Chapter 22: Technology, Population, and the Environment

The Population "Explosion"

Twelve thousand years ago there were about 6 million people in the world
In 1750, the population reached 760 million
In 1804, the population reached 1 billion
In 1999, the population reached 6 billion
In 2011, the population reached 7 billion
In 2023, the population will likely reach 8 billion
Life span vs. Longevity
- Life span: theoretical contemplative figure that relates to how long people can live for
  - How long theoretical can that thing or entity live for
- Longevity: looking at the average of a population
  - A specific circumstance

What is health?

Conceptual definition?
- What does it mean to be "healthy"?
- Longest globally accepted definition of health: world health organization "health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity"
Operation definition?
Whatever is of interest to researchers in their study
Ex's: development in reading/writing , cancer rates, depression levels, activities of daily living

Demographic transition Theory Hans Rosling video

Demographic transition theory: Explains how changes in fertility and mortality affected population growth from preindustrial to postindustrial times
Theory based on observation that European population developed in four distinct stages:

The Preindustrial Period

A large proportion of the population died every year from inadequate nutrition, poor hygiene, and uncontrollable disease
High crude death rate: Annual number of deaths per 1000 people in a population
High crude birth rate: Annual number of live births per 1000 women in a population

The Mature Industrial Period

Crude death rate continued to fall
The crude birth rate fell even more dramatically
The crude birth rate fell because economic growth eventually changed people's traditional beliefs about the value of having many children
Cultural lag: Refers to conditions in which people's values change more slowly than their technologies do

The Postindustrial Period

Total fertility rates fell to below replacement level in some countries
Replacement level: Number of children that each women must have on average for population size to remain stable. Replacement level is 2.1.
The number of deaths per year exceeds the number of births

Japan and the Population Crisis

Aging population and workforce
Canada as an example
Government revenue and budgets
Changing nature of society
What implications might the increasing age and decreasing population have on Japan

Population and Social Inequality: Karl Marx

Marx argued that the problem of overpopulation is specific to capitalism
Overpopulation is not a problem of too many people but rather a problem of too much poverty
Solve the problem of overpopulation of too much poverty
Some contemporary demographers argue that social inequality is an important cause of overpopulation

Gender and Class inequality and Overpopulation

Where women tend to have more power, the society has low rather than high morality and fertility
Education and employment, for example often accord women wider power and influence, which enhance their status
Women may choose to have fewer children in order to hold a job or increase their education

Population and the Environment

Environmental Racism

Refers to environmental policies and practices that result in disproportionate exposure among communities with a significant ethnic of racial population
- Moving white people from a community but not people of colour

Sarnia/Aamjiwnaang