The Assignment
At the beginning of our junior year, we picked a topic to research and learn about. Our group decided to study the issue of population and how population effects the sustainability of countries throughout the world. After developing our guiding question, we interviewed embassies and a government organization in Washington, D.C. in search of answer. Our research is displayed on the following pages.
What is the issue?
How does population affect developed and developing nations?
Why is it important to learn about population issues?
The significance of studying population growth and decay helps us determine how much space and resources we have available in the future. How much space available in the future is important because of sanitation. When there is less space and more people, sanitation is going to be something to worry about
due to the fact that poor sanitation will result in diseases. Also, overpopulation will result in the decline of resources such as oil, eventually leading to transportation problems. Dealing with population decay is also a problem. Most countries that have population decay see that it causes the most problems for their economy. The decline of population leads to a small working class. Studying population show us how countries are joined together. Each country has an affect on other nations and at the end of the day, all countries are one. Population is a worldwide problem and the only way to solve it is when everyone comes and works together.
due to the fact that poor sanitation will result in diseases. Also, overpopulation will result in the decline of resources such as oil, eventually leading to transportation problems. Dealing with population decay is also a problem. Most countries that have population decay see that it causes the most problems for their economy. The decline of population leads to a small working class. Studying population show us how countries are joined together. Each country has an affect on other nations and at the end of the day, all countries are one. Population is a worldwide problem and the only way to solve it is when everyone comes and works together.
Population Growth
With overpopulation, the following problems need to be dealt with:
-Distribution of housing: An area with too many people tends to have problems such as sanitation, traffic, disposal of waste products, and problems of meeting the needs of the people.
-Worldwide Sustainability: A Global Hecture is a measure of biocapacity in the entire earth. In 2005, there were 13.8 billion hectures of water and land available, leaving 2.1 hectures per person. In 2007, there were only 1.8 hectures per person. In a more comparable sense, one hecture equals 2.4710 acres. So each person gets about 4.4 acres to sustain them. In two years, the gha (global hecture) went down .3 per person (equaling about .7 acres per person). As the worldwide population continues to grow, the amount of space per person will get smaller, eventually resulting in the inability of the earth to sustain the population.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/glossary/
-Environment:The stress on the environment to meet all the needs of the people will stretch it to its limit. Not only that, but the extra people will create extra waste products that eventually lead back to the environment.
-Scientist estimate that 2050 people in the world will have to face a result of our damaging environment. As a result from overpopulation the people will face a problem with pollution, deforestation ( to make space), and global warming. Deforestation will only increase the Carbon dioxide levels in the air which will results into a larger global warming problem. Also there will be no natural resources which would lead to tremendous death.
-Water
-The President of the Population Institute states that the biggest issue in the future due to overpopulation will be water. 97% of our water is salt water. only 3% of that water is fresh. In 2050 the population will be 9 billion which will only result into making a big competition of fresh water.
-Distribution of housing: An area with too many people tends to have problems such as sanitation, traffic, disposal of waste products, and problems of meeting the needs of the people.
-Worldwide Sustainability: A Global Hecture is a measure of biocapacity in the entire earth. In 2005, there were 13.8 billion hectures of water and land available, leaving 2.1 hectures per person. In 2007, there were only 1.8 hectures per person. In a more comparable sense, one hecture equals 2.4710 acres. So each person gets about 4.4 acres to sustain them. In two years, the gha (global hecture) went down .3 per person (equaling about .7 acres per person). As the worldwide population continues to grow, the amount of space per person will get smaller, eventually resulting in the inability of the earth to sustain the population.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/glossary/
-Environment:The stress on the environment to meet all the needs of the people will stretch it to its limit. Not only that, but the extra people will create extra waste products that eventually lead back to the environment.
-Scientist estimate that 2050 people in the world will have to face a result of our damaging environment. As a result from overpopulation the people will face a problem with pollution, deforestation ( to make space), and global warming. Deforestation will only increase the Carbon dioxide levels in the air which will results into a larger global warming problem. Also there will be no natural resources which would lead to tremendous death.
-Water
-The President of the Population Institute states that the biggest issue in the future due to overpopulation will be water. 97% of our water is salt water. only 3% of that water is fresh. In 2050 the population will be 9 billion which will only result into making a big competition of fresh water.
Population Decline
When a country has a declining population, most of the problems it will face deal with the economy. Though the problems throughout different countries vary most of them have to do with a lack of people in the working class. For some countries that means not enough people to contribute to the growth of the economy and for others it means the unbalance of economic classes. As result, there is more pressure on the working class and upper class to recover from the lost spending on those who don't contribute to the economy. Also having a decline population will result in a loss of skill workers. As years go by technology continues to develop and the skills level doesn't reach to satisfaction.
http://www.populationpress.org/publication/2004-1-myers.html
http://www.abortiontv.com/Lies%20&%20Myths/underpopulation.htm
The Organization
The Academy for Global Studies is a program within Austin High School, providing an internationally focused curriculum to a close-knit community of learners. Each year 140 freshmen join the AGS family to undertake a course of study that highlights the interrelatedness and connections among world regions that combine to shape our increasingly global society. Students explore cultural traditions both on the world and local scales, while building their own culture as AGS students within the larger Austin High School community.
