Human Population Growth

1
Human Population Growth
The two worlds
2
The two worlds
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
High Gross National Product
High per-capita GNP
STATS
21 of global pop.
Holds 85 of global wealth
Use 88 of global resources
Generate 75 of global pollution
3
The two worlds
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Low Gross National Product
Very low per-capita GNP
STATS
79 of global pop.
Holds 15 of global wealth
Little industrialization
4
Trends in global wealth
1 in 5 people live in luxury
3 in 5 people "get by"
1 in 5 people live in dire poverty
How is the distribution of wealth changing?
5
Calculating environ. impacts
A differs in developed and developing countries
T ? by some technology (e.g., burning coal) T ?
by some technology (e.g., solar power)
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P x A x T Environ. Impact
Magnitude width of circle
Developing nations

x
x
number of resource units used per person
Env. impact per resource unit used
Number of people
Env. impact of population

x
x
Developed nations
7
U.S. Consumption
8
Where are populations increasing?
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Geography and growth
Figure 5.3c
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Age structure diagrams
Figure 5.9
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Population increases
Rapid increases in population in 20th century
Growth rate births - deaths
Growth increased by ? births or ? deaths
So which caused the recent increase in
population?
12
Developed countries
Natural rate of increase
Birth rate-death rate
Both rates decline in 20th century
Rate of increase stable
13
Developing countries
Natural rate of increase
Death rates decline sharply
Birth rates do not follow
Rate of increase skyrockets
14
Why the drop in death rates?
Improvements in sanitation reduce incidence of
disease
Industrialized agriculture gives higher yields,
better nutrition
Antibiotics and better medicine reduce death rates
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Figure 5.8
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What influences birth rates?
FACTORS THAT AFFECT FERTILITY RATES
Education and affluence
Cost of children
Urbanization
State pensions
Infant mortality
Female education and employment
Availability to birth control
Women's age at marriage
Importance of child labor
How will each of these factors affect birth
rates?
17
Differences in Some of These
18
Measuring fertility rates
REPLACEMENT LEVEL FERTILITY
19
Figure 5.11
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Figure 5.6
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Slowing population growth
Increased access to birth control
Increased opportunities for women
Economic incentives to reduce family size
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Indigenous People

• 6000 cultures in the world 5000 are indigenous
• Account for about 10 of worlds population
• Over half of their languages are endangered
• Still living off of the land -gt poorer less
  economic and political power

23
IP and the Environment
Living off of the land means that these groups
are more susceptible to environmental damage
Lack of political and economic power prevents
them from stopping damage
Book states greater understanding of natures is
encoded in thelanguages, customs, and practices
of native people than is storedin all of the
libraries of modern science.
Is this true? What evidence is presented to back
this up?
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IP and Environmental Damage
Oftentimes, indigenous people suffer the
consequences of environmental damage wrought by
outsiders Sometimes, their native practices harm
the environment because of the increase in
population
Slash and burn farming inIndonesia
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Environmental Perspectives

• Pessimism and Outrage - Were all going to die
• Hopeful Optimism - The Sun is always going to
  shine
• Pragmatic Realism - We can make it if we try

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Valuing the Environment

• Utilitarian - nature can be used for economic
  benefitEx. Timber industry needs to have trees
• Ecological - nature sustains us, and we need to
  sustain itEx. Rainforest support a diverse set
  of species need to save it
• Aesthetic - nature is beautiful Ex. Grand Canyon
• Moral - all life has a right to existEx.
  Humpback whales