Environmental and health-related consequences of overpopulation
Environmental degradation is proportional to the number of humans. Despite the general reduction in birth rates, the global population continues to grow, and the tendencies of decrease are insufficient for sustainability. Efficient solutions would need refactoring of certain moral stereotypes and introduction of new approach, that no population group, locally or globally, would achieve benefits through a faster growth. High fertility is used for geopolitical advance and, as such, should be counteracted. Nations receiving immigrants decide whom they accept, although in many cases, the aliens enter and remain illegally. Birth control has been rejected in some countries on the grounds of presumed national interests, such as stronger economy and defenses, which can be enhanced by demographic growth. International tensions are among the motives for supporting high fertility since the military needs young people. The overpopulation-related problems are delineated here with examples from the former Soviet Union and some other regions. Furthermore, reproductive coercion is discussed as a mechanism of birth rate elevation. Preventable life shortening may be interpreted as homicide. Conversely, birth rate restriction is ethically neutral. Notwithstanding the prospects of cheaper and cleaner energy, there is no solution to a fall in regional and global populations. However, the declining population issue is somewhat still within our control and it will not remain indefinitely.
Akaylo, I.V. (2014). Vliianie Migracionnyh Potokov na Demograficheskoe Razvitie ROSSII v 21 Veke [The Influence of Migration Flows on the Demographic Development of Russia in the 21st Century]. In: Pratsko, G.S. (ed.). Demograficheskaia Bezopasnost Sovremennoi ROSSII: Politiko-pravovye Mehanizmy Obespecheniia Nacionalnyh Interesov [Demographic Security of Modern Russia: Political and Legal Mechanisms for Ensuring National Interests]. Materials of the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference. Rostov-on-Don: Juristic Institute, p.28-34.
Antonov-Romanovsky, G.V., Koimshidi, G.F., Chirkov, D.K., & Litvinov, A.A. (2013). Prestupnost Migrantov-inostrancev i ee Preduprezhdenie [Crime of Foreign Migrants and its Prevention]. Moscow: Yurlitinform.
Arkhangelsky, V.N., Vorobieva, O.D., Ivanova, A.E., & Ryazantsev, S.V. (2019). Demograficheskaia Situacia v Rossii: Novye Vyzovy i Puti Optimizacii [Demographic Situation in Russia: New Challenges and Ways of Optimization]. Moscow: Econ-Inform.
Bansal, V., Boehm, B.O., & Darvasi, A. (2018). Identification of a missense variant in the WFS1 gene that causes a mild form of Wolfram syndrome and is associated with risk for type 2 diabetes in Ashkenazi Jewish individuals. Diabetologia, 61(10):2180-2188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-018-4690-3
Bard, M.G. (2007). Will Israel Survive? New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Barrett, C.B. (2013). Food or consequences: Food security and its implications for global sociopolitical stability. In: Barrett, C.B. (ed.). Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, p.1-34. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof: oso/9780199679362.003.0001
Besschetnova, O.V. (2015). Problemy Zhestokogo Obrashheniia s Detmi v Sovremennoi Rossiiskoi Semie [Problems of child abuse in a contemporary Russian family]. Russia: Saratov University.
Bormotova, T.M., Ryabova, E.I., & Shchuplenkov, O.V. (2020). Obshhie i Osobennye Tendencii Migracii Naselenia v Sibiri i na Dalnem Vostoke v 2010-2020 gg. [General and Specific Trends in Population Migration in Siberia and the Far East in 2010-2020]. Moscow: Ethnosocium.
Bricker, D.J., & Ibbitson, J. (2020). Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline. London: Robinson.
Bunyaeva, A.V., Bunyaeva, M.V., & Seregina E.V. (2017). Prestupnost Migrantov: Vidy i Specifika Prichinnosti, Mery Vozdeistvia Nee [Crime of Migrants: Types and Specifics of Causality, Measures to Influence It]. Moscow: Kredo.
