Population dynamics have not been integrated systematically into climate change science. Many scholars, activists and policymakers argue that improving the living conditions of a growing population can only result in unsustainable increases in greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is caused by humans, so fewer humans should limit the harm of climate change. Climate change is one of the most significant synoptic drivers of change in these conditions across the region. If climate change is the fire, overpopulation is the fuel. One of the most divisive arguments within the environmental movement is population growth, whether by increasing births, or via immigration. Population growth impacts waterscarce and waterstressed countries data on the amount of total renewable freshwater available in each country 20082012 is from the food and agriculture organization of the united nations. The current recordbreaking heatwave that has affected continental australia is a symptom of climate change, according to sustainable population australia inc. Neither global warming nor population growth was on the environmental radar. Jankowska 3, christopher funk 4, gregory husak 1 and joel michaelsen 1 international seminar on population dynamics and the human dimensions of climate change.
Additionally, aging and urbanization can substantially influence emissions in particular world regions. Population, poverty, and climate change world bank. This book represents the continuation of a process to create a foundation for adaptation that has people, now and in the future, at its centre by bringing together population dy. Mar 22, 2018 population growth, along with overconsumption per capita, is driving civilisation over the edge. The right data 1994 and from the empire state to the vampire. Impact of population growth and population ethics on climate. The optimal global population to sustain ecosystems is considered to be between 1 and 2 billion. Climate change and population growth are making the worlds water woes more urgent poisoned and overexploited, many rivers are in a parlous state disputes over water will be an increasing. According to the worldwatch institute, a nonprofit environmental think tank, the overriding challenges facing our global civilization are to curtail climate change and slow population growth. List of books and articles about population growth online.
The implications of population growth and urbanization for. But population figures conceal more than they reveal. Trends of agriculture, population growth and food consumption. They seem to suggest that the cause of climate change is too many people, and that a. Population growth is not the direct cause of global warming, burning fossil fuels is. Future population growth is uncertain and matters for climate policy. Where some of the confusion comes from is that co2 emissions are reasonably well correlated to population. The reports of the presidents water resources policy commission 1950 and the presidents materials policy commission 1952 were the landmarks. This article was originally published on global research in april 2011. A growing population can overwhelm improvements in energy.
The largest single threat to the ecology and biodiversity of the planet in the decades to come will be global climate disruption due to the buildup of humangenerated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We are currently adding more than 80 million people a year to our global population. Across east and southern africa, many factors drive vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation in food systems. Population growth, climate change and pressure on the land. Pdf the implications of population growth and climate change on. This book broadens and deepens understanding of a wide range of population climate change linkages. Climate change and human health world health organization. This book outlines the impact of climate change in four developing country regions. The actual population at present is a bit more than 7. Jun 24, 2019 fortunately, such a perspective can be found in a recent book exploring the connections between the current fears over climate change and previous environmental concerns in particular, fears related to population growth. The annual increase in population of about 79 million means that every week an extra 1. The extent of climate change depends in no small part upon the pace of growth in percapita output as well as upon population growth.
The logic of individual selfinterest will lead each and every individual to try to steal a march on the rest of the group before the. Therefore, sustainable development may be difficult to attain if. Some commentators have argued that slowing population growth is necessary to reduce. For the likely impact of the rising global population is. Indeed, it will have little or no effect if we cannot transition away from fossil fuels and other drivers of climate change. Projections of water supply and demand over the 21st century show that in the absence of further adaptation efforts, serious water shortages are likely in some regions. Population and climate change are inextricably linked. Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years.
A chat with paul hawken about his ambitious effort to map, measure, and model global warming solutions. Is population control the answer to fixing climate change. Mapping population vulnerability and climate change in africa. Pdf population growth, climate change and pressure on. Jun 25, 2019 one million people are added to our already overpopulated planet every 4. Jul 29, 2009 does population growth impact climate change. This chapter explores the links between ecosystem services and climate change. Lessons for a sustainable future population education. As glaciers melt in the himalayas and the andes, depriving india, china. As a result the energygdp ratio often called the energy intensity of the economy declined by 49% from 1980 to 2014, and is projected to fall by another 42% by 20407.
