Population

The human dimensions of global environmental changes

are tied to increases in the size ofthe human population.

Each individual requires a certain amount of

resources to

survive. By extension, the more people

there are on the

planet, the greater the demands on the Earth's environ-

ment. This relationship is so obvious that it is easy to see

environmental change simply as a population issue.

Al

though things are not that simple, population m

greater number of people translates into greater capacity

for environmental change

The impacts of population growth on the environ-

ment are all around us. In the United States, prime farm
land is being gobbled upby expanding cities. In tropi

areas, large tracts of forests are being cleared to meet the

heating and cooking needs of growing populations.

In

China under Mao Zedong Cl949-1976 when the gov-

ernment officially opposed population policies, defor

estation was so extensive that Chairman Mao ordered

every Chinese citizen to plant at least one tree. That cam-

paign yielded an estimated 500 million trees, but today

China's landscape is still marked by the scans of erosion.

whole countrysides have been laid waste, the topsoil

gone soon after crops replaced natural vegetation. Now

China is trying to undo the damage, but recovery is not

always possible.

In light of the obvious link between population and

environment, many see environmental change largely as

a population issue. How helpful is this approach? It has

the advantage of focusing attention on a factor whose

importance is undeniable. Yet if environmental change

is seen simply as a matter of numbers, some key dimen-

sions of the issue will be overlooked. Do population