The most important environmental issue?

The scientific study of the characteristics in the size and structure of human and non- human populations

Increasing our Carrying Capacity Figure 7.5

Figure 7.8 Population Density

Figure 7.15

Number of live births per 1000 women of childbearing age # of live births per 1000 women within a specified age range # of children expected to be born to the average woman in her lifetime

TFR by Region

(TFR)

Total Fertility Rate can be controlled Quality education for both sexes and womens’ empowerment Social security for the aged Access to contraception and family planning Quality health care and low infant mortality rates Urbanization (children in school)

Family Planning and TFR Nations that invested in family planning (green) reduced TFRs more than similar nations that did not (red). Figure 7.17a

Female Education and TFR Female literacy and school enrollment are correlated with total fertility rate: More-educated women have fewer children. Figure 7.16

Latvia 8 Germany 9 Bulgaria 9 Slovenia 9 Estonia 9 Italy 9 Bosnia and Herzegovina 9 Slovakia 10 Ukraine 10 Greece 10 Austria 10 Russia 10 Belarus 10 Czech Republic 10 Belgium 10 Spain 10 Romania 10 Andorra 10 Croatia 10 Luxembourg 10 San Marino 10 Japan 10

Niger 49 Mali 47 Afghanistan 47 Chad 47 Uganda 46 Somalia 46 Angola 45 Liberia 45 Democratic Republic of Congo 45 Burkina Faso 44 Malawi 44 Sierra Leone 43 Yemen 43 Benin 43 Guinea 42 Madagascar 42 Mauritania 42 Sao Tome and Principe 42 Djibouti 40

Malawi 24 Niger 23 Zambia 23 Swaziland 22 Ethiopia 21 Botswana 21 Zimbabwe 20 Namibia 20 Rwanda 20 Somalia 19 Mali 19 Uganda 18 Burkina Faso 18 Mozambique 17 Guinea 17 Burundi 17 Afghanistan 17 Sierra Leone 17 Tanzania 17 Western Sahara 17 Chad 17

For a live update, see:

Figure 7.7

Source: Population concern

Population growth rates, Figure 7.3

China One Child Policy

Age structure: “Graying populations” China’s aging population will mean fewer working-age citizens to finance social services for retirees. Figure 7.11c

Age structure: “Graying populations” Demographers project that China’s population will become older over the next two decades. Figure 7.11a,b

China’s natural rate of change has fallen

Malnutrition has been a distribution problem What does the future hold?

Source: Committee for the National Institute for the Environment

Per-capita availability of Resources peaked in the 1960’s and 1970’s

Source: FAO

HIV/AIDS and Human Population Infects 1 in 5 people in southern African nations Infects at least 5 million new people each year Kills babies born to infected mothers Has orphaned 14 million children Has cut 15 years off life expectancies in parts of southern Africa May inhibit demographic transition, leading to  population Figure 7.27

Source: World Bank

The population sometimes continues to rise after fertility falls below the replacement level, due to age distribution.

Age structure Figure 7.9

Age structure: Age pyramids Canada (left) has a much slower growing population than does Madagascar (right). Figure 7.10

Poorer countries will experience most future population growth 98% of the population increase will occur in developing nations Figure 7.20

Figure 7.23

The Wealth Gap The richest 20% of the world’s people consumes 86% of its resources, and has >80 times the income of the poorest 20%. Figure 7.25