What Is OVERCONSUMPTION? OVERCONSUMPTION Definition & Meaning
Channel: Audiopedia
Date: 19/12/2018

What is OVERCONSUMPTION, What does OVERCONSUMPTION mean, OVERCONSUMPTION meaning, OVERCONSUMPTION definition, OVERCONSUMPTION explanation

Overconsumption is a situation where resource use has outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem. A prolonged pattern of overconsumption leads to environmental degradation and the eventual loss of resource bases.

Generally, the discussion of overconsumption parallels that of human overpopulation;[1] that is the more people, the more consumption of raw materials takes place to sustain their lives. But, humanity's overall impact on the planet is affected by many factors besides the raw number of people. Their lifestyle (including overall affluence and resource utilization) and the pollution they generate (including carbon footprint) are equally important. Currently, the inhabitants of the developed nations of the world consume resources at a rate almost 32 times greater than those of the developing world, who make up the majority of the human population (7.4 billion people).[2]

However, the developing world is a growing market of consumption. These nations are quickly gaining more purchasing power and it is expected that the Global South, which includes cities in Asia, Latin America and Africa, will account for 56% of consumption growth by 2030.[3] This means that consumption rates will plateau for the developed nations and shift more into these developing countries.

The theory of overpopulation reflects issues of carrying capacity without taking into account per capita consumption, by which developing nations are evaluated to consume more than their land can support. It is expected that world population growth will increase by 41% from 2000 to 2050, reaching a height of 8.9 billion people. On top of the rapid growth expectancy, it will be highly concentrated in the developing nations. This poses issues with inequality of consumption as well. The nations that will come into consumer dominance must abstain from abusing certain forms of consumption, especially energy consumption of CO2.[4] Green parties and the ecology movement often argue that consumption per person, or ecological footprint, is typically lower in poor than in rich nations.
Source: Wikipedia.org