POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
INTRODUCTION TO POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT
Climate - Arguably the most important element of the physical environment.
- Rainfall, temperature, wind velocity and levels of solar insolation will determine
agricultural productivity, the type of farming system adopted and which species are
selected for cultivation.
- High concentrations of population are determined by adequate rainfall and temperature
that are suitable for growth of crops and rearing livestock with sufficient sunlight for
photosynthesis.
- Climate may also drive the level and nature of disease e.g. tropical diseases such as
malaria and Ebola will directly affect death rates and life expectancy.
- High infant mortality may also influence fertility rates as families try and compensate
for their loss.
Soils - Fertility of soil, dependent on structure, texture, acidity, organic matter and nutrients
will determine agricultural output and types of farming system employed.
- Areas with fertile soils are often associated with densely populated areas.
- Some areas with rich volcanic or alluvial soils are more prone to hazards which may
negatively affect the population.
Water supply - Water is not only important for human hydration but for its use in irrigation to maintain
food production.
- It has other key uses including hygiene, sanitation and industrial processes.
- Its importance of determining population distribution is well illustrated in Egypt, where 95%
of the population live within 12 miles of the River Nile.
Other resources - Resources such as fossil fuels or other valued minerals have given rise to
industrialisation and consequently densely populated conurbations in Europe, parts of
the US and increasingly China and India.
- Even when natural resources are depleted, industrial inertia leaves a legacy of large,
dense populations with new tertiary industries emerging.
POPULATION
PARAMETERS
Distribution - The pattern of where people live which can be considered on all scales.
- Around 90% of the world lives in the Northern Hemisphere.
Density - Average number of people living in a specified area, usually expressed as the number of
people per km2.
- Urbanised areas are the most densely populated as many people move for job prospects
and other opportunities.
- 55% of the population currently live in urban areas, and this is expected to rise to ⅔ by
2050.
- Water supply and resources are also causes of dense population e.g. the Ganges in
India and Nile in Egypt.
- Areas that are sparsely populated often have uninhabitable conditions.
Numbers - The world’s population stayed below 1 billion until 1804, yet to reach 2 billion it took only
just 100 years.
- People often class population growth as exponential.
Change - Considers population from a temporal and spatial perspective.
- Over time people have migrated to areas of fertile soil and resource abundance.
- There has been a shift from rapid population growth in richer countries, to a rapid
population growth in poorer countries, due to reasons outlined by the DTM.
,DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES
The process of development has been a narrative associated with the human ability to acquire and make use of the
resources from the physical environment.
The Neolithic Agrarian Revolution in Mesopotamia around 12,000 years ago where there was a shift from
hunter-gatherer populations to agricultural communities. Birth and fertility rates rose as women no longer had to
wait to have children (before the mobile lifestyle meant having dependents was difficult). The agriculture could also
feed denser communities with a more stable food supply.
The Industrial Revolution and the Green Revolution (see below) also both sparked technological advances that allow
specific areas and the earth as a whole to support bigger populations. The Industrial Revolution was more of a
societal change - beginning in the mid-1700s it saw a transition from labour intensive industry to technological
manufacturing processes, making life less labour intensive and seeing populations grow.
ENVIRONMENT AND POPULATION
GLOBAL AND REGIONAL PATTERNS OF FOOD PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
Food production
Food production has tripled globally in the last 50 years. In the early 1960s, global food supplies for humans stood
at only 2,300 kcal per person per day and this was very unevenly distributed. However by 2010, despite the fact that
the global population had increased by almost two and a half times, the average number of calories was 2,800 per
day, and although unequal distribution is still a problem, it has reduced by 30%.
The Green Revolution was one cause for these gains:
- The Green Revolution from the 1940s to 1960s. It sought to decrease subsistence farming and increase
commercial farming by transplanting many of the systems, ideas and technologies from Western agriculture
to Asian agriculture.
- Higher yielding crops were developed; facilities were made available for farmers to borrow money for capital
and rural road infrastructure to improve access to domestic and world markets; and cultural norms relating
to land ownership were reformed - smaller inefficient family land holdings were joined together to create
more profitable plots.
