UNIT 3

HUMANS AND THE PLANET

The unit focuses on the two-way relationship between man and nature. As the impacts of
humankind's industrial activities are delved deeper into, the lessons included here shall also
discuss the ways that our lives are influenced by the environment on different levels. The
student shall also learn about the modernization of life as we know it and what the future
holds for us all.

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 LESSON 9

MAN AND THE

ENVIRONMENT

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 MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Essential Questions:
How does man impact the environment, both positively and negatively?

Intended Learning Outcomes

Identify the factors contributing to the environmental impact of man.
Suggest ways to help reduce the impacts of man on the environment.

POPULATION WOES
Directions: Answer the questions briefly.

1. What country has the biggest population?

2. Do you think our country has a large population? How do you say so?

3. Based on your answer in no. 2, do you think it is a good thing that we have a large/little
population? Why?

4. Do you think we use our natural resources mindfully?

5. We always talk about how we consume natural resources in order to provide us our needs, but
natural resources are also consumed because of our wants. State one of the many natural
resources that is used for wants instead of needs and explain how it is utilized.
 MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

9.1 POPULATION DYNAMICS

As the world's only self-proclaimed alpha species, humans have contributed the most to the
environmental changes that the planet is experiencing. Modern humans have been around for
only 100,000 years, a sliver of time in Earth's history, and yet, our existence has nearly driven our
planet to its six mass extinction. This lesson shall discuss the impacts of man's growing population
on the environment and how we could possibly mitigate these.

FACTORS THAT INCREASE OR DECREASE POPULATIONS

FECUNDITY AND FERTILITY

Fecundity refers to the physical capability to reproduce while fertility measures the actual
number of offsprings produced. For instance, in humans, many fecund individuals can
reproduce and produce new offsprings but opt not to for a variety of reasons like personal
choice and cultural taboos.

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION

Populations are affected by individuals that migrate into and out of the community. In studying
the impact of the total human population on the environment, this factor is discounted.

MORTALITY AND LIFE EXPECTANCY

All organisms die. Humans are not exempted, evidently. The mortality rate measures to number
of individuals that die in a particular time period. Life expectancy refers to the most probable
number of years an organism will survive.

https://i0.wp.com/overpopulation-project.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/human-population-
graph-2050.jpg?w=701&h=495&ssl=1

Fig 9.1 As seen in the graph, the cumulative human population since the 11th century follows an
exponential growth pattern, which means that the growth is accelerating over time.
 MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

9.2 H U M A N D E M O G R A P H Y
Demography ("demos" = people,
"graphos" = to write or to measure) covers

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/World_population_percentage.png/553px-
the important statistics concerning the
human population such as births, deaths,
geographic locations, and the total
population size.

As of writing, there are around 7.8 billion

people worldwide. China and India hold
the biggest population share among all
the countries. Our very own Philippines
ranks 13th with a population close to 110
million.

World_population_percentage.png
Fig 9.2 The graph on the right shows the
population share of the 20 most
populous countries in the world. About
70% of all humanity resides in only 20 of
the world's countries.
https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/2_Probabilistic%20Projections/1_Population/1_Total%

Fig 9.3 Given our current

population and historical data
among other factors, United
Nations projects our global
population to be between 8
and 16 million by the year 2100.
How do you think will the
COVID-19 pandemic affect
these predictions?
20Population/World.png
 MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

9.3 E N V I R O N M E N T A L I M P A C T S O F P O P U L A T I O N

Humans are unique in such a way that, unlike other organisms, we are the only species that
consume far more resources beyond our basic necessities for survival (food, water, air, and shelter).
Ours is the only one that extracts natural resources on a grand scale to fuel our wants and material
desires. Thus, it is important to look at the consumption of different populations to gain a broader
idea of man's environmental impact. One of the more recent measurements of our impact is what
we call the ecological footprint. It measures the amount of land, sea, and natural resources
extracted from the environment to provide the consumption needs of particular countries.

