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Human Population and the Environment: Unit-V POPULATION GROWTH, VARIATION AMONG NATIONS
Lecture-1 Population:
Group of individuals of species occupying a definite geographic area at a given time
Global Population Growth Trends-
Year Population (in billions)
1700 0.6
1850 1
1930 2
1960 3
1987 5
2000 6.1
2050 9.1
The population will continue to grow till equilibrium is achieved, i.e.
Number of births = Number of deaths
Population growing by 90 million/year.
Of which 93 % in developing countries Reasons for growth-
• Spread of public health programmes in developing countries.
• Rise in food production after World War II.
• Every second 4-5 children are born and 2 people die.
• Nearly 2.5 persons get added every second.
2 First 10 largest Countries
(Projected for 2050)
Sr. No. Country Population (In Millions)
1 India 1628
2 China 1369
3 United States 404
4 Indonesia 312
5 Nigeria 304
6 Pakistan 285
7 Brazil 244
8 Bangladesh 211
9 Ethiopia 188
10 Congo 182
Population density:
It is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume; it is a quantity of type number density. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key geographic term.
3 Carrying Capacity:
It is defined as the maximum population size that can be supported by environment.
• Carrying capacity increased by clever use of science and technology.
• Limit to max population size in given space and resource base.
• Population has been able to maintain Exponential Growth during past 100 years.
4 Population Growth Rate:
Exponential and logistical population growth:
When resources are unlimited, populations exhibit exponential growth, resulting in a J-shaped curve. When resources are limited, populations exhibit logistic growth. In logistic growth, population expansion decreases as resources become scarce, leveling off when the carrying capacity of the environment is reached, resulting in an S-shaped curve.
Logistical population growth:
Human population growth rate is measured as annual average growth rate.
Average annual growth rate (%)= (P2-P1/P1*N) * 100 Where,
P1 = Population size in previous Census P2 = Population size in present Census N = No of years between two Census
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Problem: In 1980, the population in Lane County was 250,000. This grew to 280,000 in 1990. What is the annual percentage growth rate for Lane County?
Solution:
The population of Lane County grew 12 percent between 1980 and 1990 or at an rate of 1.2 percent annually.
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Population Cont.. Lecture-2
Growth rate depends on several factors:
1. Rate of Birth (Fertility):
(a)Birth Rate: Number of babies produced per 1000 individuals
(b)Total Fertility Rate: Average number of children that would be born to women in her lifetime
(c)Replacement Level: Number of children a couple must produce to replace themselves.
• It is always higher than 2.0. Since some children die before reaching reproductive age.
7 2. Mortality
• Death Rate per thousand individuals.
• Reduction in mortality rate because of industrial revolution, Improved personal Hygiene, Modern medicines etc.
3. Migration
• Movement of individuals into or out of place/ country (within country).
8 4. Age and sex structure
• Proportion of individuals of different ages within that population is age structure.
• Proportion of active males and females in a population influence population growth.
Population growth, variation among nations:
• The needs of this huge number of human beings cannot be supported by the Earth’s natural resources, without degrading the quality of human life.
• In the near future, fossil fuel from oil fields will run dry. It will be impossible to meet the demands for food from existing agro systems.
Grazing lands will be overgrazed by domestic animals and industrial growth will create ever-greater problems due to pollution of soil, water and air.
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• Seas will not have enough fish.
• Larger ozone holes will develop due to the discharge of industrial chemicals into the atmosphere, which will affect human health.
• Global warming due to industrial gases will lead to a rise in sea levels and flood all low-lying areas, submerging coastal agriculture as well as towns and cities.
• Water ‘famines’ due to the depletion of fresh water, will create unrest and eventually make countries go to war.
• The control over regional biological diversity, which is vital for producing new medicinal and industrial products, will lead to grave economic conflicts between biotechnologically advanced nations and the biorich countries.
• Degradation of ecosystems will lead to extinction of thousands of species, destabilizing natural ecosystems of great value.
• These are only some of the environmental problems related to an increasing human population and more intensive use of resources that we are likely to face in future.
• These effects can be prevented by creating a mass environmental awareness movement.
• Present development strategies have not been able to successfully address these problems related to hunger and malnutrition.
• Only 15% of the world’s population in the developed world is earning 79% of income! Thus the disparity in the extent of per capita resources that are used by people who live in a ‘developed’ country as against those who live in a ‘developing’ country is extremely large. Similarly, the disparity between the rich and the poor in India is also growing.
• The increasing pressures on resources place great demands on the in- built buffering action of nature that has a certain ability to maintain a balance in our environment. However, current development strategies
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that essentially lead to short-term gains have led to a breakdown of our Earth’s ability to replenish the resources on which we depend.
