Human Population Growth and Impacts (Area of Focus Portal Example)
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Human Population Growth and Impacts
"We have to educate all of our people to an understanding of the arithmetic and the consequences of growth, especially in terms of populations and in terms of the earth’s finite resources. We must educate people to recognize the fact that growth of populations and growth of rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained."
(Dr. Albert Bartlett in Arithmetic, Population and Energy) News | Quotations | In-depth | Case Studies | Tools for Change | Be the Change | Discussions | Tell Your Story Image Gallery | Podcasts | Video Gallery | Other Resources | Related AoF | Help Steward This AoF Portal
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Introduction
 Human population growth and impacts refers to those environmental, economic, and social impacts that result from human overpopulation on local, regional, and global scales. Such impacts include the environmental impacts of increasing demand from overpopulation for energy that exacerbates climate change, and of the degradation of natural resources from overfarming resulting in food scarcity. A simple model has been used to sketch population consequences on sustainability: I = P x A x T, where I is environmental impact, P is the number of people, A is the affluence per person (a measure of consumption), and T is a measure of the effects of technologies on the extraction and use of resources. Currently, all are increasing over time, thus increasing local and global impact, thwarting sustainability. Top of page ^ Keywords overpopulation, sustainability, scarcity, resource depletion, environmental impacts, carrying capacity, food supply, energy use, natural resource consumption, demographic alarmism, birth rate, death rate, rate of natural increase, population doubling time, infant mortality rate, total fertility rate, population under age 15, dependent population, life expectancy, percent urban population, age structure, sex structure, age at first reproduction, post-reproduction age, age classes, Ehrlich-Holdren Model, nonrenewable resources, marriage age, educational opportunities and fertility, family planning, U.N. International Conference on Population and Development, pronatalist, immigration, migration (Feel free to add relevant keywords to the list) Top of page ^ Did You Know? "An estimated 4.3 people are born every second around the world." (Population Reference Bureau's 2006 World Population Data Sheet) "Today, 31 countries, or under 8% of the world population, face chronic freshwater shortages. By the year 2025, however, 48 countries are expected to face shortages affecting more than 2.8 billion people, -35% of the world's projected population. Countries likely to run short of water in the next 25 years are Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Peru. Other large countries such as China, face chronic water problems." (Overpopulation.org) $9 enables a couple to postpone pregnancy for two years using oral contraceptives. (UNFPA) More/add facts and statistics >> | Top of page ^ Featured People Simply Interested John Doe (johndoe) Jane Doe (janedoe) Jim Doe (jimdoe) Experienced Activists and Workers Cracker Jack (crackerjack) Ototake Hirotada (ototakehirotada) Nuno Gomez (nunogomez) Experts Thomas Malthus (Website) Paul Ehrlich (Website | paulehrlich) More/add people >> | Top of page ^ Featured Groups Insulating the Third Rail - Human Overpopulation Addressing Human Overpopulation Without Fear of Electrocution Here, everyone has a voice, and everyone is safe. This group gathers to address a nearly universal problem, Human Overpopulation. This issue has been treated as "hands-off", since advocating any policy regarding population is politically dangerous, treated as "the third rail" of politics and advocacy, causing political "electrocution". However, it is a problem that touches and complicates practically every other problem, making them much more difficult or impossible to solve, therefore it must be addressed. (Group homepage | Join the group) More/add featured groups >> | Top of page ^ Featured Organizations UNFPA - because everyone counts UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. (Original link | WE link) The Population Reference Bureau informs people around the world about population, health, and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and future generations. (Original link | WE link) The Optimum Population Trust OPT aims to: - advance the education of the public in issues relating to human population worldwide and its impact on environmental sustainability; - advance, promote and encourage research to determine optimum and ecologically sustainable human population levels in all or any part or parts of the world and to publicise the results of such research; - advance environmental protection by promoting policies in the United Kingdom or any other part or parts of the world which will lead or contribute to the achievement of stable human