Sharing this paper regarding the relationship of population with the environment.
The World Environment
Year 2006 when the former United States presidential aspirant Al Gore made a documentary film entitled as “Inconvenient Truth.” This was received by different reactions of the people, some of these were bad criticisms; but one thing was unanimously agreed, our environment is in bad shape and is getting worse.
Water scarcity could be the worst scenario in our present era. The world consists of 71% water, but only 3% of it can be used for human consumption. From this 3%, 17% would be needed for food production (World Water Council 2000; UNEP 2002), adding to the fact that high yielding crops would need more water. Irrigation also gets 40% share. Right now, the world is experiencing drought, creating a record with the hottest temperature ever in the history. By 2020 an estimated 2/3 of the world’s people will be living in water-stressed countries (CSD 1997 as cited in UNEP 2002). Most of these would be coming from Africa. There are currently 1.1 billion of the 7 billion people who lack access to safe water. Deforestation is one contributing factor to lack of good water.
“Total forest area in 2005 was just under 4 billion hectares. YELLOW”16 million hectares of forest area disappear annually since 2001. This disappearance has tremendous effect on the carbon cycle which is needed to sustain life; forest is the Earth’s lungs because it provides us oxygen for us to breath. Africa and Latin American continents have the most environmentally stressed countries while Europe is expanding in a slower rate. Rain forests in South East Asia are the fast shrinking forests. Asia could have lost more of it if not for the reforestation project of China. Tropical forests are also fast disappearing due mainly for land settlement of the growing number of population. These people would clear the forest to settle and to plant seasonal crops. Despite this, crop yields are expected to decline in most tropical and subtropical regions as rainfall and temperature patterns change with a changing climate (IPCC 2001). Land suitable for rain fed agriculture may shrink by 11 percent in developing countries by 2080 (FAO 2005)
The Impact
Right now, the Philippines is experiencing tremendous impact of environmental degradation. The archipelago can be considered as having one of the richest natural resources. We have 12 different forest formations; all of them share a variety of species that we can use for our living, but many of which are fast disappearing. In the present, there are at least 194 animals and 193 plants as among those considered as endangered species. This is mainly a result of the loss of the country’s forests and the destruction of coral reefs.
The increasing number of population creates massive stresses on the natural environment. Land, water, and air are being affected with the kind of culture that we follow, and the kind of technology that we use. As the population increases, land use conversion also increases. Because there would be more people who would need more land areas for cultivation and settlement, our environment suffers. We can measure the effect to our environment by measuring the population growth, affluence of each country, and technology used by the people.
Despite rapid urbanization in most regions, almost half of the world’s population still lives in rural areas. In South Asia, 70% people live in rural areas and there is an estimation that 75% of poor people live in rural areas (environment changes and their impact,). Many of the population increases are in rural areas, which would give more stresses in the environment. People would consume more energy; agricultural production would expand hence would use more land areas. People in the rural use more agricultural land than in the urban areas as the main source of their income.
Agricultural production is still the major source of livelihood to many under developed countries. People rely on the use of land for consumption. Globally 44 % of the active workforce is engaged in agriculture, the importance of this sector as a source of employment varies by region and income. Population growth in developing countries will put further pressure on agriculture as rising demand for food requires more land and more forests to be turned to agricultural use. (Environment Changes and their Impact). With the conversion of forests for agricultural production, the environment deteriorates even worse.
Western economies are using massive amounts of energy and land areas that cannot be matched by simply expanding standard economic growth in poor countries. The environmental resources in the poor countries are being exported and exploited by the USA and Western Europe. These economies are already destroying rain forests and depleting oil deposits. The affluence of living in a first world country simply adds to the detriment of the environment. There isn't much left for the rest of the world.
In an island nation like the Philippines, we have a microcosm of coming global environmental disaster. The Earth is an island in the solar system. The massive destruction of the rain forest and overpopulation in the Philippines will soon be matched by the Earth itself in the larger venue.
The Filipinos are now experiencing the effect of the burgeoning number of people. “Although Philippines has abundant natural resources, these resources are compromised by a number of factors, including population pressures and poverty,” Philippine Reference Bureau, 2007. One of the livelihoods that we depend upon is fishing. About 75 percent of the fish we catch live in the mangroves, hence make mangroves the vital source of our seafood. Today, the Philippines have lost almost 90% of its mangroves, the vast majority since 1970 (DM, Melana, et al, Mangrove Management and Development in the Philippines 2000). Many of these mangroves have been cleared for human settlements, agricultural and industrial developments. Because the Filipino population have been tripled since the 70’s, more demand for fishing is needed while the government have not made enough policies to safeguard these mangroves.
