The Impacts of Population Growth

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Running Head: THE IMPACTS OF POPULATION GROWTH 1 The Impacts of Population Growth INR2012 THE IMPACTS OF POPULATION GROWTH At the beginning of the first millennium A.D., the world’s population stood at 300 million people. The Industrial Revolution in the 18th century raised living standards and spurred growth; in the year 1800 the world’s population reached one billion. The 20th century was marked by health advances that improved life expectancy and increased the number of children that would reach adulthood and bear their own children; in 1927 the two billionth baby was born, in 1960 the third, in 1974 the fourth, in 1987 the fifth, and in 1999 the sixth. We now stand in the year 2012 with a world population of 7 billion. The exponential rate at which population is increasing is a global concern. Economist and demographer Thomas Malthus voices that population will naturally exceed its resources and then famine, war, and disease will put a check on its growth (Malthus, 1798). In the face of these concerns, various states are formulating and implementing policies to control their population growth in order to achieve socioeconomic sustainability and ensure a better quality of life for future generations. “Population is determined by the interplay of two factors. One is the birth rate, or the number or people being born, and the other is death rate, or the number who die. The difference between the two is called the rate of natural increase” (Stefoff, 1993). The rate of natural increase accelerated over the centuries due to industrialization that improved health care and food supplies in developing nations, therefore the birth rates increased in these nations while their death rates decreased. The demographic transition model proposes that birthrates will
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