This paper consists of three parts. The starting position of the first part is that technical and technological modernization, in addition to the undoubted benefits, also brings some problems that result in a long-term ecological crisis. One of the key social and environmental problems based on modernization is the issue of the dramatic proportions of rapid population growth in the last few decades. The second part of the paper deals with the problems that follow from rapid population growth, such as preserving the quality of life and environmental quality, as well as the issue of sustainable development. It is pointed out that the growing population rapidly endangers the planet's key resources (deforestation, water, air, and soil pollution, etc.) and that the survival of the human species is at stake. Special attention is paid to the violation of the existing water supplies, which directly threatens the health and physiological survival of people, especially in the big cities of underdeveloped countries. The third part of the paper shows that, among other things, it is essential to develop adequate environmental awareness (ecocentrism), which should encourage both the politically powerful and ordinary people to change their habits and to devote more attention to the preservation of the environment.