Geography Population

RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Geography Topics covered - Population Growth - Population Distribution - Population Density - Factors leading to a low death rate - Factors leading to a high death rate - Consequences of a high rate of population growth - Actions to control a high rate of population growth (Overpopulation) - Low rate of population growth - Factors that lead to a low death rate/What causes a low death rate - Factors that lead to a low birth rate/What causes a low rate of population growth - Consequences of a low rate of population growth - Actions to manage a low rate of population growth (Underpopulation) - Actions to manage an ageing population - Definitions

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Population  Pyramid: 1. The  less  developed  countries  or  those  with  low  levels  of  economic  wealth  and  poor  living   condi8ons  of  the  people,  experience  a  high  rate  of  popula8on  growth.

2. In  developed  countries,  there  is  a  high  level  of  economic  health  and  a  high  standard  of  living.  The   popula8on  growth  in  such  countries  remains  low.  The  growth  rate  is  1%  or  below.

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Population Growth - Population growth refers to a change in population size. This change can be positive or negative. There are also instances where there is no change in population numbers, which is other wise known as zero population growth. Factors affecting the world growth rate - Changes in the world population growth rate are due to t wo factors: a rise in birth rates and a fall in death rates. Birth rate - Number of live births per 1000 people per year. E.g. if the birth rate of a country is 21 live births per 1000 people per year, it means that for every 1000 people in the country, 21 people were born in that year. Death rate - Number of deaths per 1000 people that year. E.g. if the death rate of a country is 9 deaths per 1000 people per year, it means that for every 1000 people in the country, 9 people died that year. If there are more births than deaths/if the birth rate is higher than the death rate, the country experiences an increase in population. Thus, the rate of natural increase is positive If there are more deaths than births/if the death rate is higher than the birth rate, the country experiences a decrease in population. Thus the rate of natural increase is negative. If both the birth rate death rate is equal, we say that the growth rate is zero. Therefore the population size remains the same. Population Distribution - The way people are spread out over an area of land. Most of the world’s population lives on only 10% of the Earth’s surface and even so, it is not evenly spread out. Some places like Switzerland have small populations while others like China and India have large populations. Thus, the population distribution is uneven.

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Factors influencing population distribution -Physical Environment Places that has more population -Volcanoes 1) This is because the foot of the volcano has very fertile soil. Each time a volcano erupts, a big amount of volcanic ash is released. This ash contains many minerals which make the soil very fertile and helps crops to grow well. 2) Many people also travel to view the spectacular scenery of volcanoes, such as its lava fountains, geysers and even its eruptions. Locals earn money from providing services, such as conducting guided tours or trekking trips up the volcano. There are also hot springs and inns to provide a home for the tourists when they are there. 3) The villagers living in the vicinity of the volcano can also make use of the heat to obtain geothermal energy. -River Deltas This is because river deltas usually have large populations as the soil is very fertile due to sediments deposited by the rivers. Examples include the Nile Delta in Egypt and the Ganges River Delta bet ween India and Bangladesh. Places that have less population -Mountains This is because mountains cannot support settlements as they have steep slopes. The temperature on the mountains decreases as the altitude increases and the atmosphere also gets thinner. Such conditions are unsuitable for humans to live in. -Deserts This is because the climate in deserts is hot and dry and these conditions are also unsuitable for humans to live in as they will not be able to obtain enough food and water. The temperature in deserts are also to hot in the morning and too cold at night for humans to tolerate. Therefore, for a place to have a lot of population, the weather and climate must not be too extreme, as well as the temperature range. There must also be natural resources, attractions and undulating land to facilitate agriculture, human activities and settlements. Level of technology Technology here refers to the knowledge, skills and tools that people use to meet their needs. With improvements in technology, environments which were previously unsuitable for living can be converted into suitable living environments. For example people can live in a desert if water can be channeled from a river to their living environment. RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Population density Population density gives us an idea of the number of people living in a particular area. It is usually expressed in terms of the number of people per square kilometer of land. Population density= Total number of people/Total land area Population density varies from place to place. For example, Canada has a population density of 3 people per square meter while Bangladesh has a population density of 1042 people per square meter. We say that Canada has a relatively sparse population, and that Bangladesh has a relatively dense population. Singapore has a population density of 6000 people per square meter. This is one of the highest population densities in the world. However, the population density doesn’t tell us about the actual number of people in an area of the country. This is because even within a country, people are not evenly distributed and some regions are more crowded than others. Cities generally have high population densities while countrysides and areas such as deserts and forests usually have low population densities. High rates and Low rates of Population growth - High rate of population growth The fastest population growth in the world today is experienced in less developed countries. Less developed countries refer to countries with low levels of economic wealth and poor living conditions. These countries usually experience a high rate of population growth. Examples of such countries are found in Africa, South America and some parts of Asia. India is one of the countries in Asia experiencing a population explosion. India’s population rose from 360 million in 1950 to over one billion in 2004. We can use a population pyramid to show this pattern of population growth. A population pyramid is a graph that gives us information about the number or percentage of people in different age groups, and the proportion of males to females in a place. The vertical scale tells us the age group of the population while the horizontal scale represents the percentage or the total number of people within that age group.

