unit 3

Question 1

demography

Answer 1

Demography: The study of human population dynamics. It looks at how populations change over time due to births, deaths, migration and aging.

Question 2

factors leading pop increase

Answer 2

Food, Health, Economic Growth & Migration
Effects of Population Increase include:
Increased poverty
Resource depletion
Medicine shortages
Urban sprawl

Question 3

population growth rate

Answer 3

Population Growth Rate is the number of persons added to (or subtracted from) a population due to natural increase and net migration.

Question 4

Factors that may lead to population decline:

Answer 4

Heavy Emigration
Disease
Famine
War
Sub-replacement Fertility

Question 5

Sub-replacement Fertility:

Answer 5

a fertility rate that is not high enough to replace an area’s population. Sub-replacement fertility rate is 2.1 children per
woman or lower.

Question 6

Why would there be a low sub-replacement fertility rate?

Answer 6

Urbanization
Contraception
Government Policies
Change in role of women + values

Question 7

malthusian theory core principles

Answer 7

Population increases by geometric progression.
Food supply increases by means of arithmetic.
Consequence? Population will overtake food supply.
Malthus argued that there are “natural” controls on population
growth:
War
Famine
Disease

Question 8

Problems with Malthusian Theory

Answer 8

Malthus lived in a pre-industrial society
Theory does not consider the technological revolutions in agriculture and medicine
Mathematically biased – humans as baby-producing machines
“Natural” order is out of date

Question 9

ADAPTATION THEORY CORE PRINCIPLES:

Answer 9

Food is necessary for human existence.
Human population tends to grow faster than the power in the earth to produce subsistence, and that these two unequal powers may be made equal through human efforts.
Since humans tend not to limit their population size, we must find ways to grow more food, and prevent disease in order to sustain the population.

Question 10

Explain the Malthusian theory of population

Answer 10

He believed the main reason why so many people were living in poverty was because the population was growing faster than the food supply. He believed that the population can never increase beyond the lowest nourishment capable of supporting it. He also believed that population left unchecked goes on doubling, or increases geometrically, while food increases arithmetically.
Malthus then examines “the general checks to population” that keep the population down to the level of the subsistence being provided. The preventative checks are based on the assumptions that couples could recognize the size of family they were able to support and would plan accordingly. Among these checks were “moral restraint” (delay of marriage) and “vice” (measures of birth control). The other checks called the positive checks were extremely various and include every cause, whether arising from vice or misery, which in any degree contributes to shorten the natural duration of human life.

Question 11

Explain why Malthusian ideas have not come to fruition?

Answer 11

His ideas have not come to fruition because when he came to this conclusion, the population of Britain was 9 million and the population of the world was 900 million. As well, times were very different, and Malthus could not have foreseen or even imagined the tech developments that were only just beginning. As a result, the conflict that Malthus predicted between the increase in pop and the means of subsistence was averted.

Question 12

Explain how Marx’s theory of population differs from that of Malthus

Answer 12

Marx didn’t believe that the growth of human population was controlled by any natural law, as Malthus’s theories suggested. His ideas are complex, and since they are related to 19th century capitalism, they don’t fit today’s circumstances.

Question 13

Explain Catton’s theory of population

Answer 13

Catton begins by defining carrying capacity as the max permanently supportable population- that is, the number of people a given environment can support indefinitely. If this number is exceeded, then environmental damage will occur, and this in time will reduce the carrying capacity.
A sustainable economic system is one that does not exceed the carrying capacity. Those who benefitted came to believe that their good fortune was a result of the “limitlessness” of the earth’s resources and they saw no reason why this shouldn’t go on forever…called the cornucopian myth.
During the Industrial Revolution, the earth’s carrying capacity underwent greater growth because of the settling of new lands in the Americas and elsewhere partly because of an increase in the consumption of resources (fossil fuels). This was done by drawing down (“stealing from the future”) from a finite reservoir of resources, thus carrying capacity enlarged and populations grew.
Not only are we being deluded that tech is will save us, but according to Catton, industrialization and tech have helped us to develop a phantom carrying capacity. By drawing down resources that are largely non-renewable and damaging our environmental support systems, we have overshot our permanent carrying capacity and are living beyond ours means, which’s not sustainable.