Coombes, R. (2009). Climate change. Population: The forgotten priority. BMJ, 339:b3750. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b3750
Cox, D.M., Nelson, K.L., Clytone, M., & Collins, D.L. (2018). Hereditary cancer screening: Case reports and review of literature on ten Ashkenazi Jewish founder mutations. Molecular Genetics and Genomic Medicine, 6(6):1236-1242. https://doi.org/10.1002/mgg3.460
Danda, A.K. (1984). Family Planning: An adaptive strategy: A Case Study from West Bengal. New Delhi: Inter-India Publications.
Dorff, E.N., & Zoloth, L. (2015). Summary of the science of genetic testing. In: Dorff, E.N., & Zoloth, L. (eds.). Jews and Genes. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, p.193-200.
Duffy, D.M. (2010). Fusion power: A challenge for materials science. Philosophical Transactions Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences, 368(1923):3315-3328. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0060
Faist, T. (2022). Exit. Warum Menschen Aufbrechen: Globale Migration im 21 Jahrhundert. München: C. H. Beck.
Farmbry, K. (2019). Migration and Xenophobia: A Three Country Exploration. Lanham: Lexington Books.
García-Moreno, C., & Stöckl, H. (2013). In: García-Moreno, C., & Riecher-Rössler, A. (eds.). Violence against women, its prevalence and health consequences. In: Violence Against Women and Mental Health: Key Issues in Mental Health. Vol. 178. Basel: Karger, p.1-11.
Government of India. (1977). Family Welfare Programme: A Statement of Policy. New Delhi: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Greguš, J., & Guillebaud, J. (2020). Doctors and overpopulation 48 years later: A second notice. European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care, 25(6):409-416. https://doi.org/10.1080/13625187.2020.1821356
Gross, S.J., Pletcher, B.A., Monaghan, K.G., & Professional Practice and Guidelines Committee. (2008). Carrier screening in individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Genetics in Medicine, 10(1):54-56. https://doi.org/10.1097/GIM.0b013e31815f247c
Harkavy, O., & Roy, K. (2007). Emergence of the Indian National Family Planning Program. In: Robinson, W.C., & Ross, J.A. (eds.). The Global Family Planning Revolution: Three Decades of Population Policies and Programs. Washington, DC: World Bank, p.301-324.
Jaeger, K., & Tophoven, R. (2011). Der Nahost-Konflikt: Dokumente, Kommentare, Meinungen. Vol. 1144. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung.
Jargin, S.V. (2009). Overpopulation and modern ethics. South African Medical Journal, 99(8):572-573.
Jargin, S.V. (2017). Pine tree tapping in Siberia with special reference to alcohol consumption. Journal of Addiction and Prevention, 5(1):3. https://doi.org/10.13188/2330-2178.1000033
Jargin, S.V. (2020). Klüver-Bucy syndrome after a head trauma in conditions of child abuse and neglect. Psychiatria Danubina, 32(3-4):434-435. https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2020.434
Jargin, S.V. (2022). Military aspects of malingering, sexual and reproductive coercion: Report from Russia. Journal of Forensic Investigation, 10(1):1-5. https://doi.org/10.13188/2330-0396.1000050
Jargin, S.V. (2024). Selected Aspects of Healthcare in Russia. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Karamitsios, K. (2022). Time for a European Federation: How Europe Could Remain Relevant in the Century of Globalization, Climate Change and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Bruxelles: P. Lang.
Kazenin, K.I., & Raksha, A.I. (2019). Fertility changes in Russian regions in 2018: Key tendencies. Russian Economic Development, 26(8):71-78.
Klimin, I.I. (2016). O Demograficheskoi Bezopasnosti Rossii (1991-2014) [On the Demographic Security of Russia]. St. Petersburg: Fora-print.
Kuchmasova, A.A. (2018). The migration processes in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. Vestnik Vladikavkazskogo Nauchnogo Centra (Vestnik of Vladikavkaz Scientific Centre), 18(2):42-49.
