Through education and a gradual change in sociological gender roles there has been a decline in population growth with some countries showing that they are in decline rather than growth with a higher crude death rate (CDR) than crude birth rate CBR). This trend is common in most developed countries with only America being the exception to the rule. Current population growth in the USA shows an alarming rate of growth. The growth rate is such that if the population globally were the same as that of the United States we would need the equivalent of three worlds to enable sustainability of the population.
Fig 2.0 Relative rates of population growth between less developed and developed countries
There are vast differences between the developed and developing world that shows on a global scale the reason for such growth. Developing countries suffer from poor sanitation, health care and education and high birth rates are an acceptable colloquial statistic, as most children will die before they are five. There is greater nutritional deprivation and the threat of fatal diseases is something that the populace of a developing country are forced to accept. It was the development of education, nutrition and health, not medicine in the early twentieth century that helped the developed world reduce its mortality rates. Many developing countries still lack these vital commodities and until there is better global distribution of these the population will continue to rise at its current rates. An additional factor relating to the population growth is that of an ageing population. The developed world has during the last fifty years or so been contributing to this phenomenon. With trends showing that the developed worlds youth populace is decreasing and the elderly populace is increasing.
Fig 3.0 Population Pyramids 1999 and projected for 2050 Developed Countries – Source United Nations
Of the many issues that relate to a growing population, water / land use and its availability are two of the most hotly debated amongst world governments. It is a fact that the developed world uses far more of the world’s land and sea resources than the developing world for less population. The land use per person in a high-income country is on average six times greater than that of low-income countries, and since 1960 the demand on land has become increasingly greater and has already, according to the WWF exceeded the productive capacity that the globe has to offer. The amount of global resources required by the populace can only decrease if the populace itself decreases. With trends showing that population is increasing this is not going to happen.
Fig 4.0 WWF Ecological Footprint, by region and income group 1999. Source United Nations
There is a catch twenty-two situation globally that means that governments need to work hand in hand to resolve population issues. The need to manage the growth of mankind for many countries is paramount. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan issued a 63-page report analysing the progress of Agenda 21 that was adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The world’s leaders adopted agenda 21 as a global plan for sustainable development.
In his opening statements “Good Plan, Weak Implementation” Kofi Annan, stated that
“The worlds environment is still too fragile and existing conservation measures are far from sufficient. There has been only very limited progress in reducing poverty in the developing world and globalisation, by itself, has not benefited most people in the world.
Attempts to promote human development and to reverse environmental degradation have not, in general, been effective over the last decade. Too few resources, a lack of political will, a piecemeal and uncoordinated approach and continued wasteful patterns of production and consumption have conspired to thwart efforts to implement sustainable development, or development that is balanced between people’s economic and social needs and the ability of the earth’s resources and ecosystems to meet present and future needs”
Agenda 21 set out to achieve sustainable economic and social conditions for the world’s population both developed and developing. Although it has resulted in success this success is marginal when looked at globally. Since 1992 the amount of global population living in direct poverty, which is with an income of less than $1 USA per day, has reduced from 29% in 1990 to 23% in 1998. This shows a drop from 1.3 billion to 1.2 billion people. Of these 1.2 billion it is estimated that 1.1 billion still lack adequate drinking water and there are a further 1.2 billion people who still lack adequate sanitation.
Agenda 21 also looked closely at the rate of decline of valuable ecosystems globally and the decreasing food stocks and changing in land usage from rural to urban. There is a growing demand for sustainable development but the requirements of the planet’s survival are often outweighed by the demands of the population.
- Greater agricultural activity means a greater strain on the world’s freshwater resources with an estimated 70% of the world’s freshwater resources being consumed by agriculture. Of this 70% approximately 40% is wasted.
- An estimated quarter of the world’s fisheries are over fished.
- Approximately 14.6 million hectares of the world’s natural forests are being converted to urban usage each year.
- More than 2 billion people in the developing world rely on biomass energy, which includes firewood, animal dung and agricultural residues.
With increasing demands being made on the planet to provide for its growing population of humans there are many natural resources struggling to sustain themselves ‘naturally’. It is for this reason that our global governments have been forced to act on the sustainability of the planets ecosystems.
Change in land use, over polluting the atmosphere, over fishing, increased industrialisation and urbanisation has all had an impact on the biodiversity of the environment. It is only through education leading to a greater understanding of the global problems faced by an increased population that we can begin to control the exponential growth of the populace and begin to manage the biodiversity of the planet.
References
Wright R T and Nebel B J 2002 Environmental Science: Towards a Sustainable Future – Prentice Hall, New Jersey (Chapters 4,6,7)
Waugh D Geography an Integrated Approach: 2nd Edition – Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, Surrey (Chapters 13, 22)
(The Worlds Water: Information on the Worlds Fresh Water Resources)
(Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations)
Hunter L M 2001 The Environmental Implications of Populations Dynamics – RAND
(Geography 210: Introduction to Environmental Issues)
(World Summit Johannesburg - Agenda 21)
(United Nations Home Pages)