Population

and
Environment
Population and Environment
- examines environment from the perspective of an ecosystem

What is an ecosystem?
Ecosystems are dynamic interactions between plants, animals, and
microorganisms and their environment working together as a
functional unit.

An ecosystem consists of the biological community (biotic) that occurs

in some locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up its
non-living (abiotic) environment.

Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in balance. No community

can carry more organisms than its food, water, and shelter can
accommodate.
Give some examples of ecosystems.
Most common types of ecosystems in the Philippines:

1) Forest
2) Farmland
3) Marine
4) Urban centers

Other examples?
Ecosystems may be “ healthy” or “ unhealthy” .

What causes an ecosystem to be “unhealthy”?

What are the most common causes of environmental degradation?
Forest
Farmland
Marine
Urban center
Population and Environment

Rapid population growth can cause the following:

Extinction of a wide variety of animal and plant species and loss of
their habitat
because of people’s increasing demand for space, food, travel and other
needs;
Inappropriate farming practices contributing to soil impoverishment
and
erosion, overgrazing of common lands and misuse of agrochemicals.
 Deforestation not only because of increased demand for cropland and
living
space but also because of increased demand for fuel wood.
 Farm fragmentation and declining productivity of land as well as
declining
productivity per farm worker.
Population and Environment

Rapid population growth can cause the following:

 Trigger widespread marine resource degradation in
coastal areas. Over-fishing
and illegal fishing practices are common causes of
degradation.
 Freshwater shortage, water pollution, and improper waste
disposal, especially
in congested urban areas.
 Wasteful use of fossil fuels has resulted in chronic,
sometimes catastrophic,
pollution of the atmosphere, in some cases far beyond what
natural systems or
man-made structures can tolerate.
Population and Environment

But population can also initiate/advocate for conservation

measures to preserve or rehabilitate the environment:
 
Forests – reforestation, ban or regulation on
logging, forest conservation policies, etc.
Farmlands – improved agricultural practices such
as irrigation, security of tenure,
improved land use and land conversion policies, etc.
Coastal areas – strict enforcement of laws against
illegal practices such as dynamite
fishing; preservation and rehabilitation of
mangroves and coral reefs; promotion of
eco-tourism that is not harmful to the environment,
etc.
Population and Environment

But population can also initiate/advocate for conservation

measures to preserve or rehabilitate the environment:
 
Urban areas – proper solid waste management, laws regulating
pollution, improved
traffic control systems, zoning practices, etc.
A crosscutting concern is population growth. Slower population
growth enables society to
achieve the goal of resource conservation and environmental
protection through: a) the
slower growth of demand for resources and less need for
inappropriate practices arising
from competition in the use of limited available resources, and b) the
provision of more
time to develop the technology and institutions to help conserve and
protect the
environment despite a growing population.
How is population related to environment?

Population Environment ?

Environment Population ?

Population Environment

Some examples:

Population  Environment

1) Environmental impact of population: the I = PAT equation,

where the scale of human impact (I) on the environment is
equal to the product of the population size (P), consumption
per sperson or affluence (A), and the damage done by
technology (T).
2) Our thinning Ozone layer
(Population  Environment  Population thru Climate Change)

Ozone is a naturally occurring gas whose chemical symbol is O 3. This is not that much different
from the oxygen that we breathe, O2. Ozone has just one more oxygen atom than the oxygen in
the air. However, this tiny difference can make a big effect on our planet. While O 2 is breathable,
O3 is harmful to animals if inhaled. O3 ozone stays in a layer around the earth. Meanwhile, there
is the sun doing it’s job of providing light and heat. We can only see a certain range of light, from
red to violet - the colors of the rainbow. However, there is also light that we can’t see. Right next
to red is the invisible infra-red, which is actually what heats the earth. On the other end of the
rainbow, just past violet is a light called ultraviolet, also known as the black light or the glow in the
dark light. This light is harmful to life on earth as we know it, and can kill it if we get exposed to it
too much. This is where ozone plays its part. Ozone absorbs these ultraviolet rays before it
reaches the earth. When it absorbs these harmful rays, a chemical reaction occurs where the
ozone is split into oxygen gas (O2) and a free oxygen atom (O). Normally, the parts immediately
rejoin together to form ozone again. This is where man and his meddling around steps in. People
have made a group of chemicals called ChloroFluoroCarbons or CFCs. CFCs are found in many
items we use, from the air conditioners in cars, to the refrigerators and freezers in our homes, to
hair sprays…, and even to medicinal products such as asthma inhalers. When we use this gas, it
rises into the air, and also reacts with ultraviolet light (which releases an extra chlorine atom
which can wreak havoc on our ozone layer). Instead of the O 2 and O hooking up after the
reaction, instead the O hooks up to the chlorine atom, since the O has a stronger attraction to the
chlorine than to the oxygen atom. The new compound of ClO does absolutely nothing for us; it
doesn’t block the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, and allows some more to pass to the earth. Since
CFCs were invented this century, more and more ozone is rendered ineffective.
Source: ThinkQuest. (n.d). Our Thinning Ozone. Retrieved April 8, 2009 from http://library.thinkquest.org//11353/ozone.htm
Management and conservation of
natural resources

What are renewable and non-renewable

natural resources?

A natural resource is a renewable resource if it can

be replenished by natural processes at a rate
comparable or faster than its rate of consumption by
humans or other users (e.g., solar radiation, tides,
winds; wood, paper, leather)
Management and conservation of
natural resources

What are renewable and non-renewable

natural resources?

A non-renewable resource is a natural resource

that cannot be reproduced, re-grown, regenerated, or
reused on a scale which can sustain its consumption
rate. These resources often exist in a fixed amount,
or are consumed much faster than nature can
recreate them (e.g., fossil fuel and nuclear fuel)
Sustainable Development
Traditionally, there have been two
approaches to the concept of
sustainability:
1) Ecologists/environmentalists
(biocentric point of view) – focus on the
maintenance of nature’s life support
systems in promoting well-being and
equity within and across generations of
people, and
Sustainable Development
2.) Economists (anthropocentric
point of view) – assess sustainability
in terms of maintaining human
consumption at some constant level
for all time (Diesendorf, 1997)
Sustainable Development

Admitting that both views are equally important and

interrelated, the World Commission on Environment
and Development (WCED) defines sustainable
development as “development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”

Thus, as Barbier (1987) points out, “the overall goals of

environment and development are not in conflict but
are indeed the same, namely, the improvement of the
human quality of life or welfare for present and
future generations”.
Sustainable Development (cont.)

Sustainable management of the environment, therefore, encompasses a

fairly wide range of perspectives, depending on where one positions
him/herself in the continuum ranging:

extremely anthropocentric ………………………….. strongly

biocentric
(humans are superior to nature) (nature above
humans)

The extent of harm that human populations can do to nature is therefore

perceived and evaluated in accordance with the position one takes
within this continuum. Pessimism (that humans are seen as destroyer
of environment) becomes progressively pronounced as one moves
from the highly anthropocentric to the highly biocentric point of view.
Sustainable Development (cont.)

Regardless of which paradigm one chooses, the reality is

that natural environment and human populations are
integrally related. However, the nature of this
relationship is extremely complex and frequently
misunderstood.

To avoid what is know as the “tragedy of the commons”

(overexploitation of nature or the ‘commons’), certain
sectors and lobby groups readily invoke the
“precautionary principle” when planning for the
environment.
Sustainable Development (cont.)

The precautionary principle says that ‘where there are

threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage,
lack of full scientific certainly should not be used as a
reason for postponing measures to prevent
environmental degradation” (Diesendorf, 1997).

McNicoll (2000) adds that “the precautionary principle, a

mainstay of environmentalist thinking, argues for taking
early action to safeguard against later regret even in
advance of full knowledge of systemic relationships”.
Thank you