population levels which allow environmental sustainability. (Original link | WE link) More/add featured organizations >> | Top of page ^ Featured Events EuroNGOs/EPF Strategic Workshop: SRHR-Population-Environmental Degradation-Climate Change May 15-16, 2008, Istanbul, Turkey This workshop is aimed at stimulating discussion on the interdependence between Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), population growth, environmental degradation and climate change. (Original link | WE link) From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom On April 4-6, 2008, over 70 speakers from the US and abroad will be offering more than 40 workshops and trainings. Conference speakers address reproductive freedom as it relates to a broad range of social justice issues including economic justice, racial equality, health care reform, anti-war activism, immigrant rights, freedom from violence, prison abolition, sex worker rights, and LGBTQ rights. Deepen your understanding of issues you already know about, expose yourself to new causes and connections, and unite with others who are passionate about working for social justice. (Original link | WE link) More/add featured events >> | Top of page ^ Featured Jobs Demographer - Climate Change/Environment is being sought by Population Action International (PAI), an organization that works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs. (Original link | WE link) More/add featured jobs >> | Top of page ^ Related Areas of Focus Environmental Education Ecology Demographics Family Planning Top of page ^ Help Steward This AoF Portal This portal on Human Population Growth and Impacts is being stewarded by the groups and people listed at the bottom. Stewards improve and update contents of this portal. You or your group are welcomed to help. Read more about what an Area of Focus Steward is. Here's some of the way you can start helping out: 1. Start by adding your name and your group's name to the list below and this wikipage, then add more contents for each section in the "More...>>" pages by following the instructions in each page. 2. You can also help by creating a WiserEarth entity page (organizations, resources, jobs, events, wikipages) for each item you add and then link them up to the appropriate "WE link". 3. When you edit anything in this portal, please make sure to also edit the entry in the corresponding "More...>>" pages. 4. Discuss among stewards via the internal messaging system, or via stewarding groups' discussion forums on how to best arrange the portal layout, appearance and content. Visit or join the Area of Focus Stewards group for more info or HTML help. Groups Insulating the Third Rail--Human Overpopulation People David W. Potter (SustainableDavid) Wibowo Sulistio (bowo) |
News
Japan Reports 1st Natural Dip in Population, Including Foreigners March 24, Trading Markets (Read | WE link) Could Resources Become A Limit to Global Growth? March 24, Wall Street Journal (Read | WE link) Spanish population set to grow by 2.7 million by 2017 March 24, Typically Spanish (Read | WE link) Solving the population problem March 21, Telegraph.co.uk (Read | WE link) Overpopulation in America: Unsustainable plague on 21st century planet earth March 19, Ode Magazine (Read | WE link) Expert: Teen Pregnancies Contribute to Overpopulation March 14, FOX News (Read| WE link) What are the sustainability implications of peak population? February 10, Worldchanging.com (Read | WE link) More/add news >> | Top of page ^ Quotations “Conventional economic ‘laws’ such as that of supply and demand, are ill-equipped to deal with the biggest of all environmental problems: no level of demand can bring another Earth into being.... Perpetual total economic growth alongside constant population growth is ecologically, mathematically and logically impossible.” (adapted from reports by The Optimum Population Trust) “Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive overpopulation. Convenience and decency cannot survive overpopulation. As you put more and more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn’t matter if someone dies. The more people there are, the less one person matters.” (Adapted from Isaac Asimov) “The biggest cause of climate change is climate changers: human beings. Deciding to stop at two children, or at least to have one child less, is the simplest, quickest and most significant thing any of us could do to leave a sustainable and habitable planet for our children and grandchildren.... Thus, in both developed and developing worlds, the condom, the Pill, and the intrauterine device ought to be as powerful symbols for the green movement as the bicycle.” (John Guillebaud of the Optimum Population Trust) More/add quotations >> | Top of page ^ In-depth World in the Balance: The Population Paradox Nova investigates the impact of forces that are radically changing population in both rich and poor country. (Original link | WE link) Arithmetic, Population and Energy by Dr. Albert Bartlett The retired Professor of Physics from the University of Colorado in Boulder examines