1. Challenges & Solutions
GLOBAL POPULATION
Challenges & Solutions

2. GLOBAL POPULATION Currently over 7 Billion (Oct 31 2011)
China – 1.35 Billion 19% of Global Pop
India – 1.2 Billion 17% of Global Pop
Increasing by 220,000 people per day
Estimated to reach 9 Billion by 2050

4. WHY THE BIG DEAL?
Global Population threatens to exceed the CARRYING CAPACITY of the planet (earth’s ability to sustain life) particularly in two areas:
FOOD SUPPLY: How do you feed 7-9 Billion people?
ENVIRONMENT: People are consuming so many resources it is changing the geography of the planet (deforestation, climate change, urban sprawl)

5. Birth rates exceeds death rates = population increase
GROWTH RATE
  Past 50 years there has been a huge population increase (3 Billion in 1960)
WHY?
Post WWII saw a huge decline in global death rates due to modern medicines controlling deadly diseases.
Birth rates continued to remain high
Birth rates exceeds death rates = population increase
As birth rates began to decrease, so did the rate of population growth
Presently birth (fertility rates) are decreasing in most parts of the world (except the poorest countries)

6. Declining Growth Rates

7. GLOBAL FERTILITY RATES

8. SOLUTIONS Some solutions to Population Growth include:
1. Decrease in the Global Fertility Rate (birth rate)
2. Increase the Carrying Capacity of the Earth
3. Decrease Consumption in Developed Countries

9. GLOBAL FERTILITY RATE
Decreasing the Global Fertility Rate can be done several ways:
FAMILY PLANNING: Encourage families to have smaller families….give them access to birth control….educate girls
GOVERNMENT POLICIES: China’s One Child Policy…..Uzbekistan’s forced sterilization
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Developed countries tend to have fewer children

10. Increase Earth’s capacity to feed a growing population by:
CARRYING CAPACITY
Increase Earth’s capacity to feed a growing population by:
GREEN REVOLUTION (1960s) The development of petroleum-based products like fertilizers and pesticides led to a huge increase in food production
GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD (GMO) (1996) Changes made to the DNA of food to help increase food production
Global Food production will have to increase by 70% to feed 9 Billion by 2050 (Economist Oct 2011)

11. CONSUMPTION RATES
Although most population increase is in Developing countries….most consumption of resources are in the developed countries:
UNITED STATES: 5% of global pop, consumes 25% of world’s resources
Top 12% (N. America, Europe) consume 60%
Bottom 33% (Asia, Africa) consume 3.2%
CARRYING CAPACITY of the Earth = 1.9 ha of land/person
US is 9.7 ha/person MOZAMBIQUE is 0.46 ha/peson

12. HOW CAN YOU REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION?