Module-4: Human Population and Environment

Global Population Growth

• Humans developed the ability to expand into all climate zone and habitat.
• Modern agriculture and technology allowed us to feed more people.
• Death rates dropped sharply due to improved sanitation and health care.
Population

1.25
BILLIO
N
Are there physical limits to human population
growth and economic growth on a finite planet?

Do you think there are environmental limits to human

population growth? If so, how close do you think we are to
such limits? Very close, moderately close, or far away?
Global Population growth rate
 FACTORS INFLUENCE THE SIZE OF THE HUMAN POPULATION?
• Population size increases through births and immigration,
• Population size decreases through deaths and emigration.
• Total fertility rate: size of a human population is the average
number of children born to the women in that population.
• TFR is 1.9 in developed nations and 4.7 developing nations, 1950 it was 6.1
• Replacement Level :
• Infant Mortality Rate :
• The numbers of males and females in young, middle, and older age
groups determine how fast a population grows or declines.
Critical Thinking
 Factors Affect Birth and Fertility Rates
• importance of children as a part of the labor force
• cost of raising and educating children.
• family planning services
• Male female ratio
• Infant mortality ratio
• Women empowerment.
• Average age at marriage
• Availability of legal abortions.
• Religious beliefs, traditions, and cultural norms
• Doubling time
• Total Fertility rates
• Age structure
Growth Rate
 Age structure Vs population growth/decline

large percentage of its people younger than age 15 (wide base) will experience rapid
population growth unless death rates rise sharply.
percentage of people age 65 or older increases, more countries will begin experiencing
population declines.
 Limiting the population growth
• only one way to limit the population growth / size
– decrease the birth rate,
• promoting the importance of medical care,
• family planning,
• use of contraceptives.
• Reproductive rights and right for abortion are very sensitive
– emotionally charged issues.
• The question of practicing birth control is complex,
– often is not supported by religion or the culture.
• one-child policy practiced in China affected greatly.
– Rapid Population Decline
• Economic growth
• Labor
• Government Revenue
• Entrepreneurship
• New technology development
 WAYS TO SLOW HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH?

• reducing poverty through economic development,

• Elevating the status of women,

• encouraging family planning.

 Population control via economic development
• Researcher claim that the solution to growth is
industrialization and economic development.
• in developed countries:
o per capita incomes rise,
o poverty declines,
o populations tend to grow more slowly.
o people tend to choose a better standard of living instead of having
a large family.

Other Aspect:
improved standard of living may lead to increase the
carrying capacity of the Earth and lack of water and
food !!!!!!!
Population control via economic development
 Evolution of Karl Marx theory
• There are two principal classes in the society. (1) capitalists
and (2) labours.
• labour generates development.
• Factors of production are owned by the capitalists.
• Capitalists exploit the workers.
• National income is distributed in terms of wages and
profits.
• Class conflicts increase. Labour conflicts start and there is
class revolts.
• Ultimately, there is a downfall of capitalism and rise of
socialism.
 Karl Marx Theory
Population growth is a symptom rather than
the cause of poverty, resource depletion,
pollution and other social ills
Social exploitation and domination to the less privileged
people leads to poverty, Overcrowding, unemployment,
environmental degradation that in turn causes over
population.
All the factors are interrelated and interdependent –
Equity and social justice to all and allowing everyone to
enjoy a good standard of living is the need of the hour
that can help in achieving stable population.
 Population control via Empowerment of Women
• A number of studies show that underdeveloped women
who cannot read often have an average of five to seven
children
• A growing number of women in less-developed countries
are taking charge of their lives and reproductive behavior.
• women tend to have fewer children if they are educated.
• They have the ability to control their own fertility.
• individual women will play an important role in stabilizing
populations, improving human health, reducing poverty
and environmental degradation, if they are
empowered.
 Population control via Empowerment of Women
• In most societies, they have fewer rights, educational and
economic opportunities than men have.
• Women do almost all of the world’s domestic work, child
care and provide health care at free of cost.
• “For most women, the only holiday is when you are
asleep.”
• While women account for 66% of all hours worked,
• they receive only 10% of the world’s income
• own just 2% of the world’s land.
• They also make up 70% of the world’s poor
• 66% of illiterate adults.
Population control via Empowerment of Women
Crime against woman
What are the main problems?
Rights of Women
Shikshya= Education
Swasthya= Health
Swavalamban= Self Reliance
Samajik Nyay= Justice
Samvedana= Sensitivity
Samata= Equality
 Women and Child Welfare Schemes in India!
• The development of women has been receiving attention of the
Government of India from the First Plan.
• The Second to Fifth Plans continued this strategy, besides giving
priority to women’s education, and launching measures to improve
material and child health services, supplementary feeding for
children and expectant and nursing mothers.
• In the Sixth Plan, there was a shift in the approach from ‘welfare’ to
‘development’ of women. The Sixth Plan adopted a multi-disciplinary
approach with special emphasis on the three core sectors of health,
education and employment.
• The Seventh Plan stressed on raising their economic and social status
and bringing them into the mainstream of national development.
One of the significant step in this direction was to identify/promote
the ‘Beneficiary Oriented Schemes’ in various developmental sector
which extended direct benefits to women.
 Women and Child Welfare Schemes in India! (Cont…)
• The Eighth Plan ensured that the benefits of development to women
should flow from other development sectors and enable women to
function as equal partners and participants in the development
process. The strategy also included the generation of both skilled
and unskilled employment through proper education and vocational
training.

