Unit 3 - Human Population

• What is the Human Impact on Ecosystems?


  - Introduce new species

  - Removing Species

  - Introduce Parasites
• How does a J Curve form?


  A reduction in death rates (therefore people are living longer and there's a change in the Growth Rate)
• What are the 2 key reasons for a Change in Growth Rates


  1. Increased Longevity (life expectancy)

  2. Decreased Infant Mortality
• What is Crude Birth Rate and Crude Death Rate


  CBR - # of births per 1000 ppl in a given population in a year

  CDR - # of deaths per 1000 ppl in a given population in a year
• How do you calculate the Rate of Natural Increase?


  (CBR-CDR) divided by 10
• What factors affect the Crude Birth Rate? (REEADU)


  - Age people get married

  - Educational Levels (specifically women) (more in school, lower the birth rate)

  - Employment of women in the population (the more they're working, lower the birth rate)

  - Use of contraceptives

  - Desired number of children

  - Religious and Cultural beliefs
• What factors affect the Crude Death Rate? (VUSS)


  - State of medical practice

  - Use of pesticides (good because it kills bugs)

  - Sanitation

  - Vaccination and Antibiotics
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR)


  the average number of kids that a woman in a particular population will have during her lifetime
• Replacement Level Fertility (RLF)


  when a couple produces the exact number of kids needed to replace themselves

  - higher in LDCs
• Zero Population Growth (ZPG)

  Zero Population Growth (ZPG)
• Population Pyramids


  - Depict the distribution on the population between the sexes among different age groups

  - the columns are divided into 5 years cohorts so that the lowest bars represent the % of P which is between 0 and 5 years of age
• Carrying Capacity


  the number of individuals of a species that an ecosystem can support without damage to the ecosystem

  - Earth's carrying capacity: the number of humans the biosphere can support

  - Human carrying capacity depends on resource consumption
• Who studied population control?


  - Thomas Robert Malthus (1800ish) was a don (and a clergyman)AT Oxford University

  - He studied population and its effects on society and human happiness

  - Linked the consequences of population growth to its causes

  - Observed that humans are forced to increase their population by a very powerful instinct

  - realized that w/o checks on population growth, that would cause us to multiply out of control
• What did Thomas Robert Malthus think would limit food supply?


  - the finite amount of land available

  - the "arts" (we'd say science) of agriculture

  - the organization of land ownership
• Positive Checks vs Preventative Checks


  Malthus realize that not everyone would starve to death but there would be positive checks and preventative checks

  Positive Checks - were phenomena like war and disease

  Preventative Checks - include all those methods which might be use to LIMIT THE NUMBER OF BIRTHS

  Ex:

  - abstinence from intercourse

  - contraception

  - abortion

  - child sacrifice

  - moral restraint
• What do Neo-Malthusians argue?


  Argue that while the Malthus may have been wrong about the timeline and moral issues he was right, that you could have too many people on Earth

  There are only 2 solutions to the problem:

  1. A birth rate solution

  2. A death rate solution
• The Demographic Transition (population control strategy)


  - population would control itself as the benefits of economic development spread around the world

  Ex:

  - increase industry

  - Farming

  - More jobs

  - More wealth

  - Higher standard of living

  - more education

  - lower poverty and disease

  - people will decide to have fewer children
• Why won't demographic transition work for current LDC


  1. Not enough time

  (Finland took 200 years to get NI to 0) (LDCs don't have that kind of time)

  2. Economic Resources are lacking in most LDCs

  3. The rate of NI in LDCs are too high

  3. The fossil fuel supplies that helped drive the transitions in the MDCs are diminishing rapidly and becoming more expensive
• Family Planning Program (FPP)

  (population control strategy)


  - any method that helps a couple determine the number of kids they want or the spacing of their children

  - Contraception - the use of any chemical, mechanical device, or method. that can prevent fertilization of the female

  - Abortion - the termination of pregnancy

  - Sterilization - the permanent block of reproduction of an individual (can be male or female)

  - Education - health, reproduction, other
• What are the 3 Types of FPP?


  1. Voluntary Programs - try to provide education and contraception at a low cost but they allow the citizens to make their own decisions

  2. Extended Voluntary Programs - programs will have a higher level of encouragement from the government: handouts, concessions, and rewards for conforming behavior

  3. Forced FFP - governments make regulations about the number of children a couple may have, and strictly enforce them with rewards for compliance and punishment for violation
• Why didn't the Voluntary Program work in India? (NI doesn't = 0)


  - Education - 70% of the population is illiterate

  - Finance

  - Low Status of Women

  - 1971 program of mass sterilization

  - 1978 increased minimum ages for marriage

  - Replacement level fertility was reached in 2022
• Why was China successful in achieving a NI = 0?


  - used forced FFP

  - Had financial support

  - Family planning is part of school curriculums

  - Encourages the deferral of marriages

  - Easy free access to contraception, abortion, and sterilization

  - 1980 the 1 Urban and 2 Rural Child Policy was in effect
• What country is considered the "Middle Way" for FPP?


  Thailand because women were recruited as volunteers