Is Zimbabwe overpopulated?

Is Zimbabwe overpopulated?

  • Yes

    Votes: 5 7.6%

  • No

    Votes: 24 36.4%

  • Unsure

    Votes: 2 3.0%

  • South Africa is overpopulated with illegal Zimbabweans

    Votes: 35 53.0%
  • Total voters
    66
As can be seen on page 18 of WWF's Living Planet report, the most overpopulated regions in the world[128] are as follows:

1. North America
2. Latin America and the Caribbean
3. Europe (EU-countries)
4. Europe (non-EU-countries
5. Middle-East and Central Asia
6. Latin-America and the Caribbean
7. Asia Pacific
8. Africa

In depth information per country may be found at List of most overpopulated countries. This is an incomplete list of most overpopulated countries.
 
alanf85 said:
No. Just like many other African nations they just can't sustain their populations because of incompitence. It's BS IMO to blame overpopulation for African or Zimbo poverty. They've got 10mill odd people there. That's less than many European countries and they're not suffering from overpopulation:rolleyes:
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Whatever the reason is, the people cannot gain access to enough resources and are suffering. That is over-population in my view. Especially since it seams like it will be a continued problem.
 
Well, by that definition my yard's overpopulated because it can't support me and my family O_0 Who would've thought...
 
antowan said:
Whatever the reason is, the people cannot gain access to enough resources and are suffering. That is over-population in my view. Especially since it seams like it will be a continued problem.
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You've got a point


to fill with an excessive number of people, straining available resources and facilities:
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/overpopulation

Going by that though Zim would be still overpopulated if they had half a million people there :o
 
Messugga said:
Well, by that definition my yard's overpopulated because it can't support me and my family O_0 Who would've thought...
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ROFL. I sometimes have that problem in my yard too... But it will have to be a prolonged period of unsustainability to qualify as overpopulation... :D
 
Antowan, I have always valued your threads as being logical and well-reasoned. This one, alas, has done your reputation a significant amount of harm.

You're asking if Zim is overpopulated. Sheez, of course they are. And so is South Africa. And Europe. And America. And everywhere else you care to look. In short, the entire planet is vastly overpopulated on an unprecedented scale. Does this picture look sustainable to you?

World Population Graph

I thought not.

You remember that guy called Malthus we learned about at school? Everybody thought that he was a crackpot and that his silly theory of population overshoot and a resultant die-off was proven wrong. Well, guess what? Ol' Malthus would be laughing his ass off right now if he was to see that graph that I just posted. If you care to look at just about any natural resource you'd like to mention you'll notice that almost all of them are at, or at least very close to, reaching a production peak.

The world's population was about 1 billion in 1900. It was round about then that we let the oil genie come out of the bottle. This amazing, but non-renewable energy source allowed us to raise our population levels far above the earth's carrying capacity. That's all very nice until the pumps start battling to keep up with the demand. Last time I checked the oil price was $106 per barrel.

So what gives? We are now close to 7 billion people on this planet. Our natural ecosystems can only support a fraction of that number. Are we getting desperate? You bet we are. We are now willing to turn food into fuel to fill up our giant SUVs. This process has made world food prices reach new record highs. We are also willing to put oil sands into giant furnaces in order to extract a very poor grade of crude oil from this using a process that is so energy intensive that the energy return thereof is barely positive.

The only way that I can see to fend off a massive die-off in decades to come is if someone comes up with a quantum leap in energy production. Maybe someone figures out cold fusion. Maybe Dr. Craig Venter manages to develop a life form that metabolises CO2 or heavy crude. Maybe they finally put solar PV cells into production that cost a hundreth of what they do now. Who knows. If I was you, I wouldn't hold my breath, though.
 
Is Zimbabwe overpopulated?
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Over populated = too many people. But too many people for what? Infrastructure capacity? Agricultural capacity? Population density?:confused:

StrongTurd said:
Our natural ecosystems can only support a fraction of that number.
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83% by the last estimate I heard. Discovery channel.:D

StrongTurd said:
quantum leap in energy production. Maybe someone figures out cold fusion.
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First viable reactors are estimated to be online in 10 years. Hot fusion though. It already works in principle, but efficiency still sucks.
 
It seems obvious that a frame of reference is required for the term "overpopulation", without which a determination should not be attempted.

IMO overpopulation refers to the population density and available resources normally required to sustain a population of a given size in any given area - not necessarily a country - the area could be smaller or equal to or larger than any particular country.

As far as China is concerned, I believe there are provinces and sub-sections of particular provincial areas, specifically rural areas, that could be considered to be overpopulated in the sense that resources within those areas cannot sustain the population within those areas.

Back to Zimbabwe, is the country as a whole overpopulated? - I honestly don't know, what I do know, is that there are millions of Zimbabweans in South Africa that are living in South Africa illegally. At the height of that influx of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants into South Africa, Zimbabwe could probably have been considered overpopulated. Another question that should be asked, is whether or not the continuing influx of Zimbabweans in South Africa, is as a result of an unsustainable population density, or whether it is as a result of mad Bob that turned Zimbabwe into a disaster zone with insufficient resources to sustain Zimbabweans. I suspect most of us would agree that it's mad Bob's fault.
 
StrongTurd said:
Antowan, I have always valued your threads as being logical and well-reasoned. This one, alas, has done your reputation a significant amount of harm.
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WTF is wrong with you :eek:. Just click yes then without the diatribe against the guy FFS. In any case his 'reputation' is still perfectly fine amongst reasonable folks here who don't have a hissy fit at a poll question :rolleyes:

ic said:
Zimbabwe into a disaster zone with insufficient resources to sustain Zimbabweans. I suspect most of us would agree that it's mad Bob's fault.
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The resources are there. It's just the facilities to use them have disappeared.
 
How can Zim be over populated with most of the population here in South Africa as refugees?
 
Zim is not overpopulated. The reason they have survived through economic trauma so far is because of rural family areas, where people who do not have work go to their homelands, farm a little plot of land and eek out a meal each day. Without those family areas Zim would have been in civil war already.

SA does not have those areas as such, thus if economic trauma happens here you will see civil disorder much sooner.
 
alanf85 said:
WTF is wrong with you :eek:. Just click yes then without the diatribe against the guy FFS. In any case his 'reputation' is still perfectly fine amongst reasonable folks here who don't have a hissy fit at a poll question :rolleyes:
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I normally find it to be best just to ignore you.
 
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