Top Environmental Issue Facing Our Planet

We constantly hear that climate change is the single most critical issue facing our planet today, and there's much to support that opinion.  However, many experts feel there is an even more pressing environmental issue, and that is population, or should I say, overpopulation.

The population of the planet has tripled in the past 60 years, going from over 2 billion to over 7 billion.  This puts a strain on everything in the environment, from land and water, to food.  Several decades ago there was a big push to limit population growth in developing nations.  Birth control was encouraged, smaller families were too.  You don't hear much talk about world population as a problem today, but it is.  We need to get back to reducing family size, especially in developing nations where family resources are scarce.  There is so much poverty and famine worldwide.  Part of the problem is that we are not producing enough food in areas that have the largest growth in population.  Our planet faces so many environmental issues right now, and controlling population is a top priority.