Transcript Sustainability:

Sustainability:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world_maps/world_rel_803005AI_2003.jpg
Global Population – History, Changes, Areas
of Crisis, Causes, and the Future
Global Population:
Global
population is
exponentially
increasing:
• 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 1800s, soap
use greatly increased.
- By the mid to late 1800s,
municipal sanitation systems
were much more common.
- Improved sanitation results
For example, in
in fewer people
dying from
the 1860s,
infectious diseases.
London built an
extensive sewer
system.
http://www.knowitall.org/techteam/teams/marion/websites
/cherry/Images/soap.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/sevenwonders/lo
ndon/i/man_made/sewer302.jpg
What are some of the reasons that the world’s
population has increased so much?
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/figure65.gif
3. Agricultural Changes: Increased use
- Greatly increased crop
production per acre from
the mid 1940s to early
1980s.
- 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
equipment
puts plants at
allowed
great for
risk for
greater
crop
death
from
density
diseases 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.
sustainable and are
increasing in cost.
http://agronomyday.cropsci.uiuc.edu/2003/liquid_
manure/robert-fig-1.gif
http://www.tox.ncsu.edu/photos/spray_groundrig_resize.jpg
http://www.precisiongps.com/images/Manure%20Pics/c
orn%20field.jpg
Changes in population continued…
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-1a.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/globalchange2/current/lectures/human_pop/human_pop.html
Uneven distribution of population…
In most
developing
countries,
women are
2nd 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/mod12/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_chapter1.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/vol3n2/reprod-fig1.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/sowc05/english/map3.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_img0425.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/0506feature_diagram2.jpg
Population Density:
Current World
Population is
nearly 6.9 billion
people
earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/61