the arithmetic of steady growth, such as 5% per year, the doubling time for such growth, and the large numbers one gets when steady growth continues over modest periods of time. The examination then turns to what happens when one has steady growth in a finite environment. These concepts are applied to populations and to fossil fuels such as petroleum and coal. A series of recommendations is given for dealing with the problems that are revealed by the very simple arithmetic. (Original link | WE link) Population, Resources, and Human Idealism by Richard Heinberg “An ethic of human rights, of sharing, and of equity without a practically expressed awareness of ecological limits is a setup for disaster.... If we want peace, democracy, and human rights, we must work to create the ecological condition essential for these things to exist. In other words, a stable human population at--or slightly less than--the environment’s long-term carrying capacity.” (Original link | WE link) Case Studies Out of House and Home by Peter Tyson To see just how clearly a growing human population relies on and impacts its natural environment, one need look no farther than Easter Island, the South Pacific isle with the famous stone statues known as moai. (Original link | WE link) Population Campaigns Compare how three developing nations, India, China and Kenya, have tried to slow rapid population growth. (Original link | WE link) Family Planning Policies and Their Impacts on the Poor: Peru's Experience Over the past two decades, the government of Peru has instituted a series of laws and policies designed to expand access to family planning services. A recent article in International Family Planning Perspectives notes that in practice, these policies have not always achieved their desired effect. (Original link | WE link) More/add case studies >> | Top of page ^ Tools for Change Earth in Peril How do consumption and rapid population growth affect our planet's natural resources? Explore the many ways in this collection of maps. (Original link | WE link) Family Planning Essentials Better reproductive health depends on being able to exercise the right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of children. Commodities, especially contraceptives, are essential in helping to make this right a reality. (Original link | WE link) 24 Tips for Culturally Sensitive Programming UNFPA has been given the task of implementing goals that touch on the most sensitive and intimate spheres of human existence, including reproductive health and rights, gender relations and population issues. Success requires patience, a willingness to listen carefully and a respect for cultural diversity. (Original link | WE link) More/add tools for change >> | Top of page ^ Be the Change Global Action Network A virtual gathering place for those passionate about global population and reproductive-health issues, this Web site provides a wealth of information and offers mentoring for those considering a career in population-related fields. (Original link | WE link) 34 Million Friends of UNFPA This grassroots action site seeks to raise $34 million in support of the United Nations Population Fund and raise awareness of recent U.S. withdrawal of support. Visitors to the site can download an action kit that includes flyers to print and hand out and suggestions on hosting neighborhood or campus events. (Original link | WE link) Safe Motherhood Initiative The Safe Motherhood Initiative is a worldwide effort that aims to reduce the number of deaths and illnesses associated with pregnancy and childbirth. This page lists many ways in which concerned citizens and healthcare professionals can help. (Original link | WE link) More/add actions >> | Top of page ^ Discussions Is "One Family One Child" a global viable solution? If not, what is? (Join the discussion | Visit the host group) Why do we have children? (Join the discussion | Visit the host group) Optimum Global Population? Feasibility and Roadmap (Join the discussion | Visit the host group) More/add discussions >> | Top of page ^ Tell Your Story How I Struggled in Convincing a Friend to Have Fewer Children (Original link | WE link) In the Midst of a Long Debate Toward Vietnam's Population Stabilization Policy (Original link | WE link) The First Time I Bought a Condom in a Drugstore (Original link | WE link) More/add stories >> | Top of page ^ Image Gallery    More/add crowded planet imagery >> | Top of page ^ Podcasts Interview with Mr. Population Expert on the Window of Opportunity in Curbing Population Growth (Listen | WE link) More/add podcasts >> | Top of page ^ Video Gallery World Population Tops 6.6 Billions (Watch | WE link) The World Welcomes the 7th Billion Earthling (Watch | WE link) Human Right Abuses in China's One Child Policy (Watch | WE link) More/add videos >> | Top of page ^ Other Resources Academic Journal ABC (Original link | WE link) Humans Magazine (Original link | WE link) DieOff.org (Original link | WE link) More/add resources >> | Top of page ^ |
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