Human Populations

A Brief History Human’s ability to learn, communicate, make tools and control fire enabled invasions of environments not previously inhabitable to their earlier ancestors.

Hunter-Gatherers Nomadic wandering lifestyles of hunter- gatherers with no permanent residence placed biological and social restrictions on average family sizes. Birth-rate low Death-rate high Small numbers...

Agricultural Revolution Intentional planting of seeds had profound effect on human history as humans discovered that certain plants and animals were ideally suited for cultivation and domestication. Larger families were now possible due to agricultural practices. These activities could support larger population densities

Intellectual Revolution Not all humans needed to cultivate, leaving them to become specialized artisans, scholars and merchants This lead to... The establishment of political organizations Major advances in technology Rapid growth in population...spreading across the globe and displacing indigenous people...brought plants, animals, guns, steel & diseases with them.

Impact of Disease Many epidemic diseases evolved where population densities were high...spread around the world as populations increased. Example...14th Century Black Death (bubonic plague...bacteria Yersinia pestis)

Impact of Science and Medicine 17th century... Science-based knowledge and technology became major influences in factors in European societies.

Industrial Revolution Populations became increasingly urbanized Increase in food production = less farming needed Vaccines, medicine, sanitation!!

Consequences? These changes allowed humans to avoid the natural limits to growth that had existed for years. The result was a dramatic decline in death rates and a rapidly growing human population.

History of Human Pop Growth! YEARS ELAPSED YEARS HUMAN POPULATION 3,000,000 10,000 B.C.E. (Agricultural Revolution) 5-10 Million 10,000 1 A.D. 250 Million 1,800 1800 (Industrial Revolution) 1 Billion 130 1930 2 Billion 30 1960 3 Billion 15 1975 4 Billion 12 1987 5 Billion 1999 6 Billion 13 2012* 7 Billion 2025* 8 Billion

Visuals!! Population Connection...World population video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_9SutNmfFk Earth Apple of our Eye Demo...usable land and water!...Eco-Footprint World Population Clock http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html Homework P.704 1, 2, 4, 5