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Factors leading to a low death rate 1) Better medical and health care Medical care refers to the availability of hospitals, clinics, doctors, medical equipment, medicine and medical knowledge. Health care refers to immunization, nutritional knowledge, the availability of community hospitals and other measures aimed at improving the quality of life. Better medical and health care have enabled many babies to survive beyond their first year. When few babies die within the first year of birth, we say that the infant mortality rate is low. The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths among infants under one year of age for every 1000 live births per year. Also, when the elderly receive better medical care, they are able to live longer. We say that the life expectancy has increased. Life expectancy refers to the average number of years a person living in a particular area is expected to live. When people enjoy a longer life expectancy, the death rate will fall. 2) Better hygiene People are less prone to falling sick and contracting diseases if their living conditions are clean and hygienic. In many countries, the death rate as greatly decreased when there is a supply of clean water, and when the environment is clear of disease-carrying pests and insects. Factors leading to a high birth rate 1) Lack of family planning Family planning refers to how many children a couple plans to have. In many less developed countries, people are less educated and know little about family planning methods. They may also end up having children because of deep-rooted traditional beliefs and values, or religious beliefs. For example, some Hindu ceremonies require sons to perform religious rituals for parents. Therefore, couples may continue to have children until they succeed in having a son. 2) Early marriages Couples who marry at an early age tend to have larger families than those who marry at a later age. This is because the number of years that women who marry early have for childbearing is higher. Hence, in countries where people marry young, such as in certain parts of India, the birth rates tend to be high. 3) Preference for sons Some societies such as those in rural parts of China or India, place a lot of importance on having sons. Sons are seen as being capable of carrying on the family name or surname when they marry while daughters are not. In addition, sons are able to continue working on the farm when the parents grow old, unlike daughters, who will move away from the family when they get married. Thus, couples continue to have children until they succeed in having sons. RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

4) Need for farm labour People in many less developed countries depend on farming to earn a living. Farm work requires much labour and large families are therefore preferred as there will be more hands to work on the land. Consequences of a high rate of population growth 1) Higher demand for resources With more people, the demand for resources such as food and water also increases. In fact, many less developed countries suffer from shortage of food because not enough food is being produced to feed the rapidly growing population. 2) Higher demand for housing A rapid increase in population would also result in competition for housing. This is especially so in cities of less developed countries, which do not have sufficient housing for its growing population. In some cities in India, for example, it is common to see many people living in temporary shelters made of cardboard or wooden planks. 3) Higher demand for education With more babies born every year, there is a need to ensure that there are sufficient schools and teachers to educate the young. Less developed countries may lack the funds to build more schools. As a result, not everyone will be able to attend school and obtain a good education. 4) Higher demand for jobs In a country with rapid population growth, there will be a lot of people competing for a limited number of jobs. It has been estimated that about 30 million new jobs have to be created in the world every year if every new person reaching working age is to have a job! 5) Environmental problems With a larger population, not only are the resources used by people, more waste, such as used paper, empty bottles and sewage are produced. In less developed countries, waste disposal ser vices and other public services are lacking. This has led to water and land pollution.

