Purpose: To inform my Com 110 audience about the implications of overpopulation
Thesis: To grasp the true concept of overpopulation and its possible effects on the world we will look at the effects it has on our resources, pollution and the economy.
Organizational Pattern: Topical I. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: When you think of the word “overpopulation” you may think of an overcrowded dining center or not being able to find a table at the library during finals week, but the reality is that since January 1st, 2015 there are now 7 billion 214 million people in the world with 2.5 births every second.
B. Relevance of topic to audience: Overpopulation is important now not just to us as college students but to the previous and next generation as well because within our lifetimes we will see the rise of gas prices, pollution and standards of living within our everyday lives.
C. Credibility: I became interested in overpopulation after taking my environmental health class and doing my own research where I read about the possible effects of overpopulation to the world in the present and the coming future.
D. Thesis/Central Idea: To grasp the true concept of overpopulation and its possible effects on the world we will look at the effects it has on our resources, pollution and the economy.
E. Preview: So let us burn our way through resources, trudge are way to pollution and buy our way out with economy.
Transition: To begin we will shed some light on the depletion of resources
II. Body
A. First Main Point: Depletion of Resources
a. The first resource to talk about is what literally drives today’s modern advances such as cars, heating, air conditioning and even the electricity that charges your phones and laptops. Fossil fuels are the most important non-renewable resources that we need to keep our modern way of living alive. With the climb of population and overall better living conditions all over the world we will have access to less and less of these irreplaceable resources. (Visual Aid)
b. The second resource to discuss may be the most important resource that humans needs to survive. Fresh water. We use fresh water every day to shower, wash our hands and to most importantly to drink. Briana Boyd in her academic article “Is There Room for Me? A Study of Overpopulation “reminds us that Earth may be 70% water but less than .4% of that water is available to us through underground aquifers, wells, rivers and lakes. More people living on the planet means the search for fresh water will become increasingly difficult as we continue to drink more than we can replace it.
c. And finally to put all of this in a perspective we may all understand, according to, NOVA a science journalism site, if everyone in the world lived like Americans do we would need 4.1 more earths to have enough resources to live comfortably.
Transition: Now that we have lit the fire on resources, let us breathe the air that is pollution.
B. Second Main Point: Effects of Pollution
a. Think of all of the trash that you make on your own every day, from that water bottle you were too lazy to throw in a recycling bin because the trash can was closer, all those plastic bags you are given to hold your groceries or even the act of driving to the store creating more carbon dioxide in the air that destroys our ozone layer. Now imagine all that waste and pollution multiplied by 7 billion and counting. In the book “Principles of Environmental Science” it tells us that burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and modern farming account for nearly all of our carbon footprint in the past 50 years. The more people we have the more resources we need resulting in more pollution being created to get these resources, but the environment is not the only thing being destroyed.
b. Humans are not the only animals that inhabit the planet earth even though it may feel like it sometimes. The pollution and destruction we are causing from having so many people to the