Global population growth:
• The world population is growing by more than 90 million per year, of which 93% is in developing countries. This will essentially prevent their further economic ‘development’.
• In the past, population growth was a gradual phenomenon and the Earth’s ability to replenish resources was capable of adjusting to this increase. In the recent past, the escalation in growth of human numbers has become a major cause of our environmental problems.
• The global growth rate was depleting the Earth’s resources and was a direct impediment to human development. Several environmental ill- effects were linked with the increasing population of the developing world.
• In rural areas population growth led to increased fragmentation of farm land and unemployment.
• In the urban sector it led to inadequate housing and an increasing level of air pollution from traffic, water pollution from sewage, and an inability to handle solid waste.
• By the 1970s most countries in the developing world had realized that if they had to develop their economics and improve the lives of their citizens they would have to curtail population growth.
• There are cultural, economic, political and demographic reasons that explain the differences in the rate of population control in different countries. It also varies in different parts of certain countries and is linked with community and/ or religious thinking.
• Lack of Government initiatives for Family Welfare Program is serious impediment to limiting population growth in several countries
.
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Population Explosion: Lecture-3
An enormous growth of human beings is called as population explosion.
Causes:
1. Fertility
2. Reduced Infant Mortality Rate 3. Increased food production 4. Longevity
Impacts:
1. Pollution: increase in cars and emission of greenhouse gases into atmosphere
2. Deforestation: to build houses for increasing population 3. Freshwater Availability: increase in waste production and
contamination of water
4. Natural Resources: increase burning of fossil fuels, excessive use of coal 5. Global Warming: overall increase in temperature and chances of natural
disasters
6. Habitat Loss: change in ecosystems affecting tropic levels
12 Population Explosion in India
Reasons:
• Higher fertility rate due to failure of family planning
• Predominating religious or superstitious nature
• Importance of male child
• Social insecurity
• Poverty and backwardness
Environmental and ecological consequences :
Severe pressure on the forests due to both the rate of resource use and the nature of use.
Tropical deforestation and destruction of mangroves for commercial needs and fuel wood.
Intense grazing by domestic livestock
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illegal harvesting of wildlife
Over fishing in water bodies and introduction of weeds and exotic species.
EFFECTS OF POPULATION EXPLOSION 1. Air Pollution:
The technological development of India has lead not only to medical advancements, but also to an increase in the number of factories. That has lead to air and water pollution.
According to an article published in the Times of India on March 25th, 2000, “…increasing air pollution level in the year 1999, caused 3,650 untimely deaths and about 1,545,000 persons had been reportedly suffering with air (polluted) borne diseases.”
2. Water Pollution:
Nowadays water pollution is also one of the increasing problems due to the population explosion.
Major Pollutants are:
Petroleum products
Pesticides and herbicides
Hazardous wastes
Excessive organic matters like fertilizers.
Thermal pollution caused by deforestation.
3. Unemployment and Illiteracy:
Unemployment, or underemployment, further leads to poverty. This again starts the vicious cycle of poverty and population explosion discussed above. Poverty leads to an increase in the population, because poverty leads
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people to produce more children to increase the earning members of the family. This increases the population size of India, which further increases the unemployment rate and lack of educational facilities leading to poverty that started this whole cycle.
4. Food Resources
Resources are always limited. And in a developing and highly populous country like India, resources are even scarcer. Population explosion results in the shortage of even the most basic resources like food. According to an article by World Bank Group, “…more than half of all children under the age of four are malnourished, 30 percent of newborns are significantly underweight, and 60 percent of women are anemic.”
Family planning and welfare methods:
1. Vasectomy 2. Tubectomy
3. Conventional contraceptives(that is condoms, diaphragms, jelly/cream tubes, foam tables) and oral pills.
Success of the family planning program in India depends on several factors like literacy, religion and the region where the couple live.
Urbanization Its Implications…
• In 1950, 29 % people lived in urban areas
• By 2000, 47 % people lived in urban areas
• By 2030, estimates show that this will grow to 61 %
15 Causes
• Rural problems like drought, discrimination, unemployment
• All major developments in cities
• Better life in cities
• Standard of living
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Family Welfare Programmes Lecture-4
Basic training of Multi-Purpose Health Worker
Village health guides schemes
Rural Health Training Center
Family welfare Training and Research Centre, Mumbai Several important schemes are listed below:
• National Family Welfare Programme - India launched the National Family Welfare Programme in 1951 with the objective of "reducing the birth rate to the extent necessary to stabilise the population at a level consistent with the requirement of the National economy. The Family Welfare Programme in India is recognised as a priority area, and is being implemented as a 100% centrally sponsored programme.