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Actions to control a high rate of population growth (Overpopulation) 1) Education on family planning In many countries, couples are taught various methods of controlling the size of their family. For example, in India and Bangladesh, women from family planning agencies have been sent to rural areas to educated the people and give advice on family planning. 2) Incentives and penalties Rewards in the form of monetary incentives may be given to couples who have fewer children. In contrast, those with more children could be penalized, for example, by having to pay higher taxes. China uses both incentives and penalties as means to slow down population growth. The ‘One child policy’ was implemented in 1979 in response to rapid population growth. This policy allowed each couple in the country to have only one child. Incentives in the form of housing and education subsidies were given to couples who pledged to have only one child. Couples who had more than one child had to pay heavy fines to the government. In recent times however, some exceptions and revisions have been made to the policy to allow certain couples to have more children. For example, if a couple are each an only child, they would be allowed to have t wo children. This is to prevent an imbalance in the population, because with so few babies born, there may be less young people to care for the elderly in the future. Low rate of population growth The slowest rate of population growth today is experienced in developed countries. Developed countries refer to countries with high levels of economic wealth and living conditions. These countries usually experience a low rate of population growth. Examples of such countries are Japan and the United Kingdom. Causes of a low rate of population growth It has been obser ved that countries that experience a low rate of population growth usually experience a low death rate as well as a low birth rate. In these countries, people tend to live longer and fewer babies are born each year.

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Factors that lead to a low death rate/What causes a low death rate 1) Higher standards of living In countries with high standards of hygiene, there is clean food, water and air. People are less prone to contracting diseases such as cholera, which is associated with unhygienic living conditions. 2) Better nutrition In developed countries, people generally enjoy higher levels of income and can afford to buy sufficient food and water. Food shortages are also rare in these countries. 3) Better medical and health care With better medical and health care, people are able to enjoy longer and healthier lives. For example, when vaccinations are easily available to the public, diseases can be prevented from spreading in the country. In Singapore, all children are given vaccinations to protect them from illnesses such as smallpox and measles. In addition, worldclass hospitals and well-trained doctors in Singapore enable people to enjoy excellent medical care. Factors that lead to a low birth rate/What causes a low rate of population growth 1) Later marriages More people are marrying later and having children later in their lives. This could be due to the fact that more women now have higher academic qualifications than before and thus may choose to pursue a career before settling down and having children. Since most women cannot conceive babies after they reach the age of 50, those who marry later or delay having children are left with fewer years to have babies. 2) Fewer marriages As more people choose to remain single, there will be fewer families and birth rates will fall. With fewer births, the number of young people in a population decreases. 3) Preference for smaller families Increasingly, people in developed countries prefer to have smaller families. This is partly due to the increasing number of working women who find it difficult to balance work and family and hence choose to have fewer children. More people today also feel that the cost of raising children has increased. Such changing trends and values have led to some couples not preferring to have children at all!

