Cultural Integration

The world’s population is growing at 1.1 per cent per year, having surpassed 7 billion people in late 2011. It is expected to rise to 9.1 billion people by 2050. This growth is unprecedented and is being felt mainly in the developing world. Due to the unprecedented growth rates being experienced and uneven distribution of population growth occurring it is resulting in huge amounts of pressure on the natural environment, drastic global inequalities and is affecting age structure and employment in both developed and developing countries.

World Population Growth
Over time the world’s population has increased rapidly. In 1900 there were only 1.6 billion people on earth. In 1950, there were 2.5 billion people. Today, in 2013 there are currently 7.1 billion people living on earth. Overtime the age structure of the world’s population has also changed. 28% of the world’s population is currently under the age of 15, providing built in momentum for further growth.

Distribution of the World’s Population Growth

As seen in the graph above, population growth in less developed countries has been rapid and ever increasing whereas in the more developed countries population growth has been gradual but is now slowing. This uneven distribution patterns is due to the individual regions different fertility, infant mortality and life expectancy rates. In the developing countries such as Africa fertility rates sit at 7 expected children per woman, where in the developing world countries such as Italy, Germany and Spain are struggling to satisfy replacement rates of 2.1 children per woman. It is projected that less developed countries’ populations are going to continue to rise unless measures or solutions are put into practice. Africa’s population alone is expected to triple within this century from 1 billion to 3.6 billion. The developed world’s population is said to drop as the crude birth rate falls below replacement levels. Europe’s population is predicted to shrink by 9% unless they meet their replacement levels or increase their net migration along with Japan and Russia. Low fertility rates are also leading to aging in the structure of developed countries and a younger age structure evident in developing countries. Half of the world’s 7.1 billion people are also jamming into cities which are becoming more and more densely populated. Many of the world’s megacities are already being questioned on their capacities to sustain such large amount of people, with more and more babies being born each day and more and more migrants moving into cities for family or jobs reasons.

Causes of Rapid Growth
Since the 1950’s the death rate for the world has more than halved and infant mortality rates sit at a third of what they once were. This slash of infant mortality rates and increase in life expectancy has accelerated rapid growth dramatically. As a result of advancements in medical science, public health, nutritional improvements and greater access to education more and more young people are surviving their reproductive years and growing old. As the improvements in medical science and public health in the developed world came slowly, their life expectancy rates increased gradually and currently rest at 80 years of ages. In the developing world the improvements came much later and more rapidly and currently rest at 67 years of age. In the developed Government incentives and crisis such as war also can accelerate growth rates. Australia’s well known catch phrase in the 1960’s after World War II “populate or perish” lead to the enormous increase in birth rates however is now being felt with the aging of Australia’s population. Government incentives offered to accelerate growth rate include things such a baby bonuses’ and family packages. Countries such as Japan and Singapore are adopting these incentives to hopefully raise fertility rates, producing more babies.
In the developing world the lack of education of contraception and family planning is also accelerating growth dramatically.

Pressure on Natural Resources and resulting global inequalities

As populations become larger at unprecedented rates the demand on natural resources so too increases. Many people are living on a sub-sustainable level due to an uneven distribution of these resources. In many parts of the world its population has outgrown essential resources for that region that are in that region. This means that the higher the population density the more pressure on resources there is in that area. Unfortunately this creates a stark difference in the qualities of life between developed and developing nations, resulting in the drastic global inequalities being faced today. As the rich have the money, it entitles them to greater access and control of resources but through overconsumption of them it has led to exploitation. The 12% of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe alone accounts for 60% of private consumption, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 3.2%. The world’s poor as a result are forced to degrade their own resource base out of necessity and lack of alternatives whilst the affluent living in the developed world degrades their environment through their ability to consume resources and generate large amounts of waste. As many as 2.8 billion people in the developing world struggle to survive on less than $2 a day and as a result are facing extreme poverty. These people also lack access to safe, clean drinking water, remotely adequate food sources and sufficient medical health. This pattern will continue and accelerate as over-consumption in the developing world remains problematic

Population and the Environment
There is a relationship between population growth and environmental degradation. This relationship is evident in the world’s land, coastlines and oceans, forests and freshwater supplies.
LANDUSE: As the demand for food production increases so too does the expansion of cultivated and ‘grazing’ land. This results in an increase of erosion and declines the quality of the soil, meaning that in the future the land being used will no longer be productive.
COASTLINES AND OCEANS: Coastal ecosystems are being pressured by high population densities as a source of food. Fisheries are being exploited and trends already suggest that catches are already down. An increase of pollution is also occurring due to excess of run off from urbanisation, chemical wastes/leaks from watercrafts and general wastes.
FORESTS: Nearly half the world’s original forest cover has been cut, burnt or bulldozed. The demand for land and timber already exceeds sustainable consumption rates by 25%. Rapid deforestation leads to several implications for the biophysical environment such as increased erosion, destruction of natural habitats, and an incline in biodiversity.
FRESHWATER SUPPLIES: As population growth and density increases as does the demand on freshwater supplies. By 2025, 3 billion people will face water shortages with Sub-Saharan Africa the worst. For the biophysical environment, this means increased desertification in regions and so too an incline in biodiversity.
Environmental degradation due to population growth can also contribute to further implications such as social and political instability, which can lead to security issues.

Age Structure and Employment

In developing countries the young nature of the population due to high fertility rates and high child mortality rates, and high rates of urbanisation is resulting in an employment crisis. People are going to cities in hopes finding jobs as useable farmland no longer exists. A staggering 30 million jobs will need to be created annually in the developing world to prevent an increase in the already high rates of unemployment. Possible suggestion to aid in unemployment rates in poverty stricken areas includes microcredit. Microcredit is the extension of very small loans to people living in poverty to start their own small businesses and to alleviate them from poverty. Microcredit has also led to the empowerment of women in these nations and has uplifted entire communities by extension.
In developed countries the ageing population due to fertility rates below replacement rate and increases in life spans will result in a different employment crisis. People will need to extend their working lives beyond retirement age as insufficient numbers of skilled workers are there to replace them. More and more service workers will also be required to accommodate for the huge elderly population as well as medical services and infrastructure. These countries facing this crisis will need to boost their work force with immigrants.
Therefore it can be stated that the age structure between developed and developing nations affects migration. Vast numbers of people from high fertility and unemployment rate countries are moving to those who need workers.

This can lead to increase in population density and further demand on natural resources and consequently greater consumption in the developing world.

Conclusion
Population growth is occurring rapidly and is unevenly distributed across developed and developing nations. Due to this unprecedented rate of growth and uneven distribution huge amounts of pressure is being placed on the natural environment, drastic global inequalities are occurring and trends in age structure and employment is being greatly affected. For the benefit of the earth and humanity efforts to stabilise and sustain population must be made.