• National Population Policy - The National Population Policy, 2000 affirms the commitment of government towards voluntary and informed choice and consent of citizens while availing of reproductive health care services and continuation of the target free approach in administering family planning services.
• National Rural Health Mission - The National Rural Health Mission (2005-12) seeks to provide effective healthcare to rural population throughout the country with special focus on 18 states, which have weak public health indicators and/or weak infrastructure. The mission aims at effective integration of health concerns with determinants of health like sanitation and hygiene, nutrition and safe drinking water through a District Plan for Health.
• Urban Family Welfare Schemes-This Scheme was introduced following the recommendation of the Krishnan Committee in 1983. The main focus was to provide services through setting up of Health Posts mainly in slum areas. The services provided are mainly outreach of RCH services,
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preventive services, First Aid and referral services including distribution of contraceptives.
• Sterilization Beds Scheme - A Scheme for reservation of Sterilization beds in Hospital sun by Government, Local Bodies and Voluntary Organisations was introduced as early as in the year 1964 in order to provide immediate facilities for tubectomy operations in hospitals where such cases could not be admitted due to lack of beds etc. But later with the introduction of the Post Partum Programme some of the beds were transferred to Post Partum Programme and thereafter the beds were only sanctioned to hospitals sun by Local Bodies and Voluntary Organisations.
• Reproductive and Child Health Programme- The Reproductive and Child Health Programme was launched in October 1997 incorporating new approach to population and development issues, as exposed in the International Conference in Population and Development held at Cairo in 1994.The programme integrated and strengthened in services/interventions under the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme and Family Planning Services and added to the basket of services, new areas on Reproductive Tract/Sexually Transmitted infections (RTI/STI).
Human Health and Environment
Because of the permanent interaction between man and his environment, our health is to a considerable extent determined by the environmental quality. As a consequence, environment and health are closely related.
The environment in which we live, work and relax, is determining for our health and well-being. Physical, as well as chemical and micro(biological) factors in the environment can have repercussions on our health, both physically and mentally.
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) definition of health emphasizes the physical, mental and social well-being: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the abscence of disease or infirmity". Health is considered as an overall concept reaching beyond the absence of illness and ailments.
Well-being and quality of life are subject to an impressive number of factors, including psychological, social and environment-related aspects.
In addition to positive influences such as green belts and entertainment areas, it is also important to identify the negative factors, such as noise, odour and light nuisance.
However, the relation between environment and health is extremely complex. Although many health problems are tought to be associated with environmental pollution, it is difficult to assess the seriousness, extent and causes of environment-related diseases. Besides environmental-related causes, there are other factors which can directly or indirectly lead to the same health problems.
Moreover, a causal connection between health effects and e.g.
distribution of specific substances in the environment is often hardly or not demonstrable. The specific contribution of each of the different causes of health problems is difficult to determine
The huge population pressurizes and degrades the environment physically, chemically and biologically.
The state of health of people depends on clean environment.
The changes in human environment increases the incidence of many diseases.
Various diseases-
1. HIV/ AIDS, TB, Malaria, Water borne diseases 2. Climate and Health
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3. Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Hazardous chemicals like pesticides, DDT, endosulfan etc
4. Infectious diseases 5. Water related diseases
6. Risks due to chemicals in food 7. Cancer and the environment
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Human Rights Lecture-5
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law , general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.
The universal declaration of human rights adopted by UNO on 10th Dec 1948
On May 16, 1994 the United Nations drafted declaration of Human Rights and Environment
1. The principles 2. Significance
Equity-Wealth, resources, energy distribution
Nutrition, Health and Human rights
Intellectual property rights
Rights of life liberty Fundamental Rights Include
and security of a person
Right to own property
Right to freedom of opinion and expression
Right to an adequate standard of living
Right to education , freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Right to freedom from torture and degrading treatment.
21 Value Education
Values deal with ones own principles and standards from which we judge what is right and wrong behaviour.
Objectives of Value Education:
a. To improve the integral growth of human begins.
b. To create attitudes and improvement towards sustainable lifestyle.
c. To increase awareness about our national history our cultural heritage, constitutional rights, national integration, community development and environment.
d. To create and develop awareness about the values and their significance and role.
e. To know about various living and non-living organisms and their interaction with environment.
Environmental values-Preservation of Environment
Valuing nature-Ecologist view
Valuing cultures-Tribal people closeness
Social justice-Traditional things
Human heritage-Protection of wilderness
Equitable use of resources
Common property resources-Government taking over
Ecological degradation
22 HIV/AIDS
Expanded as Human Immune Deficiency Virus / Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome.
