Human Population Issues
EVPP 111
Dr. Largen
Human population issues
Many human problems exacerbated by rapid increase in population, including
hunger
resource depletion
environmental degradation
underdevelopment
poverty
urban problems
Human population issues
Total fertility rate
the average number of children born to each woman
factors that affect this rate
- cultural traditions
- social status of women
- economic status of women
- availability of family planning
Fertility and Culture
Culture and fertility
high total fertility rates are traditional in many cultures
- motivations for having many children vary from culture to culture
- overall, a major reason for high total fertility rates is to offset
- high infant and child mortality rates
Fertility and Culture
Culture and fertility
in order for a society to endure
- it must continue to produce enough children who survive to reproductive age
- if infant and child mortality rates are high
- total fertility rate must be high to compensate
Fertility and Culture
Culture and fertility
worldwide, on average, infant and child mortality rates have been decreasing
- there is and will continue to be a lag time
- for culturally imbedded fertility levels to decline
- parents must have sufficient confidence that the children they already have will survive before they stop having additional children
Fertility and Culture
Culture and fertility
in some countries, high total fertility rates are also due to
- important economic & societal roles of children, especially in many developing countries
- where children often work in family enterprises
- in developed nations, by contrast, children have less value as a source of labor
- because they attend school, society is more mechanized, care of elderly shared by society
Fertility and social and economic status of women
Fertility and social and economic status of women
in most societies, women do not have same rights, privileges or opportunities as men
- evidence is accumulating that single most important factor affecting high total fertility rates is the low status of women in many societies
factors affecting social and economic status of women
- marriage age
- educational opportunities
Fertility and social and economic status of women
factors affecting social and economic status of women
marriage age
- total fertility rate is affected by
- average age at which women marry
- which is determined by laws and customs of society
- varies from culture to culture
- but there is always a correlation between marriage age and fertility rate
- the younger the average age of marriage, the higher the total fertility rate
Fertility and social and economic status of women
factors affecting social and economic status of women
marriage age
- example from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
- in Sri Lanka, average age of marriage is 25, average number of children per women is 2.1, population doubling time is 60 years
- in Bangladesh, average age of marriage is 17, average number of children per woman is 3.3, population doubling time is 38 years
Fertility and social and economic status of women
factors affecting social & economic status of women
educational opportunities
- in nearly all societies, women with more education tend to marry later and have fewer children
- providing women with education opportunities delays first childbirth
- thereby reducing the number of "active" childbearing years, increasing time between generations
Fertility and social and economic status of women
factors affecting social & economic status of women
educational opportunities
- education opens door to greater career opportunities which often further delays first childbirth
- Figure 9.8 from text illustrates relationship between amount of education and number of children a women has, for US women age 35-44, from 1995
Fertility and social and economic status of women
factors affecting social & economic status of women
educational opportunities
- example from Botswana
- women with secondary education have an average of 3.1 children
- women with primary education have an average of 5.1 children
- women with no formal education have an average of 5.9 children
Fertility and social and economic status of women
factors affecting social & economic status of women
family planning services
- reduction in total fertility rate will not become a reality without
- the availability of health and family planning services
- greater contraceptive use among married women of reproductive age correlates with a lower fertility rate (see Figure 9.9 in text)
Fertility and social and economic status of women
factors affecting social & economic status of women
family planning policies
- governments in at least 78 developing countries, in recent years, have established policies to help help limit population growth, including
- economics rewards and penalties
- laws
Population impacts on resources
There is a discrepancy between individual resource demands between developing and developed nations
in developing nations
- individual resource demands are small
- but rapidly increasing populations deplete natural resources
in developed nations
- individual resource demands are large
- and this demand depletes natural resources
Population impacts on resources
Effects of overpopulation on
nonrenewable resources
- are present in limited quantities and are depleted by use
- are used/depleted faster than they can be replenished
- slowing population growth would give more time to find substitutes for nonrenewwable resources
- people in US and other developed nations consume the majority of the world’s nonrenewable resources
Population impacts on resources
Effects of overpopulation on
renewable resources
- are replaced by nature, fairly "rapidly"
- can be used forever as long as they are not exploited in the short term
- rapid population growth can cause renewable resources to be overexploited
- renewable resources must be used in a sustainable way that gives them time to replace or replenish themselves
Population impacts on resources
Effects of population growth on natural resources
particularly critical in developing nations
economic growth of developing nations is often tied to the exploitation of their own natural resources
- to provide for their expanding populations in the short term
Population impacts on resources
Effects of population growth on natural resources
resources issues are clearly related to population size
- more people use more resources
resource consumption is an even more important issue
- this is a measure of the human use of materials and energy
- people in developed nations are extravagant consumers
- their use of resources is greatly out of proportion to their numbers
Population impacts on resources
Effects of population growth on natural resources
people in developed nations are extravagant consumers
- their use of resources is greatly out of proportion to their numbers
- highly developed nations represent ~20% of world’s population
- yet they consume >1/2 of its resources
Population impacts on resources
Overpopulation
a country is overpopulated if the level of demand on its resource base results in damage to the environment
a country can be overpopulated in two ways
- people overpopulation
- consumption overpopulation
Population impacts on resources
people overpopulation
occurs when the environment is worsening from too many people
- even is those people consume few resources per person
consumption overpopulation
occurs when each individual in a population consumes too large a share of resource
effects of both are the same
pollution and degradation of the environment
Population impacts on resources
A simple model of human impacts on the environment
three factors most important in determining environmental impact (I)
- number of people (P)
- affluence per person (A)
- a measure of consumption or amount of resources used per person
- environmental effects of technologies (T) used to obtain and consume the resources
I = P x A x T
Population impacts on resources
A simple model of human impacts on the environment
I = P x A x T
- model expressed by this equation can be useful
- but must be interpreted with care
- because we often do not understand al the environmental impacts of certain actions of processes
Population and urbanization
Geographical distribution of people affects impact of population growth
throughout recent history, people have increasingly migrated to cities
urbanization
- the process in which people increasingly move from rural areas to densely populated cities
- also involves the transformation of rural areas into urban areas
Population and urbanization
Geographical distribution of people affects the impact of population growth
a distinction between rural and urban areas
- not just how many people live in the area
- but how the people make their living
- in rural areas
- most people have occupations that involve harvesting natural resources
- in urban areas
- most people have occupations that are not directly connected with natural resources
Population and economic development
Demographic transition
a hypothesis of population change
based on examination of birth and death rates of western European countries that industrialized during the 19th century
states that
- as countries become industrialized
- first their death rates and then their birth rates decline
Population and economic development
Demographic transition
takes place in four distinct stages
- pre-industrial stage
- transitional stage
- industrial stage
- postindustrial stage
Population and economic development
Demographic transition
pre-industrial stage
- little population growth
- harsh living conditions lead to both
- high birth rates
- to compensate for high infant mortality rates
- high death rates
Population and economic development
Demographic transition
transitional stage
- population grows rapidly
- because with advent of industrialization
- food production increases
- health care improves
- death rate decreases
- birth rate remains unchanged
Population and economic development
Demographic transition
industrial stage
- population growth continues
- but at slower and more fluctuating rate depending on economic conditions
- birth rate drops and approaches death rate
- as industrialization and modernization become more widespread
- most developed nations are in this stage
Population and economic development
Demographic transition
postindustrial stage
- total population size decreases slowly
- birth rate declines below death rate
- 35 countries, most in Europe, containing about 13% of world’s population have entered this stage