Chapter 7 Human Population

7.1 Population growth

2013- world pop was 7.2 billion, growing @ 1.13% pery year
o Adding nearly 80 million ppl per year
Overpopulation cause/causing resource depletion & enviro degradation
o Lead to demand worldwide birth control program to reduce fertility rates &
stabilize or shrink amount of humans
Others believe tech can increase carrying capacity & fix all problems
1. Human pop grew slowly until relatively recently
Larger & more secure food supply = agricultural revolution = human pop grow
For thousands of yrs human pop increased slowly
Until middle age = human pop in check by disease, famine, wars
Early society regulate by abstinence & infanticide
Bubonic plague killed off a lot of people
Figures 7.1 & 7.3 (pg. 136)
Human population increase after `1600 c.e

Agriculture development, better power source, better health care &

hygiene = increase pop

7.2 Perspectives on pop growth

1. Does environment or culture control human population

Thomas Malthus (1798)

Resource
depletion,
Excess pop growth pollution,
overcrowding,
unemployment

Starvation
disease crime
misery

WAR

Poverty

Pop increased while food production

Growing population stops growing

remained same or increased slowly

when disease or famine kills many or

constraining social conditions (late
marriage, moral restraint, etc) =
compel others to REDUCE birth rates

Karl Marx ( 1818- 1883)

Exploitation
oppression

Poverty

Resource depletion
pollution
overcrowding
unemployment

Excess pop growth

Starvation
crime
disease
misery

War

Pop growth resulted from poverty, resource depletion & other social ills
Slow pop growth = ppl be treated justly & exploitation & oppression eliminated from social
arrangements

Max earth capacity estimated @ 10-12 billion = current day we are increasing fast
Many agree with Marx that when we improve social conditions & education levels =
stabilize populations humanely
o P.o.v = earth bountiful with resources BUT poverty & high birth rates result from
oppressive social relationship that distribute unevenly wealth & resources (tech,
edu, social conditions = pop control)

2. Tech increase carrying capacity for humans

Optimist say Malthus wrong b/c didnt account for tech and science advances
Tech advances increased human carrying capacity so far
200 yrs ago = pop boom bc science and industrial revolution
Much of growth basedo n easily acquired natural resources
I=PAT formula : our enviornemental impacts (I) times affluence (A) and the
technology (T) used to produce goods and services we consume
Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology
Ex) family living on affluent lifestyle, that depends on higher levels
of energy and material consumption & produces excessive amounts
of pollution could cause greater enviro damage > than whole
village of hunters and gatherers or substinence farmers
3. Pop growth could bring benefits
More people = larger market = more goods = more workers, jobs, etc

Pop growth = worsen pollution, unemployment, crowdling, loss of species &

resource limitations ( Julian Simon economist thought)

7.3 Many factors determine pop growth

1. How many of us are there?

7.2 billion people in 2013

cencus can be lie made by government from diff countries
two very diff demographic worlsd
o old, rich and relatively stable
o young, poor and growing rapidly
asia, Africa, latin = 80% of world pop
GROWTH RATES ALL AROUND

2. Fertility rates falling in many countries

Crude birth rate : # of births in a year per thousands persons

Total fertility rate: # of children born to an av woman in pop during her entire
reproductive life
zero population growth (ZPG): occurs when births plus immigration in a population just
equal deaths plus emigration
o takes several generations of replacement level fertility to reach ZPG
population momentum: potential for increased pop growth as young members reach
reproductive age

3. Mortality offsets birthrates

crude death rates: # of deaths per thousand persons in any given year
o # of deaths in a pop is sensitive to the age structure of pop (young to old ratio)
natural increase: crude death rate subtracted from crude birth rate
total growth rate: immigration/emigration & birth/death
o death rates expressed as percentage
o rule of thumb: divide 70 by annual percentage growth & you get the approx. doubling
time in years

4. Life span and life expectancy describe our potential longevity

life expectancy: avg age newborn can expect to attain in a given society
o declining mortality not riding fertility = primary cause for pop growth in past 300 yrs

5. Living longer has demographic implications

country with stable population has nearly the same number in each age cohort
dependency ratio: the # of nonworking compared to working individuals in a population

6. Emigration and immigration are important demographic factor

800,000 US legally
2013 = 27.2 million refugees left country bc religious , political, economic reasons 26.4 milion
displaced 175million migrants left looking for work
migrant workers = paid low wages, substandard housing, poor working conditions & few rights

7. Many factors increase our desire for children

pronatalist pressures: factors that increase peoples desires to have babies

o infant mortality high = have mant children to make sure some survive to take care of them
when elder
o desire for children > no access to contraceptives = reason for pop growth

8. Other factors discourage reproduction

higher education & personal freedom for women = less kids

o EDUCATION & SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Cost of raising a child = high in US & low in developing countries

7.4 A demographic transition can lead to stable population size

Demographic transition: pattern o falling death rates & birth rates due to improved living
conditions
1. Economic & social development influence birth and death rates
Good economic resources, medicine = lower death rates
Realize children survive = having less children
Pop still grow in stage 3 because pop momentum (baby boom)
o Stage 1: premodern society = food shortages, malnutrition, lack of sanitation and
medicine, accidents, etc.
Death rates 35 in 1000 people
Birth rates high to keep pop density relatively constant
o Stage 2: economic development, better jobs, medical care, sanitation, better living
standards = death rates decrease rapidly
Birth rates increase because more money and better nutrition = kids survive
o Stage 3: mature industrial economy = birth rates decrease because kids surive =
have less still baby boom
o Stage 4: developed countries transition complete = birth and death rates low
pop is in equilibrium

2. Reasons to be optimistic about population

Four conditions necessary for demographic transition
o 1. Improved standard living
o 2. Increase confidence that kids survive to maturity
o 3. Improved social status of women
o 4. Increased availability and use of birth control
world pop SHOULD stabilize sometime in next century
Factors contribute to stabilize pop
o Reduce need for large families bc grouwing prosperity and social reforms that
accompany development
o Tech available = bring advances to developing nations = rate of tech transfer is
faster
o Less developed countries have historic patterns to follow an can benefit from OUR
mistakes
o Modern communications = revolution of rising expecttions caused = act as stimulus
to spur change and development

3. Many people remain pessimistic about pop growth

Economist Lester Brown poorer countries caught in demographic trap that prevents
them from escaping middle phase of demographic transition
Resulting resource shortages: may prevent these countries from completing modernization
Many people argue that to break out of demographic trap = immediately and drastically
reduce pop growth by necessary means
4. Social justice = important consideration
Social justices: fair share of social benefits for everyone
o Real key to successful demographic transitions
WORLD HAS ENOUGH RESOURCES FOR EVERYONE BY INEQUITABLE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS CAUSE MALDISTRIBUTIONS OF THOSE RESOURCES
5. Womens rights affect fertility
Opportunity for education and paying jobs
Best way to improve child survival = ensure rights of mothers
6. Family planning gives us choices
Family planning = allows couples to determined the number and spacing of their children
parents control THEIR reproductive lives and number of kids
Birth control: any method used to reduce births, including abstinence, delayed marriage &
contraceptives, methods that prevent implantation of embryos and induced abortions