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an infectious disease caused by the Human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Historical background
In Africa between 1884 and 1924
HIV probably enters Haiti around 1966.
First identified in USA in 1981.
Second it was found in Tanzania, and then over 25 people were infected thereafter.
Impacts of HIV
Estimates Range
People living with HIV/AIDS in
2009 33.3 million 31.4-35.3 millio
Adults living with HIV/AIDS in 2009
30.8 million 29.2-32.6 million
Women living with HIV/AIDS
in 2009 15.9 million 14.8-17.2 million
Children living with HIV/AIDS
in 2009 2.5 million 1.6-3.4 million
People newly infected with HIV
in 2009 2.6 million 2.3-2.8 million
Adults newly infected with HIV
in 2009 2.2 million 2.0-2.4 millio
AIDS deaths in 2009 1.8 million 1.6-2.1 million
Orphans (0-17) due to AIDS in
2009 16.6 million 14.4-18.8 million
23 Symptoms
It comes in three stages: Acute infection, chronic infection, and AIDS.
Other symptoms are:
A blotchy red rash, usually on the upper torso, that does not itch.
Headache
Aching muscles
Sore throat
Swollen lymph glands
Diarrhea
Nausea
Vomiting Causes
A person can be infected when he comes into contact with the following:
Blood transfusion
Child birth
Needle-sharing
Percutaneous needle stick
Receptive anal intercourse
Receptive penile-vaginal intercourse
The majority of HIV infections are acquired through unprotected sexual relations.
It takes 8-11 years in the diagnosis of this virus.
Control/prevention
AIDS and sex education
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Gay men awareness programs
Needle exchange programs
Relevant tests relating blood before transfusion
Use of condoms (male and female)
Circumcision.
Treatment & Care
Antiretrovirals
ARVs
ANTI-HIV or ANTI-AIDS drugs
Combination therapy.
Although there are drugs present nowadays but, there is currently no publicly available vaccine or cure for HIV or AIDS.
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Women and Child Welfare Lecture-6
The Department of Women and Child Development was set up in the year 1985 as a part of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to give the much needed impetus to the holistic development of women and children. With effect from 30.01.2006, the Department has been upgraded to a Ministry.
You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women” – Jawaharlal Nehru
Women and children constitute three fourth of human population
Usually the soft targets
Suffer mainly because they are weaker, helpless and economically dependent.
Collection and burning of household fuel by women
Women's problems with regard to water supply and sanitation
Women and children in hazardous occupation
Problem of cookstove pollution
26 Women and Child Welfare in India
Sarva Shikshan Abhiyan
Balika Samridhi Yojana
Integrated Child development service.
Special programs for development of women and children in rural area Role of IT in Environment and Health
Information technology (IT) is one of the fastest growing recent technology.
Various software have been developed for environment and health care which are user friendly and help in better understanding for the topic. A lot of techniques are used under IT for development and application of computational tools to acquire, store, analyze and visualize satellite data which is used for observation, and protection of environment Due to the development of the internet and information through the satellites a wide database is generated which is the collection of various interrelated articles.
27 Database
Ministry of Environment & Science
Wildlife database
Forest cover database
Diseases database
Environmental Information Systems (ENVIS)
Network in pollution control
Clean / Green Technologies
Renewable energy
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Remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Resource mapping
Environmental Conservation
Water logging
Deforestation
Health Information Technology
Audio, visual and data communication for medical diagnosis, treatment
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
Testing DNA
Creating DNA database
Finger prints
Medical records
X ray
Laser Treatments
Summery: Role of IT in environment:
Remote Sensing and GIS (Geographic Information System) provides data and knowledge concerning the global environment as it is used for mapping and monitoring various natural resources.
Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and Government of India (GOI) have created an Environment Information System (ENVIS).
Different ENVIS centers are set up in different organizations for information collection, storage which work towards boosting the relationship between trade and environment
IT is used for computer based modeling and simulation of environmental scenarios for analysis and prediction.
It enables environmental scientists and researchers around the world to communicate, collaborate and coordinate.
Role of IT in in human health
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IT can be used for audio, visual and data communications for medical consultation, diagnosis, treatment, nursing and medical education.
IT is used for testing of DNA, creating DNA database and genetic information about population. Medical records and finger prints which are used by investigating agencies to identify missing persons and criminals.
IT helps in spreading awareness about endemic, epidemic and communicable diseases. With the help of Remote Sensing and GIS there is identification of several infested areas which are prone to some diseases like malaria etc. based upon mapping of such areas.