How much land would seven million people need to live like the people of these countries?

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83647000/png/_83647604_ecological-footprint-by-country.png

Fig 9.4 Science writer Tim de Chant created an infographic to show the world how many Earths
we need according to the resources that we use up - the rice that we eat, the water we use to flush
the toilet, the metals in our gadgets, and many more.
 MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Despite being a useful parameter of man's environmental impact, the ecological footprint has its
limitations. Some of the aspects that it fails to cover, for instance, is the sustainability of agriculture
practices in those countries. This affects how much soil is eroded and what extent land resources
are being overused which can have tremendous environmental impacts, unforeseen by those who
are not able to measure this aspect accurately. Another limitation of the ecological footprint is the
unavailability of reliable data from many parts of the world. This hampers scientists' ability to create
meaningful estimates on our consumption needs.

SUSTAINABILITY
As the population grows exponentially, it picks up pace. In the years to come, we will need more
and more of the resources that we are using now. Thus, we need to promote sustainability in all
levels of society. Sustainability requires us to use our natural resources mindfully, ensuring that the
future generations have enough to sustain themselves in their lifetime.

This can be done by capitalizing on renewable energy resources, for example, reducing our
reliance on fossil fuels which also mitigates our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By keeping our
GHG emissions down, we also ensure that there is a world left for our children to live in.

What other sustainability practices do you think should we adopt?

https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800/2019/climatepione.jpg

Fig 9.5 Small farmers (farmers working on lands smaller than 2 hectares) are often the pioneers of
climate-smart agriculture, increasing their efficiency, replacing harmful products, and radically
redesigning their farms to improve sustainability.

Read more about climate-smart agriculture practices here.

 MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

SDG 9: INDUSTRY, INNOVATION, AND

9.4
INFRASTRUCTURE
http://cdn.worldslargestlesson.globalgoals

Fig. 9.6 While sustainability is an important practice to be observed for

.org/2015/09/TGG_Icon_Color_09.jpg

all countries, economic progress and scientific development are also

two aspects that should not be overlooked. With the COVID-19
pandemic hitting the global economy hard and many industries
crippled, this goal has become significantly more difficult to achieve. It
will take a while before our infrastructures and industries can claw their
way back to the way they were pre-pandemic.

2020 PROGRESS & INFO HIGHLIGHTS

Air transport was the most hard-hit sector due to the pandemic. Forecasts see a heavy decline
in international passenger count, seat capacity, and overall revenues for airline companies.
2019's manufacturing value increased only by 1.5 percent from the previous year due
to tariffs and trade tensions across different regions. This year's growth was the
slowest since 2012.
Budget allocation to research and development (R&D) improved globally, from 1.5 percent in
2000 to 1.7 percent in 2015.
Mobile connectivity has covered almost the entire planet. In 2019, it is estimated that 96.5
percent of the world has access to at least a 2G connection while 81.8 percent is covered by
long-term evolution (LTE) network.
GDP share of manufacturing increased to 12.4 percent from only 10 in 2010. However, this
growth rate was too slow as the goal was to double the industry's share in GDP.

See the SDG targets and indicators at https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal9

REFERENCES

Cunningham, W.P. et al (2003) Environmental Science A Global Concern. McGraw-Hill

Population by country (2020). (2020). Worldometer - real time world
statistics. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/
World population projections. (2020). Worldometer - real time world
statistics. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/world-population-projections/
World population prospects - Population division - United Nations. (n.d.). United
Nations. https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/TOT/900
Mayer, M. (2018, June 11). What are environmental problems due to population
growth? Sciencing.com. https://sciencing.com/environmental-problems-due-population-
growth-8337820.html
McDonald, C. (2015, June 16). How many earths do we need? BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33133712
Climate pioneers: How small farmers could be leading the way towards sustainable agriculture.
(2019, February 14). Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology.
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-climate-small-farmers-sustainable-agriculture.html
Goal 9. (n.d.). United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal9