World Population Essay Research Paper World population

World Population Essay, Research Paper

World population, which reached 5.4 billion in mid-1991, is growing faster than

ever before: three people every second, more than 250,000 every day. At the beginning of

the decade (1991) the annual addition was 93 million; by the end (1998) it will approach

100 million. At this rate the world will have almost a billion more people (roughly the

population of China) by the year 2001.

Population and development are closely aligned. In Population: A Megalopolis is

Born, Melvyn Weslake sees these factors as being inextricably linked and having an

immeasurable impact on the future of this planet. He stated:

World Population will increase each year during the 1990 s by the equivalent of

Mexico s. This growth, which is overwhelming in the South, poses a threat to the

environment and stable development.

But what does this dynamic rate of growth really mean. Can we visualize its

impact. What can be done to impede its rate of growth/or reduce the fallout. And what is

being done.

Implications

The Brundtland Commission (1987) suggests the population is about not just

numbers of people, but how those numbers relate to available resources. The Commission

concluded that sustainable development could only be pursued if demographic

developments are in harmony with the changing productive potential of the ecosystem.

This question of balance is seen at the root of the problem. The capacity to

support a rapidly growing world population is thought to be clearly insufficient. This

despite advance in productivity made through developments in technology, most notably

the Green Revolution .

The truth may be that the prophecies of some visionaries may be more realistic

than we would like to believe:

h

h The Malthusian vision sees population growth ultimately overwhelming the food supply (unless checked by rising death rates brought on by famine, pestilence, disease, or war), and

h Garrett Hardin s dire parable in The Tragedy of the Commons demonstrates how social values and over-population can contribute to the degradation of the physical environment (Science, 1968).

What Drives Population Growth.

Modern demographers make projections about the growth of the human species in

much the same way that our friend Thomas Malthus did in the early 19th century,

but with some significant differences. Today, projections are based on sound

census data. And we now calculate population growth in the millions with

medium variants of absolute population for the 21st century in the billions.

The science of demographics has clarified population growth into understandable

components. The basic elements are:

h Birth and death

h Life expectancy, and

h Fertility (fecundity)

While these in turn determine:

h Growth rates

h The age distribution of the population, and

h The absolute population size.

These factors are useful for understanding what drives growth and for targeting

programs for population control. However, when demographic projections are

tied to impact, more meaningful information results. It is only when we relate

population data to a particular context can we appreciate its importance on future

and global development.

Now I ll briefly talk about population growth in the developing world, placing it

in the context of environmental sustainability, economic development and the

urban challenge.

The Developing World

The rate of population growth in the developing world is a very real concern and

will have repercussions long into the future. The population of developing

countries has more than doubled in 35 years, increasing from 1.7 billion in 1950

to 4.1 billion in 1990. By the year 2000, it will grow to nearly 5 billion (out of an

expected world total of 6.26 billion).

This means that as much as 97 percent of global population growth is

projected to take place in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America

between now and the year 2020-within countries least able to absorb growing

numbers of people.

Cynthia Green found that consumption patterns and preferences are as

important as numbers of consumers. (The Environmental and Population Growth:

Decade for Action). Both Green and the Commission point to the developed

world as a larger threat to our world in the near and medium future than

population growth.

Environmental Sustainability

Cynthia Green had identified how pressure exerted by expanding population (and

their economic behavior) impact on the environment of developing countries. The

overall result is characterized by serious resource depletion. She found that the

pressure to grow more food and cash crops led to clearing the land that resulted in

degradation, loss of top soil, erosion, desertification, as well as, atmospheric and

climate change. She also concluded

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