The population of Latin America and the Caribbean has exploded over the last decades.  From 1950 to 1995, it increased from 179 million to 481 million.

Another important change in the population of the region is that it has rapidly moved to the urban areas.  In 1995, over 70% of the population of the region lived in cities.

Cities, especially massive ones such as Mexico City and São Paulo, can be disastrous for the environment in the local area.  Latin America now has seven cities with populations exceeding five million.

Urbanization has affected land usage, the level of natural resource depletion, and the creation of waste.

In many Latin American cities, huge amounts of waste are not treated before being released into the water supply.  Also, industrial processes that use chemicals are sometimes not required to clean these substances before disposing of them.

In addition to urbanization, people in the rural areas have expanded the land on which they live.  Agricultural expansion has been necessary to feed a rising population, and to provide crops for the export economy.

Also, many poorer farmers and groups of people were removed from their own land and pushed onto marginal land, and many of the increased number of people had to find new land.  Living on poorer land that should not have been used for farming often results in land degradation.

Future population growth may prove impossible.  The local environments are already being made unlivable, and resources are stretched thin.