Sunday, October 3, 2010

Key issue # 4: Why might the world face an overpopulation problem?

Answer: 
The rate at which global population grew during the second half of the 20th century was unprecedented in history. This was due to a dramatic decline in the death rate. Scientists believe that the current rate of natural increase must be further reduced to prevent overpopulation.

Summary:
Geographers observe that diverse conditions and environmental conditions may produce different answers in different places.

Malthus on Overpopulation:
He was one of the first to argue that the population is growing faster than the food supply, leading to a starvation pandemic. He thought that resources grew linear while population grew exponentially. His theory was proven incorrect because he never predicted that new technology would allow us to maintain a food supply that would sustain a growing population. Julian Simon believed that the human mind was the ultimate resource. Esther Boserup thought that population growth spurs technological innovations and that poverty is not caused by population growth.

Declining Birth Rates:
Even though the human population has grown at it's most rapid rate ever, world food production has consistently grown at a faster rate. the NIR declines due to lower birth rates or hight death rates. One way to lower the birth rate would be to improve local economic conditions. Another way would be to emphasize the importance of modern contraceptive methods.

Family Planning


World Health Threats:
Medical researchers have identified an epidemiological transition that focuses on distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition. This term comes from epidemiology, which is the branch of medical sciences concerned with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases. A pandemic is a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area  and affects a very large proportion of the population.

HIV/AIDS

Video: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM0ZkpwSCvY&feature=related

This video shows how Japan's overwhelming population has forced them to make use of every inch of land they have. For example, they are building very tall buildings right next to each other to save space. They will need to make more changes if they want to avoid overpopulation. Many women are already using family planning and contraceptives. This means that they will be able to reduce the number of children they have.  

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