(Population Growth - Chapter 3) Part II
There are three interrelated aspects of world population
growth trends that seem to excite concern:
(1) the size and density of the world population, or of LDR
national populations;
(2) the rate of growth of national populations; and
(3) the changing population distribution around the world
Problems of a Changing World Distribution
World Distribution / Population Distribution
- is the pattern or arrangement of how people live in a
particular area on the earth.
- world population distribution is uneven.
Problems:
Public concern in MDRs is a fear that immigration will rise as
the share of population in LDRs continues to increase.
MDRs are concerned about being globally overwhelmed by
the poverty or economic development of some LDRs.
Although MDRs comprise just a small percentage of the
global population, their resource consumption and pollution
generation are disproportionately large.
Problems of Population Size
Population Size
-is the actual number of individuals in a population
Population Density
- is a measurement of population size per unit area.
- as the relationship between a population’s size and the
space it inhabits
density can be measured by this ratio:
Carrying Capacity
- is the maximum population size of the species that the
environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat,
water, and other necessities available in the environment
Carrying Capacity can be measured by this ratio:
Thomas Malthus’s Principle of Population
 Robert Malthus
 Essay in the Principle of Population
year 1788
The Core Principles of Malthus
 Food is necessary for human existence
 If there is an increase of population, then what will be
the effects on the society and also that it can destroy
human habitation.
 The effects of these two unequal powers must be kept
equal.
 Since humans tend not to limit their population size
voluntarily - “preventive checks” in Malthus’
terminology.
Malthus Theory
 Population grows at a geometric rate i.e. 1, 2, 4, 16,
32, etc. Population, if unchecked, will double every
25 years.
 Food production increases at an arithmetic rate i.e. 1,
2, 3, 4, etc.
 Malthus suggested that once this ceiling (catastrophe)
had been reached, further growth in population would
be prevented by negative and positive checks. He saw
the checks as a natural method of population.
 Negative Checks were used to limit the population
growth. It included abstinence/ postponement of
marriage which lowered the fertility rate.
 Positive Checks were ways to reduce population size
by events such as famine, disease, war - increasing
the mortality rate and reducing life expectancy.
 Moral restraint, as advocated by Malthus, consists
of not marrying until one can support the resulting
children and of remaining sexually chaste outside of
such marriage.
 Vice, according to Malthus, includes promiscuity,
homosexuality, adultery, and birth control (including
abortion). His stated objection was on moral grounds.
Neo-Malthusians
- People advocating for the control of the population with
contraceptives. (Birth controls, condoms and etc.)
 Paul Ehrich
 1968 Population Bomb
Global Overpopulation and the Environment

Overpopulation
- rapid population growth causes major implications for today’s
society

Results of Overpopulation

Resource Depletion
-  is the consumption of a resource faster than it can be
replenished

Overpopulation = Overconsumption

Problems of Growth Rates

Population Growth Rates

-is the rate at which the number of individuals in

a population increases in a given time period, expressed as a
fraction of the initial population.

Problems:

Global Population Size and Carrying Too-Rapid Growth

Capacity: - rapid growth as a problem for the less-
Four Models developed countries.

Stable, or Adaptive Equilibrium Models Youth Dependency

- In these models population growth responds to
environmental conditions and grows
up to, but not beyond, the carrying capacity.
Unstable, or Overshoot, Models
- Population growth is not aware of, or at least not
responsive
to, limits to growth until it has exceeded the
carrying capacity
National Overpopulation
- results from high fertility rather than high
growth rates. *Rapid growth rates in the modern
world are caused by high
birth rates coupled with much lower death rates.
Demographic Dividend
- refers to the growth in an economy that is the result of a
change in the age structure of a country's population.
Too-Slow Growth
- the population growth rates of MDRs are low
relative to the
LDRs

References:
 footprintnetwork.org
 populationmatters.org
 overpopulationawareness.org
 DEMOGRAPHY (The Study of Human
Population)

Prepared by:

Richard B. Patungan