Population Explosion
What can be done to address
the problems associated with the rapid growth of the global population?
Created by
Justin DeLong
JDeLong@Uticaschools.org
Introduction
Thomas Malthus
published, Principles of Population
Growth, in 1798. Malthus (1798)
warned that unchecked population growth would result in population outstripping
available food supplies. At the turn of
the 19th Century, Malthus was particularly curious about the rate of
population growth in America. At that
time, the American population was doubling about every twenty five years and he
believed that food production and land use were not keeping pace. Malthus also suggested consequently, that war
and famine may serve as ‘checks’ on population growth. Some potential criticisms of Malthus are that
he failed to consider, witness, or possibly anticipate: the impact of the
agrarian revolution, the mechanization of farming, modern agrarian technologies
and practices, the green revolution of the 1970s, and Keynesian economic
theories. Despite these limitations,
Malthus’s Theory does provoke some thought and concerns on the steady
population growth and particularly the accelerated rates of growth of the past
century.
In
modern times, Malthus’ theory has been rebranded as the ‘life boat theory’. Malthus suggested that the earth’s limited
scarce resources could only sustain a certain population; such as a ‘life boat’
can only fit a specific amount of people.
Malthus was an early economist and his predictions earned economics the
moniker “the dismal science.” Today, many people are very concerned that the
world population is growing at an alarming rate. The current world population has surpassed 7
billion people, and in the next 50 years global population could reach 12
billion. The United States population is
currently at about 305 million, and could reach 420 million in the next 50
years. Is this population growth a problem?
How will it affect human development? How will population growth and
development affect the environment of the planet?
Assignment and Role: You are working as a consultant for the Demography
Subcommittee of the United Nations.
Task
As a population consultant to
the United Nations:
1.
Research and
present current population data. Typed as
a brief formal report or power point presentation.
2.
Outline several written
recommendations for dealing with the issue of world population growth and the related
problems that will ensue. Typed as a brief
formal report or power point presentation.
3.
Participate in a
round table discussion to share your findings and recommendations with the rest
of the class.
Process/Steps
1.
Define the problem of global population growth. Answer the following questions, using web
based research.
a.
How fast is the
global population growing?
b.
Why is the global
population growing so rapidly, compared with historical rates of growth?
c.
Where is
population growing at the fastest rates?
d.
What are three problems associated with
population growth?
2.
Gather evidence
using the resources provided to define in detail three problems associated with global population
growth.
3.
What are the causes of these three problems and how are they associated with population growth?
4.
Given what you
have discovered about the nature of world population growth and the problems
associated with population growth develop three policy recommendations to the world community to deal with growing world
population.
5.
Based on the
feasibility and potential effectiveness of these three policies, which one do you think will be the best?
6.
What are your
recommendations to the world community?
Prepare an oral presentation using the information on your worksheets
that defines the parameters of world population growth and three problems
associated with population growth. Give
a single policy recommendation to address the issue of world population
growth. Explain why your policy
recommendation is the best choice.
Some of the consequences and problems associated with rapid population
growth:
Water Scarcity
Per-capita water
consumption is rising twice as fast as world population. At least 300 million
people live in regions that already have severe water shortages; by 2025, the
number could be 3 billion.
Water
Globally, 2.3 billion
people suffer from diseases linked to water. These diseases cause an estimated
12 million deaths a year, 5 million of them from diarrhea diseases. Most of the
victims are children in developing countries.
Source: Population
Reports, Johns Hopkins
Soil of the Earth
Land degradation from deforestation, waste disposal and overuse of fertilizers
has rendered a third of the earth's soil unfit for growing food.
Source: NY
Times
Sprawl vs. forests and
farms
Suburban sprawl consumes more than 500,000 acres of forest and farmland per
year in the U.S. Put another way; we're adding a population four times larger
than Seattle's every year while suburban sprawl is consuming an area 10 times
larger than the city limits.
Source: The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Resource scarcity
Deforestation forces people to travel longer distances for fuel wood, fodder,
and water, women and men expend larger amounts of energy. The World Health Organization estimates that the energy used to carry water may consume
one-third of a woman's daily calorie intake.
Source: PRB
Poverty and Debt
Poverty
"Just how many poor people are there in the world?" The World Bank's
World Development Report 1999/2000 estimates that the number of people living
on the equivalent of $1 a day increased from 1.2 billion in 1987 to 1.5 billion
in 2000. The number could reach 1.9 billion by 2015.
Source: PRB
Debt in perspective *(as of 2001):
Combined foreign debt of 47
of the poorest countries:
$422 billion
Amount
$422 billion
Military expenditure of the rich countries in one year: $427
billion
Source: Worldwatch
World poverty *(as of 2001):
One in five of the world's
people -- 1.2 billion -- live on less than $1 a day. 56% of the developing
world lacks basic sanitation, and more than 50 countries have lower real per
capita incomes today than they did a decade ago.
Source: U.N.
Development Programme
Resource Consumption
Cars
Each U.S. car requires on average 0.07 hectares (0.18 acres) of paved land for
roads and parking space. For every five cars added to the
Source: Worldwatch
SUVs
Switching from driving an
average new car to a 13 miles per gallon SUV for one year will waste more
energy than:
-Leaving a refrigerator door open for 6 years
-Leaving a bathroom light burning for 30 years
-Leaving a color television turned on for 28 years
Source: Sierra
Club
Roads
The U.S., with its 214 million motor vehicles, has paved 6.3 million kilometers
of roads, enough to circle the Earth at the equator 157 times.
Source: Worldwatch
Transportation choice
Number of new models of cars available to suburban residents in 2001: 197
Number of convenient alternatives to the car available to most
such residents: 0
Source: Worldwatch
Automobiles
In China, there are only about 8 vehicles per 1,000 persons, and in India, only
7 per 1,000 persons; by contrast, there are about 750 motor vehicles per 1,000
persons in the United States.
Source: World
Resources Institute
oil
Gender Issues
Girls—education
An estimated 200 million
girls who should be in schools worldwide are not studying. In
Source: World
Information Transfer, Fall 2000 Report
Age at marriage
The percentage of girls
marrying by age 18 varies considerably around the world. 73 percent of girls in
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PPA
Rubric
|
Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Accomplished 3 |
Exemplary 4 |
Score |
|
|
Clearly identified and presented the problem |
Problem was poorly identified and/or presented or not
presented at all. |
Problem was not clearly identified and/or presented. |
Problem was adequately identified and presented. |
Problem was clearly identified and presented. Examples
were used to make certain everything was clear. |
|
|
Power point presentation |
Power point was sloppy, unorganized and unoriginal. |
Power point was somewhat neat, organized and contained
some clip art. |
Power point was fairly neat, organized and contained
clip art and additional graphics |
Power point presentation was very neat, well organized
and creatively put together with clip art, links, verbal presentation matches
the slides. |
|
|
Conventions |
Grammar and spelling were poor. No attention to the
editing process. Slides are awkward to understand. |
Grammar and spelling was mostly incorrect and get in
the way of understanding. |
Grammar and spelling were mostly correct. |
Grammar and spelling were exemplary. Slides are
fluent. |
|
|
Use of PPA Worksheets |
Only one PPA step was used |
Two to
three of the PPA steps were used. |
Four to five of the PPA steps were used. |
All six steps of the PPA were used. |
|
|
Worked well in a small group. |
There was little cooperation. Most students in the small group did not stick to the task nor pay attention to their roles. Interception by the teacher was necessary on more than one occasion. |
There were some discussions without interception from the teacher. Some students stuck to their roles. |
Most students were able to work together without difficulty. Some members participating in conversations. |
Students accepted their role, worked well with everyone in the group, helped those that needed it and stayed completely on task. Each member listened and each member participated in all discussions. |
Conclusion:
At the conclusion
of this Web Quest students should have a deeper appreciation and understanding
of the complex issues associated with the growth of human population. Students should also consider the impact of
population growth on the global environment and the global economy. Human population is not simply a matter of
numbers. Collectively, all people play a
critical role in conservation and can influence current life-style choices, use
of scarce resources, and equitable distribution of wealth. The conclusions drawn on the impact of human
population growth, and subsequent policy changes, can influence the choices
made regarding housing, transportation, access to formal education, gender
equality, and improved access to resources.
People should think on a global scale, and act on the local one.
NYS Social Studies
Standards
Standard 1: History of the United
States and New York
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in
the history of the United States and New York.
Standard 2: World History
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate
their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning
points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety
of perspectives.
Standard 3: Geography
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we
live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places,
and environments over the Earth’s surface.
Standard 4: Economics
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic
systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major
decision-making units function in the United States and other national
economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and
nonmarket mechanisms.
Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and
Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental
system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution;
the basic civic values of American constitutional
democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including
avenues of participation. Major ideas,
eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the
history of the United States and New York