Chapter 9 – It Is Not Food Versus Population
I. Reverend Thomas Malthus on population (1803) A. Predicted that population would grow geometrically (exponentially) B. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 C. Humans would not be able to control their own population
D. Predicted that food supply could only increase arithmetically (linearly) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Famine would be the ultimate check on world population.
E. Food production has increased even faster than population 1. Food production per capita has increased dramatically over the past 35 years a. 1961: calories per capita per day = 2,235 b. 1995: calories per capita per day = 2,712
II. Population began to increase rapidly around 6000 to 8000 B.C. after agriculture replaced hunting and gathering as the major method of obtaining food
A. Population Growth
1. Rate of population growth peaked at 2% per year in 1965 and has declined to 1.3% today (Figure 9.6-p.139) a. Rapid population growth in the present implies continued population growth in the future even if the current population reduces the number of children it has to replacement levels (2 children per woman)
b. This will happen as the large number of people born today reach child- bearing age (see population pyramid p.174)
2. Fertility = average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime
3. Every 3 years the world’s population increases by not quite the size of the U.S. a. 78 million per year b. 1 billion every 12 to 13 years
B. Population Projections for the Year 2050 Table 9.1 page 140
Demographic transition I. Preindustrial Stage or Slow growth stage high birth rate high death rate
II. Mortality decline before fertility decline or Rapid growth stage high birth rate low death rate III. Fertility Decline birth rate declines low death rate
IV. Modern Stage: low birth rate low death rate Both around 12 per 1,000
C. Where is population growing? 1. 6 of the 10 fastest growing countries are in sub-Saharan Africa 2. China and India are the 2 most populous countries 3. U.S. is fastest growing industrialized country 4. Europe is losing population or growing very slowly
D. Reasons for declining death rate 1. Medical improvements a. Antibiotics b. Immunization 2. Food aid during disasters 3. Public health improvements a. Sanitation b. Control of malaria-bearing mosquitoes
E. AIDS/HIV 1. UN estimates for the end of 2002: a. 40 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS b. 3 million deaths due to HIV/AIDS in 2002 c. Cumulative deaths due to HIV/AIDS in 2000 was 21.8 million d. 5.3 million people newly infected with HIV in 2000
2. HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa a. 7 out of 10 people newly infected with HIV in 2000 b million people infected c. 78% of all deaths due to HIV/AIDS since the epidemic started
d. Infection rates range from 2% of the adult population in western Africa to 20% in southern Africa e. In 8 countries AIDS will claim the lives of a third of today’s 15 year olds
f. In South Africa and Zimbabwe, where a fifth or a quarter of the adult population is infected, AIDS will claim the lives of around half of all 15-year-olds. g. In Botswana, where about one in three adults are already HIV-infected – the highest prevalence rate in the world – no fewer than two-thirds of today’s 15-year-old boys will die prematurely of AIDS.
3. AIDS effect on population by 2020 in sub-Saharan Africa could be severe (U.S. Census Bureau estimates) a. 45 % smaller in Uganda b. 35% smaller in Rwanda c. 30% smaller in Malawi
F. Changes in life expectancy
IV. Why do people in LDCs have children? A. Emotional satisfaction B. Investment 1. Children can work 2. Children can support aging parents C. High child mortality leads to greater number of children
D. What causes birth rates to decline? 1. Family planning programs 2. As women’s income and education levels increase they decide to have fewer children. a. Women given the ability to choose, decide to have fewer children
V. Population density - the number of people in a given area 1. Why does the number of people per square kilometer or square mile matter? a. Natural resource base may not be able to sustain a large number of people b. The “demographic trap” (Quote from Brown&Kane p.138) – ecological carrying capacity reached (high birth rates and high death rates)