Having smaller families and ending population growth are vital tools in the fight against climate change. What is the relationship between population growth and. While slower population growth would improve the situation in the long term, it would make little difference to climate change now. The worlds optimum population is less than two billion people 5. Climate change, food and agriculture system, and global food security. Though climate change is a crisis, the population threat is. Slower population growth is also anticipated to reduce climate change risks by freeing up resources for adaptation. But while population growth is stagnant or dropping in most developed countries except for the u.
The united nations framework convention on climate change unfccc secretariat has produced this book to highlight the concerns and needs of developing countries in adapting to the effects of climate change. In just 50 years, the worlds population has more than doubled to over 7. That there might be little connection between population growth and climate change makes this worth reading. A number of theoriesoften subscribed to by demographersstate that population is one of a number of variables that affect the environment and that rapid population growth simply exacerbates other conditions such as bad governance, civil conflict, wars, polluting technologies, or distortionary policies. Jan 16, 2018 books on climate change and economics pt.
The consequences of increased population growth for climate change 1 introduction so long as the world depends on carbon to fuel economic activity, the future of the climate will depend on the scale of that activity. However, it has also been something of a taboo word for decades crist, 2012. Jun 08, 2016 global population and reproductive health connects these dots, so to speak, showing that the links between population dynamics, reproductive health, and the environment demand integrated policies and international cooperation. Mapping population vulnerability and climate change in africa david lopezcarr 1, narcisa g. Unless e orts are made to stabilize and ultimately reduce global population, there is a serious threat that climate change, population growth, and the end of the fossil fuel era could combine to produce a largescale famine by the middle of the 21st century.
Not including population growth reduction in the climate change response. Impact of population growth and population ethics on. Apr 22, 2019 this book ranks the top 100 solutions to climate change. Anything that slows this structural change is also likely to slow growth. It may be a change in average weather conditions, or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions i. Fortunately, such a perspective can be found in a recent book exploring the connections between the current fears over climate change and previous environmental concerns in particular, fears related to population growth. Population, development, and climate change ucl geography. The links between rapid population growth and concerns regarding climate change have received little attention. Background paper prepared for the working group on population growth and economic development, committee on population, national research council, washington, d. World population is projected to reach 8 billion by 2024 and at least 10 billion by the end of this century. Some people believe that the world is too crowded and keeping a lid on population growth could be an answer to battling climate change. Improvements in education and health, which can both lead to and result from slower population growth, can reduce vulnerability to natural disasters and climate risks.
Every additional person increases carbon emissions the rich more than the poor and increases the number of climate change victims the poor more than the rich. Nevertheless, global economic inequalitydefined as inequality among. The major driving forces of climate change are those generated by plate tectonics the distribution of mass around the world and variation in. Productivity and cities structural change is a key driver of rapid growth. However, because the academics, nongovernmental organisations, and policy makers in these specialties work within separate communities, our understanding of the associations between them is restricted. Jul 11, 2018 why you shouldnt obsess about overpopulation. Solutions for saving elephants on world elephant day population growth human rights, the economy, and the environment on earth overshoot and ending our debt to nature. Climate change unfpa united nations population fund. Segment of share of global share of global absolute change relative change world population household household in income share in. Here we briefly outline the conclusions of this school of thought as expressed in an overview of the population.
Population and climate change the overpopulation project. Mar 02, 2020 a growing number of people see climate change as an example of the tragedy of the commons. Carbon emissions in the developed world have leveled off, but. Climate change results from alterations sometimes quite subtle to the heat and mass exchange between land, ocean, atmosphere, ice sheets, and space. The authors appear to be tempted by yet fearful of endorsing climate denialism. Share of the worlds population growth and co2 emissions growth. Although overall global population growth to 2050 is likely to add around 3. Nov 16, 20 global health, population growth, economic development, environmental degradation, and climate change are the main challenges we face in the 21st century.
According to an energy economic growth model, slowing population growth could provide 1629% of the emissions reductions suggested to be necessary by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change. Urbanization and climate change in small island developing. Mar 01, 2011 population, the inhabitants of a given area, but perhaps most importantly, the human inhabitants of the earth numbering about 7. Abstract population growth and climate change will combine to pose substantial challenges for water management in the united states. Strategies for sustained growth and inclusive development. The worlds population now exceeds 6700 million, and humankinds consumption of fossil fuels, fresh water, crops, fish, and forests exceeds supply. Population and climate change provides the first systematic indepth treatment of links between two major themes of the twentyfirst century. With help from a generous grant from the global challenges foundation, the overpopulation project studies the environmental impacts of overpopulation and explores humane policies to end population growth around the world.
