Transcript Population Growth and Change

 Population
distribution: refers to the
way people are spread over the earth
surface; the pattern where people live
in an area.
 Ecumene:
is use to describe
permanently inhabited/populated
places.
 About
30% of the land is not good for
human settlement.
› Over half of the world’s population
lives on only 5% of the land, and 90%
of people live on 20% of the land.
› Two-thirds of people live within
500km of the ocean.
 Population
density: describes the
number of people in a given area.
› This figure is calculated by dividing
the total population of a region by
the area of the region.
2007
 World
Population Distribution
› Dependent on the GEOGRAPHY!
 The
most densely populated areas are
north of the equator:
› Europe + Asia
 Relationship
to Landforms:
› Lowland areas - are the most heavily
populated (coastlines and river valleys in,
for example, India, China, and Egypt).
› Highland areas - sparsely populated,
rugged and cold, exceptions being in
Switzerland, Japan, Java and the
Philippines.
 Relationship
to Climate:
› Very low populations in extremely cold and
dry regions, some exceptions being Israel
(irrigation) and Kuwait (oil wealth).
 Crude
densities: shows how much one
area can accommodate in terms of
population.
 Population
density = the population of
an area is not always accurate.
• Example: Canada  most of the
population lives in a small area  not a
lot of population live in large areas 
population concentrated in cities.
 Nutritional
densities: how much nutrition
(in calories) can be produced from the
land.
• Areas with good soil, adequate
temperature, and rain for plants to grow
have a higher nutritional density.
• In the developing world, nutritional density
is low.
Millions
1950
2000
2015
36
34
21
17
11
23
18
12
8
London Tokyo
New
York
Sao Mexico Tokyo
Paulo City
Delhi Mumbai Tokyo
(Bombay)
Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision (medium scenario), 2004.
Percent Population Change, 2005-2050
Source: Population Reference Bureau, 2005 World Population Data Sheet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdlK
Vfk7_iQ&feature=related
Can
the population of the
world be fed?
 There
are two main schools of thought
(views/theories) on global population
growth:
 Pessimistic
(Malthusian): there are not
enough resources for such a large
and growing population.
 Optimistic
(Cornucopian): we will find
ways to solve the world’s population
growth problems.
 Many
theorists base their views on the
carrying capacity of our planet.
 Carrying
means:
capacity of the world
› The maximum number of people our
world can possibility support based
on resources such as food and
water.
 Do
you think the capacity of the
earth be changed or is it fixed
(unalterable)?
 Can
the earth support more than
12 billion people?
 Why or why not?
 In
An Essay on the Principals
of Population (1798), Thomas
Malthus (a Malthusian)
argued that the world’s
population will continue to
increase until there is no
longer enough food to
support more people.
 Once
that happens, future
population growth will be
curtailed by famine and
starvation = death.
 Malthus’s
view suggests that
the Earth has a fixed carrying
capacity = only so much
food can be grown and the
maximum world population
cannot change.
Malthus agreed that humanity was capable of
increasing its productivity, but believed that
population growth would necessarily outpace
this increase.
 Is
Malthus a Pessimist or an
Optimist when it comes to
population growth?
 In
The Conditions of
Agricultural Growth (1965),
Danish economist Esther
Boserup (a Cornucopian)
argued that population
growth leads to new
innovations in agriculture,
which in turn allow more
food to be grown.
 When
more food is grown,
the maximum population
that can be supported
increases.
 Her
theory can be summed
up as: “Necessity is the
mother of invention."
 Boserup,
is not naïve to think
that population growth can
go on forever; but, unlike
Malthus, she does believe
the carrying capacity of our
planet can be increased =
innovations make it
sustainable for a growing
population.
This graph shows how the rate of food supply may
vary but never reaches its carrying capacity
because every time it is getting near, there is an
invention or development that causes the food
supply to increase.
 Is
Boserup a Pessimist or an
Optimist when it comes to
population growth?
 Both
of these theories show that there
is always going to be population
growth but the questions is how will it
be kept in check?
 How
will the production of resources
keep up and how will technology
cope?
 Spend
a
minute in a
Test Tube
with David
Suzuki (a
Realist):

https://www.you
tube.com/watch
?v=8x98KFcMJeo

http://testtube.nf
b.ca/#/testtube
 What
is Suzuki saying about
humans and the planet; about
population growth?
 Is
he a Pessimist or Optimist or
something else/something inbetween or outside of these
categories?
 Suzuki
is saying that humans, our
population growth, and our
relationship with the planet is not
balanced.
 That
all we think about is growing
without understanding how many
resources we have or do not have;
that science will save all of us.
 Suzuki
is saying that the earth’s carry
capacity is fixed and finite and that
there are no other earth’s (that we
know of) to move to so we better
learn how to live in connection/in a
relationship with/respect our
environment or goodbye humans.
 We
can use our ingenuity but it has to
respect the environment.
 He
 He
is neither a Pessimist or
Optimist.
is a bit of both = a Realist.
 Aboriginal
world views/perspectives of
the land and the earth as a whole
also emphasize balance and respect.
A
deep and genuine relationship with
the Earth has long been a central
tenet of First Nations worldviews and
philosophy.
 First
Nations, Inuit, and Métis people
truly connected with the Earth as their
Mother = the natural world is
considered home, and the rightful
stance to take upon her is a
respectful, interconnected one of
stewardship, sustainability and
gratitude.
 Earth
gives birth to, nurtures and
sustains all life = it provides us with our
food and clean water sources and
bestows us with materials for our
homes, clothes and tools.
 Earth
provides all life with raw
materials for our industry, ingenuity
and progress.
 It
is the basis of who we are as “real
human beings” and we have to be
caretakers of the Earth and realize
and respect its gifts of water, air and
fire.
 What
do you think now about
population growth? Explain.
 How
will we (or will we) be able to
live from now on? That is, what
changes should we or do we
have to make?