Over-population a problem with high stakes, countries sometimes go too far

Americans often forget that we are not the largest or most densely populated country on earth. Among the world community, we are nowhere near some of the leaders like China with 1.3 billion people, whereas we only have around 300 million. The one child policy in China show that some populations are spinning out of control. The governments of these countries are desperate to stabilize the growth for various reasons. According to the BBC, citizens in some societies have even begun to commit infanticide, the unlawful killing of very young children. Other countries such as Germany have a decline in population, which has some worried that the culture and economy may suffer if the trend continues.
Population dynamics is the study of the trends in population densities. Ecologists who study population dynamics try to figure out, as accurately as possible, where people are living, how many people are living in an area, and why the population of certain areas behaves in a particular way so that predictions can be made. Often interesting mathematics are used to do so, such as differential equations or game theory.

The importance of the study of these changes is fundamental to understanding human behavior, keeping the human populations healthy and safe, and helping plan for future generation. A sustainable environment will depend, in part, on where and how people are living. Trying to find new ways to provide resources as simple and fundamental as clean water, which most Americans take for granted, is difficult for countries in Africa, which are technologically underdeveloped by Western standards. Providing electricity, which despite popular belief is not as fundamental as water, is quite difficult for even modern countries like China, who have overly-dense populations. This is most noticeable when looking at the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the world, displaced millions of people due to flooding, but was constructed in order to provide resources for the citizens.

One interesting thing about population dynamics of other species on earth is that generally there are natural limiting factors that prevent the population from going too high or too low. These natural, limiting factors such as predators, environmental changes, or natural disasters help keep populations in check and in natural balance. In humans however, we have found ways to overcome or minimize these effects and, in so doing, have allowed our populations to grow at ever-increasing rates.

Population demographics have changed drastically since the industrial revolution and subsequent modernization of western countries. After technology took over, better health care was provided to citizens, better living conditions were standard, and death rates went down while birth rates went up. According to The Habitable Planet, every developed country has passed through what is known as “the demographic transition.” The demographic transition is when a country goes through a period when the phase reduction of death and birth rates fall. This causes a “baby boom” where a generation is significantly larger than those preceding it o This can cause opportunities to arise, such as better living conditions due to a stronger work force, as well as strains on the society in which it occurs since resources may be stressed.

The population dynamics of the world vary widely through time and geographic location, but trends can be observed and predicted. In order to plan for future generations and also to help current constituents, the use of biological and mathematical principles must be put into place. To find out more about a country or geographic area of interest and to see how the population effects itself and the environment visit: http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=5&secNum=0