Kurbanova, L.U. (2012). Internal Russian migrants from Chechnya in places of new settlement: Some peculiarities of self-identification. Teoria i Praktika Obshhestvennogo Razvitia (Theory and Practice of Social Development), (2):84- 86.
Kuryakov, I.A., Metelev, I.S., & Gaiduchenko, Yu, S. (2012). Demograficheskaia Bezopasnost Zapadno-Sibirskogo Regiona: Sostoianie, Problemy i Perspektivy Razvitia [Demographic Security of the West Siberian Region: State, Problems and Development Prospects]. Omsk: Skornyakova E.V.
Lall, U. (2013). Global freshwater and food security in the face of potential adversity. In: Barrett, C.B. (ed.). Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, p.120-141. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof: oso/9780199679362.003.0005
Li, H.T., Tang, J.L., Qiao, J. (2024). China’s declining fertility rate. BMJ, 385:q1000. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1000
Litvinov, N.D., & Zhuravel, V P. (2018). North Caucasus as a territory of deformation of the Russian statehood (based on the materials of the Caucasian agencies). Juridicheskaia Nauka: Istoria i Sovremennost (Juridical Science: History and Modernity), (9):47-68.
Lombardo, P.A. (2011). A Century of Eugenics in America: From the Indiana Experiment to the Human Genome Era. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Lybbert, T.J., & Morgan, H.R. (2013). Lessons from the Arab Spring: Food security in the Middle East and North Africa. In: Barrett, C.B. (ed.). Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, p.357-380. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof: oso/9780199679362.003.0014
McKenzie, M., Humphreys, C., & Tarzia, L. (2024). Mothering in the aftermath of reproductive coercion and abuse. Violence Against Women, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012241263102
Measham, A.R., & Heaver, R.A. (1996). India’s Family Welfare Program: Moving to a Reproductive and Child Health Approach. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Mozgunova, S.F. (2017). Chto neobhodimo Znat o Konctracepcii. [What is Necessary to Know about Contraception]. In: Fokina, E., & Chutkova, L., (eds.). Vybor Roditelei: Detorozhdenie ili Kontracepcia? O Sovremennyh Reproduktivnyh Tehnologiah [Parents’ Choice: Childbearing or Contraception? On Modern Reproductive Technologies]. Moscow: Sibirskaia Blagozvonnitsa, p.163-192.
Nyssen, J., Haile, M., Naudts, J., Munro, N., Poesen, J., Moeyersons, J., et al. (2009). Desertification? Northern Ethiopia Re-photographed after 140 years. Science of the Total Environment, 407(8):2749-2755. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.12.016
OECD. (2016). The organization for economic co-operation and development. In: Adopting a Territorial Approach to Food Security and Nutrition Policy. Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2023). The organization for economic co-operation and development. In: Environmental Performance Reviews: Israel. Paris: OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/0175ae95-en
Our World in Data. (2021). Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions by World Region, 1850 to 2021. Our World in Data. Available from: https://ourworldindata.org [Last accessed on 2024 Dec 31].
Owolade, A.J., Abdullateef, R.O., Adesola, R.O., & Olaloye, E.D. (2022). Malnutrition: An underlying health condition faced in sub Saharan Africa: Challenges and recommendations. Annals of Medicine and Surgery (Lond), 82:104769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104769
Pathak, K.B., Feeney, G., & Luther, N.Y. (1998). Alternative Contraceptive Methods and Fertility Decline in India. Report No. 7. National Family Health Survey Subject Reports, p.1-28.
Potikha, V.V. (2017). O problem abortov po medicinskim pokazaniiam [On the problem of abortions according to medical indications]. In: Fokina, E., & Chutkova, L. (eds.). Vybor Roditelei: Detorozhdenie Ili Kontracepcia? O Sovremennyh Reproduktivnyh Tehnologiah [Parents’ Choice: Childbearing or contraception? On Modern Reproductive Technologies]. Moscow: Sibirskaia Blagozvonnitsa, p.61-66.