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Consequences of a low rate of population growth 1) Ageing population Countries with low rate of population growth often have a growing percentage of elderly people compared to young people in their population. These countries are said to have an ageing population. Examples of such countries include France, Germany and Japan. With more elderly people and fewer youths joining the workforce, the burden on the working population will increase. 2) Higher taxes Public projects such as the building of hospitals and community centres are funded taxes collected from the working population. With a shrinking population, fewer people will be in the workforce. This will mean that each working person will have to pay more taxes to fund public projects, such as building more public facilities like swimming pools and libraries. 3) Smaller talent pool With a low rate of population growth, there will be fewer people to lead and ser ve the country. This is a problem for countries like Singapore, which already has a small population. Hence, it is necessary for these countries to attract foreign talent. Actions to manage a low rate of population growth (Underpopulation) 1) Encouraging marriage and childbearing One solution to the problems is to increase birth rates. The government can encourage married couples to have more children. In Singapore, couples are now encouraged to have three or more children. For example, women who have more children when they are younger are given more tax rebates, that is, the amount of taxes that they have to pay is reduced. The government has also encouraged the setting up of more child care centres to look after children while their parents are at work. 2) Promoting facilities through tax incentives so that married couples would be encouraged to produce more babies. 3) Providing facilities that promote marriage and parenthood. 4) Carrying out advertising campaigns to educate the public on benefits of getting married and having children. Consequences of an ageing population 1) When there is more elderly people, more funds are needed to provide medical care for the elderly who fall sick quite often. Therefore there will be a strain in the government money as more funds are needed to provide medical care to the elderly. 2) Government have to provide more pensions. This is because there are many elderly people and therefore the government has to provide more pensions.

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

3) Government have to provide more care-homes. Since there are more elderly people, some of the young children have no time and will therefore send their parents to carehomes. Therefore the government has to provide more care-homes. 4) All of the above means more taxes on the workers, as more money is needed by the government, and it's from the workers that they get that money. Therefore people will have to pay higher taxes. 5) There will be lesser working population as many elderly people would have retired, and there might be not enough workers to provide for the elderly population, therefore the country’s economy is at a high risk.

Actions to manage an ageing population 1) Meeting the needs of the elderly As one of the consequences of a low rate of population growth is an ageing population, countries with a low rate of population growth also need to address the challenges of an ageing population. These include building special facilities for the elderly, helping them to keep healthy and encouraging their families to care for them. 2) Building special facilities More clinics and hospitals that specialise in the care of illnesses specific to the elderly would have to be built. The need for homes catering to the elderly and other elderlyfriendly facilities will also increase. 3) Helping the elderly keep healthy It is important for the elderly to keep healthy and active both physically and mentally. In Singapore, healthy living for the elderly is promoted through posters and television programmes. Exercise classes and courses for lifelong learning at community centres are also organized for them. 4) Encouraging families to look after the elderly With their years of experience, the elderly have an important role to play in society. As such, more families should take it upon themselves to look after the elderly. Various community programmes as well as government incentives can help encourage this. For example, family ties are promoted through various privileges and tax subsidies for families that support their parents and grandparents.

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

5) Extending working life In an ageing population, unless the elderly can be persuaded to remain in the workforce, the number of people in the workforce will slowly decrease. This means that the working population will face a heavy burden of supporting the elderly. One way to solve this problem is by raising the retirement age. In Japan, where one in every five people are aged 65 years and above, the current retirement age is 65 and set to increase. In Singapore, adjustments have also been made to the retirement age. In 1993, the retirement age was fixed at 60 years. Six years later, the retirement age was raised to 62. However, as Singapore faces an ageing population and rising health care costs, the government is considering the possibility of increasing the retirement age once again. 6) Encouraging family planning The elderly need to have a home and enough money to live comfortably. To ensure this, people need to have enough financial resources when they retire. With early planning, they will have sufficient resources to meet one’s life goals. This is also known as financial planning. The government can also play a part in encouraging financial planning through social security schemes, pension schemes and retirement funds. For example, in Singapore, the government ensures that all working Singaporeans have to set aside a portion of their monthly salary in their Central Provident Fund (CPF). This sum of money will accumulate in their CPF and eventually be returned to them when they are older. When they turn 55, they can withdraw a portion of the money from their CPF savings. Upon turning 62, they can opt to have the rest of the money returned to them on a monthly basis. This ensures that the elderly are able to maintain a good quality of life when they retire.

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RICK WONG!