The global economy is not sustainable. It will collapse if economists continue to act and speak as if the Earth is a limitless barrel of oil and rain forest. Soon, this century, the oil will be gone and our forests, as well. One direct devastating consequence is the increase in flooding and mud slides. The Philippine country has experienced far worse calamities in the history due mostly to the depletion of our environment. We can still recall with horror the tragedy when an entire village in southern Leyte was buried, and in it hundreds of children and teachers buried alive, due to a massive mudslide that was incontrovertibly caused by deforestation in the watershed above the school (private communication, 2007). This is the usual case in the country, calamities brought about by massive deforestation. Those children and teachers died because of multiple factors-- overpopulation in Leyte with too many people cutting down too many trees, and the larger responsibility lies with the government agencies and individuals who failed to stop illegal logging and also those parties domestically and internationally who benefited from the logging in that watershed.
Ecological Footprint
Malthusian theory has received overwhelming criticisms from different theorists, especially from the point of view of the old Marxists. While Sir Thomas Robert Malthus have erred in some of his predictions, he was right in the long run. Our ecological footprint is simply exceeding beyond the limit line. The environment is definitely not getting any better, not in the coming decades or so. If we would listen to the cries of the rivers, to the echoes in the forests, to the anger of our natural environment, we would know then that they are in helpless position.
For us to be able to determine the environmental degradation that we are experiencing, we need to measure the population, affluence of the people, and the technology that these people use. We all know that nature was a lot better centuries ago as compared today, because it never had the issue of over population, and that people never used such vast amount of oil for the machineries. But it does not and should not end like this. The world needs strong environmental polices to control further weakening of our soil.
Growing from 76.5 million in 2000 to 85.2 million in 2005, the population of the Philippines is increasing more rapidly than most countries in Southeast Asia(Population Reference Bureau, 2007). In urban areas, 90 percent of the Filipinos still have good source of water, while the rural areas have 77 percent. But since the urban centers are rapidly growing too, this results to more water pollution. Between 1996 and 2001, four major rivers in NCR were found to contain such high levels of pollutants that they were considered biologically dead (Population Reference Bureau, 2007).
What we need to do
In the Philippines, we do not want any more tragedies like Leyte mudslide, Quezon disaster because of typhoon. The heat we experience is too much, we can see too many flooded areas in Manila because they do not have enough trees to control the flooding. We all detest these calamities, it hinders are economic recovery. What the Philippines need, as a microcosm of the world, is strong policies for the protection of the environment, study all those factors that affect this; for then may we realize that growing number of population is among those factors that destroys the environment we live in. Only then may we all realize the interdependence of humans and our environment, to stop reducing the issue of population growth to just mere numbers.
Reaction Paper on Population and Environment
The World Environment
Year 2006 when the former United States presidential aspirant Al Gore made a documentary film entitled as “Inconvenient Truth.” This was received by different reactions of the people, some of these were bad criticisms; but one thing was unanimously agreed, our environment is in bad shape and is getting worse.
Water scarcity could be the worst scenario in our present era. The world consists of 71% water, but only 3% of it can be used for human consumption. From this 3%, 17% would be needed for food production (World Water Council 2000; UNEP 2002), adding to the fact that high yielding crops would need more water. Irrigation also gets 40% share. Right now, the world is experiencing drought, creating a record with the hottest temperature ever in the history. By 2020 an estimated 2/3 of the world’s people will be living in water-stressed countries (CSD 1997 as cited in UNEP 2002). Most of these would be coming from Africa. There are currently 1.1 billion of the 7 billion people who lack access to safe water. Deforestation is one contributing factor to lack of good water.
“Total forest area in 2005 was just under 4 billion hectares. YELLOW”16 million hectares of forest area disappear annually since 2001. This disappearance has tremendous effect on the carbon cycle which is needed to sustain life; forest is the Earth’s lungs because it provides us oxygen for us to breath. Africa and Latin American continents have the most environmentally stressed countries while Europe is expanding in a slower rate. Rain forests in South East Asia are the fast shrinking forests. Asia could have lost more of it if not for the reforestation project of China. Tropical forests are also fast disappearing due mainly for land settlement of the growing number of population. These people would clear the forest to settle and to plant seasonal crops. Despite this, crop yields are expected to decline in most tropical and subtropical regions as rainfall and temperature patterns change with a changing climate (IPCC 2001). Land suitable for rain fed agriculture may shrink by 11 percent in developing countries by 2080 (FAO 2005)
The Impact
Right now, the Philippines is experiencing tremendous impact of environmental degradation. The archipelago can be considered as having one of the richest natural resources. We have 12 different forest formations; all of them share a variety of species that we can use for our living, but many of which are fast disappearing. In the present, there are at least 194 animals and 193 plants as among those considered as endangered species. This is mainly a result of the loss of the country’s forests and the destruction of coral reefs.
The increasing number of population creates massive stresses on the natural environment. Land, water, and air are being affected with the kind of culture that we follow, and the kind of technology that we use. As the population increases, land use conversion also increases. Because there would be more people who would need more land areas for cultivation and settlement, our environment suffers. We can measure the effect to our environment by measuring the population growth, affluence of each country, and technology used by the people.