Question 14

Explain Bogue’s theory of demographic regulation

Answer 14

His theory maintains that all societies are capable of regulating their populations and that such regulation is a result of certain social norms and economic conditions. “Every society tends to keep its vital processes in a state of balance such that population will replenish losses from death and grow to an extent deemed desirable by collective norms. These norms are flexible and readjust rather promptly to changes in the ability of the economy to support population”. This theory is a positive assertion that nations, when faced with serious overpopulation, will undergo adaptive social change to lower fertility rates and in doing so will invent and adopt a technology of contraception.

Question 15

gradual transition to zero growth

Answer 15

If all countries follow the transition path, growth will gradually diminish until it ceases.
The final population will depend on when all the countries of the world reach replacement level conditions, the most recent projections indicate that this will happen in the first half of the next century, and the population will finally stop growing
This can happen only if the carrying capacity of the earth has not been exceeded and if people restrain their growth to a level that is sustainable- that is if it doesn’t exceed the carrying capacity

Question 16

crash curve

Answer 16

This is the outcome that Catton(and Malthus) suggested might occur
The drawing down of resources will cause some or all of the earth’s population to overshoot the carrying capacity
This will lead to a disastrous rise in death rates, causing populations to fall dramatically
Eventually this decline would reduce the world’s populations to levels that might be sustained by the earth’s reduced carrying capacity

Question 17

natural increase

Answer 17

difference between the number of live births and deaths, generally calculated over a year.

Question 18

population pyramid

Answer 18

Population pyramid: Narrow base shows low birth rate as small numbers of children are born. Therefore, narrowing base indicates a falling birth rate. A broad top or wide apex indicates high proportion of people living longer. Straight or near vertical sides depicts a low death rate
if the pyramid has a broad base, this indicates that a relatively high proportion of the population lies in the youngest age band

Question 19

impact of baby boom on pop

Answer 19

A relatively small surge in births from 1942 to 1945 helped boost the population to about 140 million

Question 20

dependency ratio

Answer 20

The dependency ratio is a measure of the number of dependents aged zero to 14 and over the age of 65, compared with the total population aged 15 to 64. This demographic indicator gives insight into the number of people of non-working age, compared with the number of those of working age.

Question 21

Malthus theory:

Answer 21

human populations tend to grow faster than agricultural output, resulting in famines or crises

Question 22

rule of 70

Answer 22

Rule of 70: used to determine the number of years it takes for a variable to double by dividing the number 70 by the variable’s growth rate

Question 23

Agricultural revolution:

Answer 23

the name given to a number of cultural transformations that initially allowed humans to change from a hunting and gathering subsistence to one of agriculture and animal domestications

Question 24

Industrial revolution- impact on pop:

Answer 24

During the Industrial Revolution, the earth’s carrying capacity underwent greater growth because of the settling of new lands in the Americas and elsewhere partly because of an increase in the consumption of resources (fossil fuels). This was done by drawing down (“stealing from the future”) from a finite reservoir of resources, thus carrying capacity enlarged and populations grew.
Not only are we being deluded that tech is will save us, but according to Catton, industrialization and tech have helped us to develop a phantom carrying capacity. By drawing down resources that are largely non-renewable and damaging our environmental support systems, we have overshot our permanent carrying capacity and are living beyond ours means, which’s not sustainable.

Question 25

pop. implosion

Answer 25

Population implosion: drastic decline in population

Question 26

Pronatalist strategies:

Answer 26

tax advantages or better welfare benefits for women who have more than one child. Family-friendly employment conditions (eg flexible hours, job sharing or affordable child care) are also encouraged by many governments to help women to have more children.

Question 27

Problems with overpopulation:

Answer 27

An increase in population will inevitably create pressures leading to more deforestation, decreased biodiversity, and spikes in pollution and emissions, which will exacerbate climate change.
Overpopulation also presents significant social and economic challenges. High population densities in urban areas strain infrastructure leading to overcrowded cities, inadequate housing, and overwhelmed healthcare and educational systems. The competition for limited resources also results in higher poverty rates and higher levels of unemployment exacerbating social inequalities within communities

Question 28

China vs. India

Answer 28

China: One child policy, beatings, tortured
India: Clinics encouraged family planning through contraception and sterilization, everything is encouraged not forced

Question 29

Factors that may lead to population increase include:

Answer 29

Food, Health, Economic Growth & Migration
Effects of Population Increase include:
Increased poverty
Resource depletion
Medicine shortages
Urban sprawl

Question 30

Pop growth affect humanity

Answer 30

More people means an increased demand for food, water, housing, energy, healthcare, transportation, and more. And all that consumption contributes to ecological degradation, increased conflicts, and a higher risk of large-scale disasters like pandemics.