• The Ninth Plan made two important changes in the strategy of

development of women. The first was the ‘Empowerment of
Women’. Its aim was to create an enabling environment where
women could freely exercise their rights both within and outside
home, and are equal partners along with men.
 Women and Child Development SCHEMES
1. Swayamsidha:
empowerment of women through self-help groups. promotes micro-enterprises.
2. Swashakti Project:
women’s access to resources like health and education, for better quality of life
3. Child Development Services Scheme (CDS):
integrated package of services consisting of immunization, health check-ups, nutrition and health education and
refreshment services to child and pregnant women.
4. Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women:
It provides new skills and knowledge to poor assetless women in agriculture, animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries,
sericulture, handlooms, handicrafts and khadi and village industry sectors of employment.
5. Swavlamban:
obtain employment or become self-employed. The trades in which training is imparted include computer
programming, medical transcription, electronic assembling, electronics, radio and TV repairs, garment making,
handloom weaving, handicrafts, secretarial practice, embroidery and community health.
6. Day Care Centres for the Children of Working and Ailing Mothers:
7. Hostels for Working Women:
8. Swadhar:
This scheme provides integrated services to women without support from their families such as widows living at
Vrindavan and Kashi; prisoners released from jail; survivors of natural calamities; women/girls rescued from brothels
and other places; victims of sexual crimes, etc. The scheme includes such services as food, clothing, shelters, health
care, counselling and legal aid and rehabilitation through education awareness, skill formation and behavioural
training.
9. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh:
– The National Credit Fund for Women is meant to facilitate credit support or micro-finance to poor women to start
such income generating schemes as agriculture, dairying, shop-keeping, vending and handicrafts.
10. Welfare of Street Children:
 Population control via Family Planning
• provision of education and clinical services that can help
couples to choose how many children to have and when to
have them.
• Such programs vary from culture to culture, but most of
them provide information on birth spacing, birth control,
and health care for pregnant women and infants.
• Family planning has been a major factor in reducing
– the number of unintended pregnancies and births,
– the number of safe and unsafe abortions,
– the number of mothers and fetuses dying during pregnancy,
– rates of infant mortality,
– rates of HIV/AIDS infection, and
– population growth rates.
 Slowing Population Growth in India
• 1952:
– Indian population 40 crore
– National family planning program began in India
• 2017:
– 132 crore, world’s second largest population and a TFR of 2.4.
– Much of this increase occurred because the country’s declining death rates.
• 2030:
– 165 crore, India will be the world’s most populous country
• Present time:
– India faces serious poverty, malnutrition, and environmental problems
– Will be worsen as its population continues to grow rapidly.
– India is home to one-third of the world’s poor
• larger families in India due to:
– couples believe they need several children to work and care for them in their
old age.
– couples keep having children until they produce one or more boys.
• India is undergoing rapid economic growth:
– may help India to slow its population growth by accelerating its demographic
transition
 Urbanisation
Enhancement of population in cities by natural increase or by
immigration from rural areas.
It is the process by which towns and cities are formed and become
larger as more people begin living and working in central areas.