Quandt, W.B. (1988). The Middle East Ten Years after Camp David. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Rahman, M.M., Husnain, M.I.U., & Azimi, M.N. (2024). An environmental perspective of energy consumption, overpopulation, and human capital barriers in South Asia. Scientific Reports, 14(1):4420. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53950-z
Rosegrant, M.W., Tokgoz, S.A., & Bhandary, P. (2013). The future of the global food economy: Scenarios for supply, demand and prices. In: Barrett, C.B. (ed.). Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, p.35-63. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof: oso/9780199679362.003.0002
Rybakovsky, O.L. (2023). Depopulation in the regions of Russia: Results for 1992-2022 and components. Narodonaselenie (Population), 26(2):4-17. https://doi.org/10.19181/population.2023.26.2
Samoylyuk, N.V., & Nikitenko, I.V. (2015). Sistema Protivodejstvia Prestupnosti Migrantov v Dalnevostochnom Federalnom Okruge Rossii [System of Combating Migrant Crime in the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia]. Khabarovsk: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
Sauer, N. (2023). Chechnya’s Boss and Putin’s Foot Soldier: How Ramzan Kadyrov Became Such a Feared Figure in Russia. Available from: https://theconversation.com/chechnyas-boss-and-putins-foot-soldier-how-ramzan-kadyrov-became-such-a-feared-figure-in-russia-216418 [Last accessed on 2024 Dec 31].
Sharp, J.M. (2023). U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
Shcherbakova, E.M. (2023). Population of the CIS Countries, 2022. Demoscope Weekly, p.1011-1012. Available from: https://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2023/01011/barom01. php [Last accessed on 2025 Mar 06].
Stanbury, C. (2024). Procreating in an overpopulated world: Role moralities and a climate crisis. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 21(4):611-623. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-024-10338-y
Strauning, I.A. (2019). Determinanty Prestupnosti Migrantov v Uslovijah Megapolisa [Determinants of Crime by Migrants in Conditions of a Megapolis]. In: Actual Problems of Migrations. Proceedings of an Inter-university Scientific and Practical Conference. Domodedovo: Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, p.73-76.
Strom, C.M., Crossley, B., Redman, J.B., Quan, F., Buller, A., McGinniss, M.J, et al. (2004). Molecular screening for diseases frequent in Ashkenazi Jews: Lessons learned from more than 100,000 tests performed in a commercial laboratory. Genetics in Medicine, 6(3):145-152. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.gim.0000127267.57526.d1
Tarzia, L., & McKenzie, M. (2024). Reproductive coercion and abuse in intimate relationships: Women’s perceptions of perpetrator motivations. PLoS One, 19(4):e0299069. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299069
Tavbulatova, Z.K., Sugarova, I.V., & Abieva, M.M. (2021). Sovershenstvovanie Sistemy Formirovania Bjudzhetnoi Sistemy Dotacionnyh Regionov [Improving the System for Forming the Budget System of Subsidized Regions]. Grozny: Kadyrov Chechen University.
UNPF (United Nations Population Fund). (2024). Demographic Change and Sustainability. New York: UNPF, Available from: https://www.unfpa.org/publications/demographic-change-and-sustainability [Last accessed on 2025 Mar 06].
UNPF United Nations Population Fund. (2007). State of World Population 2004: The Cairo Consensus at Ten: Population, Reproductive Health and the Global Effort to End Poverty. New York: UNPF.
Verkuyl, D.A.A. (2016). Recent developments have made female permanent contraception an increasingly attractive option, and pregnant women in particular ought to be counselled about it. Contraception and Reproductive Medicine, 1:3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40834-016-0034-1
Von Reibmayr, A. (1897). Inzucht und Vermischung beim Menschen. Leipzig: Deuticke.
Voslensky, M.S. (1984). Nomenklatura: The Soviet Ruling Class. Garden City, NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Wolpe, P.R. (2015). Genetic testing in the Jewish community. In: Dorff, E.N., & Zoloth, L. (eds.). Jews and Genes. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, p.201-214.