Human Population and the

Environment
 Population growth
• Definition: A population can be defined as a group of
individuals of the same species inhabiting an area.

Population growth is the change in population over time, and

can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals in
a population using "per unit time" for measurement.
In the recent past, the escalation in growth of human
numbers has become a major cause of our environmental
problems.
• Birth Rate :-
No. Live Birth/ 1000 in a given year
Growth Rate :-
No. Individual added in Time Period in %

• Doubling Rate:-
No. of years in doubling the population of a area
 Factors Controlling Population
Growth
• Famines in a country or state lead to destruction.
• Natural calamities like floods, droughts, earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions, etc. lead to death of thousands of
people.
• Wars cause heavy casualties.
• Unnatural accidents caused during transportation, fires etc.
 Factors Enhancing Popoulation
Growth
• Industrial Revolution
– Growth of Cities and Infrastructure
• Water
• Energy
• Transportation
– Increased Productivity
– Nutrition
– Sanitation
– Medicine

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Population Explosion
 Consequences of population
explosion:
• It can lead to depletion of resources.
• Severe competition for food and space.
• Increase in psychological stress
• Rapid pollution of environment.
• Large scale unemployment.
Population Variation Among
Nations
Poorer countries will experience most
future population growth

98% of the next

billion people
born will live
in developing
nations.

Figure 7.20
Environment and Human Health
• Urbanization and industrialization bring economic growth, but
on the down side, it leads to diseases related to overcrowding
and an inadequate quality of drinking water
• It results in an increase in diseases
• High-density city traffic leads to an increase in respiratory
diseases like asthma.
• Modern medicine promised to solve many health problems,
especially associated with infectious diseases through antibiotics,
but bacteria found ways to develop resistant strains.
• Many drugs have been found to have serious side effects.
• Thus development has created several long-term health problems
• The depletion of ozone in the stratosphere has an
important impact on global climate and in turn human
health, increasing the amount of harmful ultraviolet
radiationthat reaches the Earth’s surface.
• This results in diseases such as skin cancer.
• Industrial development without pollution control and
traffic congestion affect the level of air pollution in many
cities.
• Thus environmental health and human health are
closely interlinked. An improvement in health is central
to sound environmental management.
 Examples
• Millions of children die every year due to diarrhoea from
contaminated water or food. This is a result of inadequate
environmental management and is mainly due to
inadequate purification of drinking water.
• Hundreds of millions of people suffer serious respiratory
diseases, including lung cancer and tuberculosis,. Motor
vehicle exhaust fumes, industrial fumes, tobacco smoke ,etc.
contribute to respiratory diseases.
• Millions of people are exposed to hazardous chemicals in their
workplace or homes that lead to ill health
 Value Education
• Each individual shall try to protect and improve the
environment and try to safeguard the forests and wildlife in the
country.”
• Each citizen of the country must “protect and improve the
natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and
wildlife, and be compassionate for all living creatures.”
• In order to create a clean environment in a city or town, people
should be encouraged and awareness be created.
• Clean and safe drinking water system, good sanitary should
be provided at crowded places.
• Proper arrangements for providing better health
services to the people should be ensured and they
should be introduced to various governmental health
programmes like mother and child welfare, child
welfare services,etc.
• Each action by an individual must be linked to it
environmental consequences in his/her mind so that a
value is created that leads to strengthening pro-
environmental behaviour and preventing anti-
environmental actions.

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 HIV/AIDS
• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the
human immune system caused by the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
• It reduces an individual’s resistance to disease.
• It causes infected individuals to suffer from a large number of
environment related diseases and reduces the ability of
infected individuals to go about their normal lives.
• It affects their incoming generation and/or their ability to
utilise natural resources.
 HIV/AIDS and human population

AIDS cases are increasing rapidly worldwide.

Figure 7.26
• Symptoms
– Pulmonary infections
– Gastrointestinal infections
– Neurological and psychiatric involvement
– Tumors and malignancies
– Other infections
• Cause
– Sexual transmission
– Exposure to blood-borne pathogens
– Contaminated blood transfusions.
– Mother to child transmission.
– Injection needles
 Women and child welfare
• There are several environmental factors that are closely linked
to the welfare of women and children.
• Each year, close to eleven million children worldwide are
estimated to die from the effects of disease and inadequate
nutrition.
• Most of these deaths are in the developing world.
• Two million children die each year in developing countries
from diarrhoeal diseases.
• Correct management of diarrhoea could save the lives of up
to 90% of children who currently die, by promoting rapid
and effective treatment .
• Improving feeding practices, and providing
micronutrient supplements routinely for children who
need them are measures that reduce mortality.
• There are strong connections between the status of the
environment and the welfare of women and children
in India.
• Women are often the last to get enough nutrition This
leads to malnutrition and anemia due to inadequate
nutrition.
 Some Organizations working fir
women and child welfare are
• National Institute of Public’ Co-operation and Child
Development (NIPCCD)
• United Nations Children’s Fund and others.
• Indian Council of Child Welfare
• Voluntary Health Association of India
• Central Social Welfare Board
• World Health Organization

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 Role of Information technology in
environment and human health
1. Remote Sensing. Remote sensing and Geographical Information System
(GIS) has proved to be very effective tool in environment management
2. Database. Database is the collection of inter-related data on various
subjects in computerized form which can be retreived whenever
required.
• Now the data regarding birth and death rates, immunisation and
sanitation programmes can be maintained more accurately than before
in computers at health centers.
• 3. Human health- Information technology also plays a key
role in human health. It helps the doctors to monitor the
health of people of that area.
• The information regarding outbreak of epidemic diseases
from remote areas can be sent more quickly to the district
administration to take corrective measures.
• Now, patients can seek help of a super specialist doctor
placed at far off distance. Many hospitals now, take on-line
help of experts to provide better treatment and services to
their patients.
4. Online Information. It provides vast quantum of
information on different subjects including human health and
environment.

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