1 Population, Urbanism & the Environment

2 World population l Currently –6.2 Billion l Most of human history the population of the entire earth was 500 Million (1/2 billion)

3 Demographic terms l Fertility –Amount of childbearing in a population –Several measurements of this l Crude birth rate –Live births per 1,000 people each year

4 Demographic terms (Cont.) l Fecundity rate –Maximum possible childbearing l Sex Ratio –Males for every 100 females

5 Concepts l Pop. doubling time –Rule of 70 Growth rate divided into 70 l Age-sex pyramids

6 Malthusian theory l Food increasing arithmetically l Pop. Increasing geometrically l Result : People reproducing beyond what the planet can support

7 Neo-malthusians l Agree with Malthus and the “Limits to growth” thesis l Out-stripping resources l Poisoning the planet

8 Anti-malthusians l 6X more people on earth l Living longer, healthier lives

9 Demographic Transition Theory l Population patterns reflect a society’s level of technological development

10 Zero Population growth (ZPG) l Two people produce two people l Maintains population at a steady state

11 Urbanism l Durkheim –Mechanical solidarity People bound by similarities –Organic solidarity People bound by differences

12 Environment (summary) l Acid rain l Global warming

13 Acid rain l Sulfur dioxide

14 Global warming l Average temperature of the planet is rising l Northwest passage (over Canada and Alaska) may soon be a passage for ships l Carbon dioxide