- An estimated 1 billion people are able to be fed as a result of the Green Revolution.
Food production has increased in different regions for different reasons. For example wheat and rice production has
increased in Asia and North Africa due to higher yields, whereas maize production in Latin America and the
Caribbean has increased due to land expansion.
Eastern Asia, North America, Western Europe Consistently high yields due to availability of resources such
as nutrients and water.
India, South America, Western Africa Moderate yields, but at risk of environmental limitations such
as climate change.
Central Australia, Saharan Africa, Eastern Extreme environmental limitations such as droughts and
Russia unsuitable temperatures mean little to no crop growth.
Food consumption
Globally, food consumption has increased overtime, with a bigger population consuming food as well as increases
in per capita intake. Globally there has also been a decrease in undernourishment since 1990 (dietary intake below
the minimum daily energy requirement of 1,700 to 2,000 kcal a day).
LICs Tend to consume the least food. E.g. Africa consumes the least food per continent with 27% of the
population being affected by severe food insecurity. Per capita supply of calories has remained
almost stagnant in sub-Saharan Africa and has recently fallen in the countries in economic
transition. This means undernourishment has been steadily increasing since the 1990s.
, HICs Tend to consume more than LICs due to money to import (rise of free trade), invest in
infrastructure, and more money per person to buy food.
Developing Consumption rates are growing the quickest. Asia’s consumption rates have seen the quickest
countries growth e.g. China’s consumption has increased by 1000 calories in the last 50 years.
Cereals - Make up 50% of calories consumed globally.
- In Africa and parts of Asia make up 70% of intake, whereas around 30% in HICs.
Meats - Developed countries eat the most meat, with non-developed countries mainly getting
protein from non-animal sources.
- Pig, sheep, cattle and poultry are the main meat consumed in HICs.
- In the Middle East, India and Africa, camel and goat are major meats.
- Meat consumption is increasing, especially in developing countries e.g. x3 increase
in Asia since the 60s.
Livestock - Consumption dominated by HICs, however developing countries are consuming more
products eggs now.
- Africa has the lowest consumption.
Fats, oils, sugars - Highest consumption in HICs due to consumerist culture.
- Consumption is rapidly increasing in developing countries but less so in LICs.
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
AGRICULTURE - the growing of crops and the raising of animals in order to produce foods and fibres for industries.
Arable - growing of crops.
Pastoral - raising of livestock.
Mixed - growing of crops and raising of livestock.
Commercial - majority of produce is sold to generate livelihood and money for investments back into the farm.
Subsistence - majority of produce is consumed by the landowner and farm workers, though a small surplus may be
sold.
Capital intense - money is invested in soil improvement, machinery, buildings, pest control and high-quality
seed/animals. Few people are employed so output per hectare and worker is high. For example tomato production in the
Netherlands.
Labour intense - high number of farm workers meaning high output per hectare but low output per worker, for example
rice cultivation in the Ganges Valley.
Extensive - Farming is carried out on a large scale over a large area. It varies greatly. Sometimes labour force is low but
there is a high capital input such as wheat farming in the Canadian Prairies. Other times areas will have a low labour
force but just rely on the sheer size of the land to provide sufficient output, such as sheep farming in Australia.
Agricultural productivity can be defined as how efficiently the agricultural industry uses the available resources
into outputs and inputs. It is a key measure of economic performance and contributes to farms’ incomes.
TFP means total factor productivity and is a ratio of agricultural outputs (gross crop and livestock outputs) to inputs
(land, labour, fertilizer, machinery and livestock). As producers become more efficient their TPF can grow despite
using perhaps reduced inputs.
IMPROVING TFP FOR CROPS:
- Higher yielding, disease resistant and drought or flood tolerant crop varieties.
- More efficient and timely cultivation and harvesting practices.
- Using technologies that indicate precisely when and how much water and fertilizer to apply.
IMPROVING TFP FOR LIVESTOCK:
- Selective breeding for favourable genetic qualities and behaviours.