Natural increase Immigration

jobs,
High Birth Rate
food,
Low death Rate housing,
Better health care educational opportunities,
Better health care,
Urban Sprawl
entertainment.

Most cities are unsustainable because of high levels

of resource use, waste, pollution, and poverty.
 Urbanisation

✔ About 52% of the world’s people, 81% of all Americans, 37%

Indians, and 53% of China’s population live in urban areas.
✔ Every day there are about 200,000 more urban dwellers.
✔ Urban populations occupy only about 3% of the earth’s land area
✔ consume about 75% of its resources
✔ produce about 75% of the world’s pollution and wastes.
 Urbanization Has Disadvantages
• Most Cities Lack Vegetation.
• Many Cities Have Water Problems
• Concentrate Pollution and Health Problems.
• Cities Have Excessive Noise
• Affect Local Climates
• Life Is a Desperate Struggle
• Housing Problem,
• solid wastes and hazardous wastes.
• Transport problems
• Urban decay
• Social problems
 Environmental Impact
Impact on atmosphere and climate
Creation of heat island.
Change in air quality.
Change in patterns and precipitation.
Impact on lithosphere and land resources
Erosion and other changes in land quality.
Pollution
Impact on hydrosphere and water resources
Flow of Water into Streams.
Flow of Water through Streams.
Degraded Water Quality.
Impact on biosphere
Modification of Habitats.
Destruction of Habitats.
Creation of New Habitats.
Loss of public space. The majority of roads are publicly owned and free of access.
 Nature of housing problems
• Shortage of accommodation
• Substandard houses made of any materials
• Unobtainable to basic facilities such as clean water,
electricity and sewage system
• Unobtainable to urban resources such as job
opportunities, transport, education, medical and
social services
 shortage of accommodation
• Growing squatter and slum population
• most immigrants tend to build themselves a
shelter on land which does not belong to them.
• Or rent a single room in overcrowded and
deteriorated slums near the CBD.
 Problems related to substandard houses
• Risk of collapse,
• Risk of landslide
• Risk of fire
• overcrowding
 unobtainable to basic facilities
• Poor sanitation
• Poor living environment
• Outbreak of diseases
 unobtainable to urban resources
• Unemployment and underemployment
• family conflicts, mental distresses
• High crime rate
• Social unrest
 Consumerism
• consumption of natural resources by the people
• constant purchasing of new goods, with little attention to their true
need, durability, product origin, or the environmental consequences
of their manufacture and disposal.
• More population, more consumption; large waste generation
• with the dawn of industrial era, consumerism has shown an
exponential rise in the last few decades
– increase in the population size
– changes in life styles
 conditions of population and consumerism
People Over-population– LDCs
– More people than available supplies of food

– there is less per capita consumption although overall consumption is high

Consumption Over-population:
– Less population size and due to a combination of better life styles overall high
standards of living and high levels of infrastructure, per capita consumption of
resources is very high.

The consumption of resources is

positively correlated with waste

population

population
Resources

Resources
generation and the degradation of
the environment
LDCs MDCs
 Overall Environmental Impact
• Impact = Number of people x per capita use of resources x waste
generated per unit of resource used
• Impact=Population x Affluence x Technology
I= P x A x T

❖ Although the population of India is 3.4 times more than that of USA, its
overall energy use and waste generation are less than l/8th that of USA.
❖ Thus more consumerism and not population size influences waste
production.
 How to solve consumerism
Population:
– we need to control population growth.
Consumption:
– once we control population growth, the consumption rate would fall down
itself.
– Buy for need not for the want
Technology:
– we should stop at this stage some of the irrelevant and unimportant products,
in order to stabilize the environment.

Himachal Pradesh was the 1st state to regulate the manufacture & use
of plastics. The State proposed a ban on all types of polythene packing.
The Indian Oil Corporation & the Department of Science & Technology
are expected to establish India’s 1st plant to convert waste plastic into
petrol,diesel & LPG.
 Sustaining human societies
• Smart Growth Can Promote Environmental Sustainability
• The Eco-City Concept: Cities for People, Not Cars
Sustaining human societies
THANK YOU