The Impact of Growth and Case Studies

Natural and overall rates of growth

You might think that wealthy nations and wealthy families would have the most children, since they can best afford to provide for them. Interestingly enough, the more wealthy industrialized nations have lower population growth rates than developing nations. Canada has an overall growth rate of just over 1%, while some European countries actually have shrinking populations.

Ninety-nine percent of global population growth occurs in the developing world, with several countries on a growth curve that will lead to their populations doubling (Nigeria) or even tripling (Ethiopia) in population by 2050. In these families, women are rarely educated and often have large numbers of children. Choosing to have large families is in part based on cultural values, where large families are important and it is also considered very important to have male children. These are precisely the areas that can least afford the increase in population. They often lack clean water, arable land, infrastructure, and finances to increase food production. Many of these families are very poor, and cannot afford to feed, educate, or provide health care to their children. Infant mortality is often high.

Family Planning

The governments of many nations have been concerned with unchecked population growth. While population growth in the developed world tends to lead to economic growth, uncontrolled population growth in the developing world has a negative impact. Governments in these countries fear that there will not be enough food to go around, that the infrastructure cannot support more people, and that the economy will suffer if there are too many mouths to feed. In the past, countries like China have enforced a "One Child Policy" that has forced families to have only one child, while places like India have increased family planning education and access to birth control.

The education of women is a primary reason why many nations have been able to control their population growth. When women have control over reproduction, they tend to have fewer children. When women have higher earning power and greater skills to participate in the economy, they often choose to have fewer children and to ensure their children have the greater advantages. Education as a result empowers women allowing them to make informed decisions about their own lives and those of their children.

Carrying capacity

This is a major obstacle in defining the actions needed to combat the ill effects of air pollution and to mobilizing local, national, and international resources to combat the problem. The World Health Organization has taken a leading role in education. Serious action must take place, they say, citing findings that estimate that more than two million people per year die from particulate pollution. Air quality standards can be enforced by law. The Clean Air Act in the United States is one form of legislation that protects air quality. One of the largest producers of air pollution is the automobile.

Deforestation is the destruction of forests due to human activities. This can happen through direct cutting of forests, or through pollution such as acid rain. Forests are important because they provide oxygen through photosynthesis. Also, forests are effective filters of air pollution. Trees can filter polluted air, making it clean again. Of course, depending on the type of air pollution, pollution can kill trees. Today, all the major forests of the world are threatened by human activities.

Desertification is the gradual expansion of deserts to include areas that were once fertile. Desertification increases because of deforestation, poor farming techniques, overgrazing, and global warming.

Destruction of ecosystems has an impact on both people and animals. As human activity becomes greater throughout the world, more and more ecosystems are affected, and animals lose more of their natural habitat.

Technology and agricultural yields

As more people take up more land, increased agricultural production becomes increasingly important. Technology has increased the yield per hectare of food products around the world, and nations are becoming more specialized in the production of foodstuffs. Improved seeds for crops, more efficient farm machines, better fertilizers, and better pesticides and herbicides all help the land produce more grains and vegetables. Better feeding and breeding and the introduction of growth hormones and antibiotics have increased production of livestock. Factory farms, where mass production techniques have been used to increase production, are another factor in increasing agricultural yields.

This technology, of course, is not available to all nations equally, and the gap between rich and poor nations widens.

Genetically modified foods

Genetically engineered foods have the genes of other organisms inserted into them to make them stronger or more productive. For example, "Round-up Ready Canola" has been genetically modified to resist the herbicide Round-up, so that when the crop is sprayed, all other plants die and the canola plants live. Genetically modified crops have many potential advantages, because they can produce higher yields. Foods can also be genetically modified to make them more nutritious or healthier. For instance, transgenic rice can improve oral rehydration to counter the effects of diarrhea, which is the second largest infectious killer of children under the age of five in the developing world. Golden rice has had two genes inserted into its genome, providing additional amounts of vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency is a leading cause of blindness in up to half a million children a year, and a leading cause of disease in children in the developing world. Genetically modified plants are grown in forty countries and include rice, soybeans, corn, and sweet potatoes among others. Each year, more land is being planted with genetically modified plants.