of land necessary to supply necessary resources. Jakab identifies five different issues about overpopulation, beginning with the population explosion in the mid-twentieth century, and continues on to discuss mega-cities and urban sprawl. Each issue is discussed in depth, and the author takes care to describe causes and possible solutions to each issue in turn. Full color illustrations as well as "Fast Facts" fill each page and offer additional insight into the issues. The book is part of the "Global Issues" series. Reviewer: Danielle Williams