Early Population Growth

World Population Growth

http://www.susps.org/overview/numbers.html

World Population Growth 

Human Population: Fundamentals of Growth Population Growth and Distribution                                                                                                                                                                                                            

World Population Growth, 1750–2150

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects, The 1998 Revision; and estimates by the Population Reference Bureau.

World Population GrowthDate Population8000BC 5M4000BC 87M1AD 250M1650 500M1850 1.1B1930 2B1950 2.5B1970 3.6B1988 5.1B1999 6B

World Population GrowthWorld Populaiton Growth Since Common Era

100000000

1000000000

10000000000

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500Date

Population in Millions

Arr ival of V

ikin gs

Gu tenberg pr in tin g press

Canad a’s bir thday

Today

Warfare & economic disruption

Little Ice Age, famine, Black Death Plague

First Hum

an on the M

oon

World Population GrowthTHE WORLD AT SIX BILLION: HIGHLIGHTS

1. World population crossed the six billion threshold on October 12, 1999. As of Oct 1, 2010 our population is 6,872,325,032

2. The highest rate of world population growth (2.04 per cent) occurred in the late 1960s. The current rate (1995-2000) is 1.31 per cent.

3. The largest annual increase to world population (86 million) took place in the late 1980s; the current annual increase is 78 million.

4. Of the 78 million people currently added to the world each year, 95 per cent live in the Periphery regions.

5. 80% of the world currently reside in the Periphery regions. At the beginning of the century, 70% did so. By 2050, the share of the world population living in the current Periphery regions will have risen to 90%.

THE WORLD AT SIX BILLION: HIGHLIGHTS

6. The population of the world is aging. The median age increased from 23.5 years in 1950 to 26.4 years in 1999. By 2050, the median age is projected to reach 37.8 years. Currently around one-of-five persons in the core countries are aged 60 or older; in 2050 nearly one-of-every three persons will be aged 60 or older.

7. World life expectancy at birth is now 65 years (increased 20yrs since1950). By 2050 life expectancy is expected to exceed 76 years. However, recent years have shown a devastating toll from AIDS worldwide and in some Eastern European countries, health has been deteriorating and mortality, particularly among adult males, has been rising. This could impact the life expectancy numbers.

8. Couples in periphery countries today have on average 3 children each; thirty years ago they had six. More than half of all couples in periphery countries now use contraception._______________Source: United Nations Population Division

Let’s take a look at how all this began…

First Agricultural Revolution• Since the beginning of time Humans used Hunting and Gathering as their main method of attaining food.

• Around 8000BC – humans learned to cultivate crops, domesticate animals. They shifted from Hunters and Gatherers to Farmers.

• Impact was great - larger numbers of people could now be supported, because of more food.

• This first began in SW Asia - Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (modern Iraq).

• This area had rich soils and lots of water. The rivers flooded annually leaving behind excellent fertilized soil. Wheat, barley, oats, peas, sheep and goats commonly farmed.

• Agriculturalists became powerful.

• Hunters and gatherers were restricted to marginal lands.

Social systems began to evolve; society became more complex (rulers and governments evolved). Ideas began to spread (spatial diffusion):

• into the Nile area,

• south into Africa,

• west along Mediterranean,

• north into Europe,

• east to India,

• eventually China.

Six distinct hearth

regions emerged.

Agriculture led to the rise of complex civilizations and social

organizations (Greek and Roman). This structure led to rapid population growth and developed to the point where

different skills began to emerged - metallurgy, paper, gunpowder.

Population Momentum: Over time growth occurs exponentially (compounding):

2 – 4 – 8 – 16...

As opposed to arithmetic growth:

1 – 2 – 3 – 4...

(we will find out later this is the way food production grows – Can this type of growth feed the world’s population?)

Time

Time

Pop.

Food

Second Agricultural RevolutionOccurred Mainly in Europe (around 1600) which coincided with the Scientific Revolution at end of the Middle Ages.

Major advancements in the fields of science and technology were made - food production boosted.

• eg. Nitrogen as a fertilizer was discovered, canal construction, swamp lands were drained and sheep were cross bred for desirable characteristics.

Within 100 years population went from 500M to about 800M.

Large urban areas emerged – This was the start of urbanization.

Industrial Revolution And Food ProductionCharacterized by the application of machines to farming, eg., steam powered tractor, threshing machines, grist mills, pumps.

Population soared - from 1750 to 1800 another 200M people were added to world total.

By 1850 the total was 1B.

Could food production keep up? Coal was important and population therefore began to cluster around important coal producing regions. Eg., Rhine-Ruhr of Germany, Eastern Europe, Northern England.

Population began a DRAMATIC rural to urban shift as lifestyles began to change. People stopped being farmers because they realized they could go to work (i.e. factory) and purchase the food required. The people that remained farmers grew surpluses of food. Farmers would keep what they needed and sell the surplus. Sounds simple!

Trends in Urbanization, by Region

Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2001 Revision (medium scenario), 2002.

© 2003 Population Reference Bureau

30

15 17

55

47

37 38

7560

53 54

84 83

41

75

World Africa Asia Latin America/Caribbean

MoreDeveloped

Regions1950 2000 2030

Urban PopulationPercent

What are some issues / problems that have surfaced because of

this system?