It emphasizes that it is not the growth in urban or rural populations that drives the growth in greenhouse gas ghg emissions but. How population growth relates to climate change pnas. Climate change population matters every choice counts. The implications of population growth and urbanization for climate change david satterthwaite abstract this paper considers the implications of population growth and urbanization for climate change. And this week, with world leaders in paris, we have been. We highlight the contribution of population growth to emissions growth and to.
The answer depends importantly on ethical questions about whether our ultimate goal should be to increase the number of people who are happy or rather to increase the average level of peoples happiness. Population growth an overview sciencedirect topics. Rapid population growth exacerbates vulnerability to the negative consequences of climate change, and exposes growing numbers of people to climate risk. Incorporating population dynamics into research, policymaking and advocacy around climate change is critical for understanding the trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions, for developing and implement. Spa national president, ms sandra kanck, says reducing population growth is an integral part of climate change mitigation. Hulme 2009 noted that if there is a safe level of greenhouse gases to avoid runaway climate change, then is there not also a desirable world population. The scholarly literature on this issue labels this view, which stresses the mixed and ambiguous impacts of population growth on economic change, revisionism. Economists carry a lot of weight in our culture yet their overarching perspective is damaging to both the issues of climate change and overpopulation. The first wave of concern, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, focused primarily on the quantitative relationships between resource availability and economic growth the adequacy of land, water, energy, and other natural resources to sustain growth.
National centre for epidemiology and population health, the australian national. Climate change archives population growth human rights. We investigate how future population growth is relevant to climate change policy. What is the connection between population growth and. No doubt human population growth is a major contributor to global warming. This book ranks the top 100 solutions to climate change. Feb 28, 2019 how come the huge impact of our population growth on climate change doesnt get more attention when we talk about how to take action against warming. References population growth and economic development.
Population growth on global climate change page 3 149%6. Population growth is also important because it affects the earths ability to withstand climate change and absorb emissions, such as through deforestation as land is converted for agricultural use to feed a growing human population. New book challenges fears of overpopulation, climate change. Impact of population growth and population ethics\xmlpi\\ pnas. All napas are available in pdf format on the unfcccs website.
Water climate change and population growth are making. The answer depends importantly on ethical questions about whether our ultimate goal should be to increase the number of people who are happy or rather to. According to the inter academy panel statement on population growth, several environmental concerns such as, elevated level of greenhouse gases, threat to biodiversity, climate change and environmental pollution are arisen as a result of rapid population growth coleman, 2011. The consequences of increased population growth for. This huge increase is at the root of grave global environmental problems, from climate change to mass species extinction. Population growth is the least influential part of the climate change calculation. Population growth is also one of the drivers of the growth in greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Most countries with higher levels of consumption, and therefore emissions, are already experiencing slow population growth or even population decline. The data on population and emissions show that slowing population growth, even rapidly, is not a shortcut to preventing climate change. Deforestation, effect on welfare, climate change, decline in biocapacity, urban sprawl, food security, increase in energy demand and effect on marine ecosystem are amongst most severe impacts of. Interesting more as an intellectual genealogy of population anxiety, and the mistakes of antinatalism as population policy, than of climate change. Population growth and climate change have multiple implications on development. A needed upgrade in planning for the demography adaptation. Global health, population growth, economic development, environmental.
Point out the data bank at the front of the classroom and explain that students will be analyzing pieces of data related to climate change, but that the data isnt just numbers its graphs, images, articles, and more. Population growth, pollution and the global environment. New book debunks link between population growth and catastrophic climate change scenarios. Climate change, economic growth and poverty in zambia. Theme data form population growth and greenhouse gasses. While developed countries are largely responsible for global warming, the brunt of the fallout will be borne by the developing world, in lower agricultural output, poorer health, and more frequent natural disasters. Population dynamics and the drivers of climate change unfpa.