Human population growth

• Biodiversity is a measure of how many different species live in an ecosystem
• Human activities like changing land use, deforestation, and peat bog destruction reduce biodiversity
• • Possible scenarios for the future include continued increase, resource depletion leading to a stable population, or a significant population crash
  • Historical events like plagues have caused rapid declines in population
  • As the population grows, pollution production also increases, leading to potential issues
• Human population growth:

  • The number of people alive now is at a record level and is increasing
  • In 2012, the human population exceeded seven billion for the first time
  • Each year about 75 million more people are born than die, known as the net increase
  • Graphs of human population growth show an exponential increase
  • Reasons for population growth include better healthcare, new medicines, increased food production, and some religions not permitting contraception
  • Uncertainty exists regarding whether the population increase will continue indefinitely