Human Population Growth
by Joel E. Cohen Sept. 2005
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Source: Scientific American
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Notes:
Summary: Human population is a difficult thing and confusing sometimes. Less developed countries, like Africa and India, are growing at a rapid rate while other countries, like Japan, that are more developed are loosing population. In the past, the elderly were outnumbered. But now in days it seems that there's more elderly than young people. It seems that the proportions of the young and old reflects survival and reduced fertility. It seems that population growth seems to happen mostly in undeveloped countries. By 2050, it seems that the populations may triple. In order to fix population growth problems we need to invest and support education, health, and technology. We can improve interactions with people by reforming economic, political, civil, and social institutions by achieving a greater social equity.
Reflection: While reading this article it made me understand how difficult the human population really is! Like 16+ years ago there were a lot of young people than elders. But now there's more elders than young people! Where the young flesh though? What has our world turn out to be?!? But once again we can make both populations equal again if we can make a difference!
- Humanity will go through historic changes in the balance between young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural, as we grow to 9 billion in the next half century.
- Our choices now and in the years ahead will determine how well we cope with our coming of age.
- There are 3 unique transitions that will go on in human history.
- The first one is that no person who died before 1930 had lived through a doubling of the human population.
- Any person born after 2050 is not likely to live through a doubling of the human population.
- Everyone 45 years and older have experienced a doubling of the population.
- Human population has grown the most in the 20th century and it is most likely never going to grow at this rapid rate ever again.
- The great plagues and wars of the 14th century, for example, reduced not only the growth rate but also the absolute size of global population.
- Growth has fallen since the 1970s, the logic of compounding means that current levels of global population growth are still greater than any experienced prior to World War II.
- 1 billion people will be added to today’s population in only 13 to 14 years.
- The population will keep increasing and rapidly.
- 51 countries will also experience population loss.
- Slowing population growth everywhere means that the 20th century was probably the last in human history in which younger people outnumbered older ones.
- This crossover in the proportions of young and old reflects both improved survival and reduced fertility.
- While poorer nations are experiencing population gain, richer populations will experience population loss.
- By 2050 one in every 3 people will be 60 years or older. In less developed places one in 5.
- Mathis Wackernagel, an author of the “ecological footprint” concept, and his colleagues sought to quantify the amount of land humans used to supply resources and to absorb wastes.
- To improve sustainability of the coming wave of older people, we need to invest in educating our youth today.
- We cannot make a better tomorrow if we do not fix what we know today.
Summary: Human population is a difficult thing and confusing sometimes. Less developed countries, like Africa and India, are growing at a rapid rate while other countries, like Japan, that are more developed are loosing population. In the past, the elderly were outnumbered. But now in days it seems that there's more elderly than young people. It seems that the proportions of the young and old reflects survival and reduced fertility. It seems that population growth seems to happen mostly in undeveloped countries. By 2050, it seems that the populations may triple. In order to fix population growth problems we need to invest and support education, health, and technology. We can improve interactions with people by reforming economic, political, civil, and social institutions by achieving a greater social equity.
Reflection: While reading this article it made me understand how difficult the human population really is! Like 16+ years ago there were a lot of young people than elders. But now there's more elders than young people! Where the young flesh though? What has our world turn out to be?!? But once again we can make both populations equal again if we can make a difference!