AUGUST 29, 2009

Glossary Ageing population - A population that comprises a growing percentage of elderly people. Birth rate - The number of live births per 1000 people per year. Death rate - The number of deaths per 1000 people per year. Financial planning - Early planning to ensure people have enough resources to meet their life’s goals. High rate of population - Rapid increase in population. Low rate of population - Slow increase in population. Population density - Number of people living in a unit area of land. Population distribution - The spread of people over a unit area of land. Population growth - The change in population size. It can be positive or negative. In instances where there is no change in population, the population growth is said to be zero. Rate of natural increase - Can be calculated by subtracting the death rate from the birth rate. Infant mortality rate - The number of deaths among infants under one year of age for every 1000 live births per year. Life expectancy - The average number of years a person living in a particular area is expected to live.

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RICK WONG!

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Deforestation Causes of Deforestation 1) Used for Urban and Construction Purposes: The cutting down of trees for lumber that is used for building materials, furniture, and paper products. Forests are also cleared in order to accommodate expanding urban areas. 2) To Grow Crops: Forests are also cut down in order to clear land for growing crops. 3) To Create Grazing Land: Forests are cut down in order create land for grazing cattle. 4) Used for Fuel: Trees are cut down in developing countries to be used as firewood or turned into charcoal, which are used for cooking and heating purposes Some of the other causes of deforestation are: clearing forests for oil and mining exploitation; to make highways and roads; slash and burn farming techniques; wildfires; and acid rain. Effects of deforestation 1) Erosion of Soil: When forest areas are cleared, it results in exposing the soil to the sun, making it very dry and eventually, infertile, due to volatile nutrients such as nitrogen being lost. In addition, when there is rainfall, it washes away the rest of the nutrients, which flow with the rainwater into water ways. Because of this, merely replanting trees may not help in solving the problems caused by deforestation, for by the time the trees mature, the soil will be totally devoid of essential nutrients. Ultimately, cultivation in this land will also become impossible, resulting in the land becoming useless. Large tracts of land will be rendered permanently impoverished due to soil erosion. 2) Disruption of the Water Cycle: Trees contribute in a large way in maintaining the water cycle. They draw up water via their roots, which is then released into the atmosphere. A large part of the water that circulates in the ecosystem of rainforests, for instance, remains inside the plants. When these trees are cut down it results in the climate getting drier in that area. 3) Loss of Biodiversity: The unique biodiversity of various geographical areas is being lost on a scale that is quite unprecedented. Even though tropical rainforests make up just 6 percent of the surface area of the Earth, about 80-90 percent of the entire species of the world exist here. Due to massive deforestation, about 50 to 100 species of animals are being lost each day. The outcome of which is the extinction of animals and plants on a massive scale. RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

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4) Flooding and Drought: One of the vital functions of forests is to absorb and store great amounts of water quickly when there are heavy rains. When forests are cut down, this regulation of the flow of water is disrupted, which leads to alternating periods of flood and then drought in the affected area. 5) Climate Change: It is well known that global warming is being caused largely due to emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, what is not known quite as well is that deforestation has a direction association with carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Trees act as a major storage depot for carbon, since they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is then used to produce carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that make up trees. When deforestation occurs, many of the trees are burnt or they are allowed to rot, which results in releasing the carbon that is stored in them as carbon dioxide. This, in turn, leads to greater concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Direct causes of deforestation The most important direct causes of deforestation include logging, the conversion of forested lands for agriculture and cattle-raising, urbanization, mining and oil exploitation, acid rain and fire. However, there has been a tendency of highlighting small-scale migratory farmers or "poverty" as the major cause of forest loss. Such farmers tend to settle along roads through the forest, to clear a patch of land and to use it for growing subsistence or cash crops. In tropical forests, such practices tend to lead to rapid soil degradation as most soils are too poor to sustain agriculture. Consequently, the farmer is forced to clear another patch of forest after a few years. The degraded agricultural land is often used for a few years more for cattle raising. This is a death sentence for the soil, as cattle remove the last scarce traces of fertility. The result is an entirely degraded piece of land which will be unable to recover its original biomass for many years. It is a major mistake to think that such unsustainable agricultural practices only take place in tropical countries. Many parts of North America and western Europe have become deforested due to unsustainable agriculture, leading to severe soil degradation and in many cases abandonment of the area by the farmers. In other countries, clearcut logging practices have been the main reason for forest loss. In the early nineties, Canada and Malaysia were famous examples of countries where logging companies ruthlessly cleared mile upon mile of precious primary forests. Here too, the historical perspective should not be overlooked. Countries like Ireland and Scotland used to be almost entirely forested, but were nearly completely cleared under British rule to provide timber for English shipbuilders. Today, logging still forms the most important direct threat to forests in regions like the Guianan shield (stable area of low relief in the Earth's crust), Central Africa, East Siberia and British Columbia.