Despite rapid urbanization in most regions, almost half of the world’s population still lives in rural areas. In South Asia, 70% people live in rural areas and there is an estimation that 75% of poor people live in rural areas (environment changes and their impact,). Many of the population increases are in rural areas, which would give more stresses in the environment. People would consume more energy; agricultural production would expand hence would use more land areas. People in the rural use more agricultural land than in the urban areas as the main source of their income.
Agricultural production is still the major source of livelihood to many under developed countries. People rely on the use of land for consumption. Globally 44 % of the active workforce is engaged in agriculture, the importance of this sector as a source of employment varies by region and income. Population growth in developing countries will put further pressure on agriculture as rising demand for food requires more land and more forests to be turned to agricultural use. (Environment Changes and their Impact). With the conversion of forests for agricultural production, the environment deteriorates even worse.
Western economies are using massive amounts of energy and land areas that cannot be matched by simply expanding standard economic growth in poor countries. The environmental resources in the poor countries are being exported and exploited by the USA and Western Europe. These economies are already destroying rain forests and depleting oil deposits. The affluence of living in a first world country simply adds to the detriment of the environment. There isn't much left for the rest of the world.
In an island nation like the Philippines, we have a microcosm of coming global environmental disaster. The Earth is an island in the solar system. The massive destruction of the rain forest and overpopulation in the Philippines will soon be matched by the Earth itself in the larger venue.
The Filipinos are now experiencing the effect of the burgeoning number of people. “Although Philippines has abundant natural resources, these resources are compromised by a number of factors, including population pressures and poverty,” Philippine Reference Bureau, 2007. One of the livelihoods that we depend upon is fishing. About 75 percent of the fish we catch live in the mangroves, hence make mangroves the vital source of our seafood. Today, the Philippines have lost almost 90% of its mangroves, the vast majority since 1970 (DM, Melana, et al, Mangrove Management and Development in the Philippines 2000). Many of these mangroves have been cleared for human settlements, agricultural and industrial developments. Because the Filipino population have been tripled since the 70’s, more demand for fishing is needed while the government have not made enough policies to safeguard these mangroves.
The global economy is not sustainable. It will collapse if economists continue to act and speak as if the Earth is a limitless barrel of oil and rain forest. Soon, this century, the oil will be gone and our forests, as well. One direct devastating consequence is the increase in flooding and mud slides. The Philippine country has experienced far worse calamities in the history due mostly to the depletion of our environment. We can still recall with horror the tragedy when an entire village in southern Leyte was buried, and in it hundreds of children and teachers buried alive, due to a massive mudslide that was incontrovertibly caused by deforestation in the watershed above the school (private communication, 2007). This is the usual case in the country, calamities brought about by massive deforestation. Those children and teachers died because of multiple factors-- overpopulation in Leyte with too many people cutting down too many trees, and the larger responsibility lies with the government agencies and individuals who failed to stop illegal logging and also those parties domestically and internationally who benefited from the logging in that watershed.
Ecological Footprint
Malthusian theory has received overwhelming criticisms from different theorists, especially from the point of view of the old Marxists. While Sir Thomas Robert Malthus have erred in some of his predictions, he was right in the long run. Our ecological footprint is simply exceeding beyond the limit line. The environment is definitely not getting any better, not in the coming decades or so. If we would listen to the cries of the rivers, to the echoes in the forests, to the anger of our natural environment, we would know then that they are in helpless position.
For us to be able to determine the environmental degradation that we are experiencing, we need to measure the population, affluence of the people, and the technology that these people use. We all know that nature was a lot better centuries ago as compared today, because it never had the issue of over population, and that people never used such vast amount of oil for the machineries. But it does not and should not end like this. The world needs strong environmental polices to control further weakening of our soil.
Growing from 76.5 million in 2000 to 85.2 million in 2005, the population of the Philippines is increasing more rapidly than most countries in Southeast Asia(Population Reference Bureau, 2007). In urban areas, 90 percent of the Filipinos still have good source of water, while the rural areas have 77 percent. But since the urban centers are rapidly growing too, this results to more water pollution. Between 1996 and 2001, four major rivers in NCR were found to contain such high levels of pollutants that they were considered biologically dead (Population Reference Bureau, 2007).
What we need to do
In the Philippines, we do not want any more tragedies like Leyte mudslide, Quezon disaster because of typhoon. The heat we experience is too much, we can see too many flooded areas in Manila because they do not have enough trees to control the flooding. We all detest these calamities, it hinders are economic recovery. What the Philippines need, as a microcosm of the world, is strong policies for the protection of the environment, study all those factors that affect this; for then may we realize that growing number of population is among those factors that destroys the environment we live in. Only then may we all realize the interdependence of humans and our environment, to stop reducing the issue of population growth to just mere numbers.
Reaction Paper on Population and Environment
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