Sustainability http www lib utexas edumapsworldrel803005 AI2003 jpg
Sustainability: http: //www. lib. utexas. edu/maps/world_rel_803005 AI_2003. jpg Global Population – History, Changes, Areas of Crisis, Causes, and the Future
Global population is exponentially increasing: Global Population: • What does that mean? Exponential growth means that it takes fewer and fewer years for the population to grow by the same amount. http: //www. worldpopulationbalance. org/images/exponential. gif
History of Population Growth: 1. Sanitation Improvements: - In the early 1800 s, soap use greatly increased. - By the mid to late 1800 s, municipal sanitation systems were much more common. - Improved sanitation results For example, in in fewer people dying from the 1860 s, infectious diseases. London built an extensive sewer system. http: //www. bbc. co. uk/england/sevenwonders/lo ndon/i/man_made/sewer 302. jpg What are some of the reasons that the world’s population has increased so much? http: //www. knowitall. org/techteam/teams/marion/websites/ cherry/Images/soap. jpg Before municipal sewer systems, many communities dumped their sewage into nearby rivers (where their drinking water also came from) or even directly into centers of streets (where it drained to nearby water sources)!
Changes in population continued… 2. Medical Improvements: - Improving sanitation practices in the medical community - New medicines – particularly antibiotics and vaccinations - These improvements have resulted in fewer infant and children deaths as well as a longer average lifespan around most of the world. Before improvements in sanitary conditions in hospitals, people were very likely to die from other infectious diseases transmitted there. http: //www. biotechnologyonline. gov. au/images/co ntentpages/antibiotics. jpg Before antibiotics, minor infections could easily kill people. http: //www. rrojasdatabank. org/figure 65. gif
3. Agricultural Changes: Increased use - Greatly increased crop production per acre from the mid 1940 s to early 1980 s. - Crop production is no longer increasing – there are problems with soil, water and plant diseases using current farming practices. - Overall, many more people are fed on smaller pieces of farmland compared to 100 years ago. of pesticides Large-scale and fertilizers homogenous as well as new agriculture puts equipment plants at great allowed fordeath risk for greater fromcrop diseases density and pests. For example, today the Manyof fertilizers are average acre agriculture in themade U. S. from is and so producing 5 -6 petroleum times more not really food than it did are in 1940. http: //www. tox. ncsu. edu/photos/spray_groundrig_resize. jpg http: //www. precisiongps. com/images/Manure%20 Pics/c orn%20 field. jpg Changes in population continued… sustainable and are increasing in cost. http: //agronomyday. cropsci. uiuc. edu/2003/liquid_ manure/robert-fig-1. gif
Changes in population continued… • Worldwide – child mortality is much lower and life expectancy is much greater than in the past. • However, not all parts of the world have low mortality or long life expectancy.
The World’s population is unevenly distributed. http: //www. fi. edu/guide/hughes/images/pop-1 a. jpg
Uneven distribution of population: Developing countries are experiencing considerably faster population increases compared to developed countries. Developing Countries have a greater fertility rate for women http: //www. globalchange. umich. edu/globalchange 2/current/lectures/human_pop. html
Uneven distribution of population… In most developing countries, women are 2 nd class citizens. Women’s disadvantage begins immediately: • Boys get more food than girls. • Boys are many times more likely to get medical care than girls. Strong connection Women do not have the between same opportunities as education and men in: fertility • Health care – when women • have Education educational (and employment) • Employment opportunities, • Legal rights they have fewer children. • Boys have much greater chance of attending school. • As a result, women must find economic security through marriage. • Once married, women need at least one son (and, ideally more) to provide for future security. http: //www. unesco. org/education/tlsf/TLSF/theme_c/mod 12/img/fig_femlit_sml. gif http: //www. ablueplanet. org/images/terra. jpg
http: //www. who. int/reproductive-health/publications/health_benefits_family_planning/FPP_95_11_chapter 1. en. html Uneven distribution of population… More than 500, 000 women die every year from pregnancy or childbirth: Vastly differing access to family planning and birth control options in the developed and developing world. - Primarily in developing countries - Often associated with poor health and very little time between pregnancies - Women (and couples) in developing countries often have no access to birth control even when they want it http: //www. ispub. com/xml/journals/ijh/vol 3 n 2/reprod-fig 1. jpg
http: //www. worldwater. org/drinkwat. gif Why is increasing population such a concern? Human suffering: • Poverty: 3 billion people worldwide live in extreme poverty (on less than $2/day). • Sanitation: More than 1 billion people do not have access to clean (and safe) drinking water.
The concern of increasing population… Human Suffering: • Hunger and malnourishment: Thousands of children die everyday from lack of food and poor nutrition. • War: Many conflicts worldwide are directly or indirectly caused by too many people wanting a limited number of local resources. Millions of people are forced to become refuges every year. http: //www. unicef. org/sowc 05/english/map 3. html
The concern of increasing population… Environmental Damage: • Pollution of soil, water and air: Areas under strain from higher populations often have poor land, water and air quality. • Few environmental protection plans exist in developing countries. http: //www. waterencyclopedia. com/images/wsci_03_img 0425. jpg
The concern of increasing population… High population does not mean high consumption: • The majority of the World’s population lives in developing countries. • However, the majority of the World’s resources are consumed in developed countries. • As developing countries gain technology and industrialization, their citizens will begin (and are beginning) to use more resources. Projected Coal Plants: http: //www. naturalhistorymag. com/0506/images/0506 feature_diagram 2. jpg
Population Density: Current World Population is nearly 6. 9 billion people earthtrends. wri. org/updates/node/61
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