RICK WONG!

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RICK WONG!

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The underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation During the last few decades, the forest crisis has prompted many international, regional and national preser vation initiatives, yet many have had little success. There is general agreement that this is due to the fact that these strategies were too focused on the immediate causes of deforestation, and neglected the underlying causes which are multiple and interrelated. In some cases they are related to major international economic phenomena, such as macro-economic strategies which provide a strong incentive for short-term profit-making instead of long-term sustain ability. Also important are deep-rooted social structures, which result in inequalities in land tenure, discrimination against indigenous peoples, subsistence farmers and poor people in general. In other cases they include political factors such as the lack of participatory democracy, the influence of the military and the exploitation of rural areas by urban elites. Overconsumption by consumers in high-income countries constitutes another of the major underlying causes of deforestation, while in some regions uncontrolled industrialization is at the heart of forest degradation with widespread pollution resulting in acid rain. The causes of deforestation are many and varied, and it is impossible to cover them all. However some examples can show how these causes are closely interrelated one to each other. The forces behind unsustainable agriculture According to the FAO, 90 per cent of deforestation is caused by unsustainable agricultural practices, while logging and plantation forestry play a greater role in forest degradation. However debatable these figures may be, unsustainable agriculture is undoubtedly one of the major direct causes of deforestation and forest degradation in many countries of the world. A simplistic approach to the problem would imply blaming the "ignorance" of the farmers involved in this process. The process is however more complex. Few people actually decide that they want to leave their native land, go to the forest, cut it and convert it into agricultural land. They are driven to such actions by national and international forces with interests different to theirs. In some countries, forests act as safety-valves to avoid social uprisings, in the following way. The concentration of power and land in few hands results in large groups of dispossessed people, which may lead to confrontation. To avoid conflict, some of these people are offered free land within the forests. Access to forests is made possible through government-promoted road projects, either built to open up and "develop" the forests or resulting from the commercial activities of logging, mining, and energy generation. In the above example, it is clear that deforestation can take place only because a number of government policies - social and economic - indirectly promote it. Whilst the poor may operate the chainsaws or set the forest on fire, it is mostly governments and corporations who are behind such actions.

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RICK WONG!

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The far-reaching consequences of globalization In other cases, forests are opened up for modern large-scale agriculture or cattleraising aimed at the export market. For example, forests have been converted for cattle in Central America, for soy bean production in Brazil and for pulpwood in Indonesia. In the first case, the process originated in the explosive development of a fast food - hamburger - market in the US which required vast amounts of lowquality cheap meat which could be produced in nearby tropical countries. The result was widespread deforestation in Central America. Subsidized and highly intensive meat production in Europe requires an ever-increasing supply of grains to feed livestock. Soy bean is one of the major inputs for such production and enormous patches of forest have been opened up in Brazil - and in many other Southern countries - to ensure the economic sustainability of that sector through the supply of cheap grain. A similar situation occurs with paper: the continued growth of paper consumption, particularly in high income countries, depends on the availability of cheap wood or pulp to feed the paper mills. Forests are thus being cleared in Indonesia - and many other parts of the world - to give way to eucalyptus plantations aimed at supplying that market with increasing amounts of cheap raw material. In the above cases, it is clear that the production of hamburgers in the US, of meat in Europe and of paper in high-income countries are a contributory cause of deforestation in Central America, Brazil and Indonesia.

RICK WONG!

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