overpopulation
Too many organisms
Overpopulation is having more people than an area can sustainably support—exceeding the carrying capacity for resources like food, water, and space.
The term applies to regions, countries, or the planet as a whole: Overpopulation strains infrastructure in rapidly growing cities.
Critics note the concept often masks questions of resource distribution rather than absolute numbers.
Excessive accumulation causing blockage
- overcrowdedFilled beyond capacity
- densityMass-to-volume ratio
- teemingAbundantly full of
- packedFilled to capacity
swarming · cramped · overflow · throng · multitude · masses · jam-packed · sardines
Exhausting available materials gradually
- deforestationLarge-scale woodland elimination
- habitat lossElimination of living spaces
- biodiversity lossReduction in species variety
- ecosystem collapseTotal breakdown of environmental systems
species extinction · overfishing · water scarcity · pollution · carrying capacity · ecological footprint · environmental degradation · carbon emissions
Population-growth doomsayer
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
- famineSevere food shortage
- sustainabilityCapacity to endure indefinitely
- carrying capacityPopulation an environment sustains
overshoot · subsistence · starvation · catastrophe · zero growth
Live deliveries per thousand
- fertilityCapacity for reproduction
- censusOfficial population count
- migrationMovement to new territory
- mortalityState of eventual death
baby boom · exponential growth · family planning · contraception · reproductive health · life expectancy · immigration · replacement rate
Urban area exceeding ten million
- sprawlExtend in disorderly fashion
- slumImpoverished urban district
- high-riseMultistory tall building
- metropolisLarge important city
shantytown · favela · housing shortage · traffic · commute · urban density · squatter settlements · tenements
congestion
Excessive accumulation causing blockage
- overcrowdedFilled beyond capacity
- densityMass-to-volume ratio
- teemingAbundantly full of
packed · swarming · cramped · overflow · throng · multitude · masses · jam-packed · sardines · squeeze
resource depletion
Exhausting available materials gradually
- deforestationLarge-scale woodland elimination
- habitat lossElimination of living spaces
- biodiversity lossReduction in species variety
ecosystem collapse · species extinction · overfishing · water scarcity · pollution · carrying capacity · ecological footprint · environmental degradation · carbon emissions · food insecurity
Malthus
Population-growth doomsayer
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
- famineSevere food shortage
- sustainabilityCapacity to endure indefinitely
carrying capacity · overshoot · subsistence · starvation · catastrophe · zero growth
birth rate
Live deliveries per thousand
mortality · baby boom · exponential growth · family planning · contraception · reproductive health · life expectancy · immigration · replacement rate · one-child policy
megacity
Urban area exceeding ten million
metropolis · shantytown · favela · housing shortage · traffic · commute · urban density · squatter settlements · tenements · public transport
- regional issueswater scarcity, water shortage, crime rates, traffic congestion, housing crisis
- demographicsage distribution, gender ratio, ethnic groups, birth rate, census data
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- environmentalismecology, conservationism, recycling bins, campaigner, environmentalism
- excessexcess, too much, excessive, excessiveness, overabundance
- global challengesclimate change, global warming, pollution, extinction, deforestation
overpopulationunderpopulation
Insufficient inhabitants for sustainability
depopulation · population decline · sparseness · sparse population · population collapse