Unit-5

Human Population
and the
Environment
Dr. D. Balaji
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering

Population
Population is defined as a group of individuals belonging to
the same species, which live in a given area at a given time

Parameters affecting population size:

Population size variation is determined by 4 main different parameters
which are:
1. Birth rate
2. Death rate or Mortality
3. Immigration
4. Emigration

1. Birth rate
The number of live births occurring per 1,000 people in a population in
a given year is referred to as the Birth rate or Natality.
Increases population size.
Each species will have its own maximum birth rate.
Maximum birth rates are seen when conditions are ideal.
This can lead to exponential growth.

2. Death rate or Mortality

The number of deaths occurring per 1,000 people in a population in a
given year is referred to as the Death rate or Mortality.
Mortality reduces population growth.
It operates more when conditions are not ideal.
Overcrowding leading to competition, spread of infectious disease.

3. Immigration
The arrival of individuals from a neighboring population to the
population under consideration can be denoted as immigration.
It increase population growth.
4. Emigration
The dispersal of individuals from the original population.
It decrease population growth.

Population Growth
In 1800, the earth was home to about 1 billion
people.
It took about thirty nine thousand years of
human history to reach 1 billion.
130 years to reach the second billion.
45 years to reach 4 billion and the next
doubling is likely within a span of a few
decades.
May reach 11 billion by 2045 as
per the World Bank estimation.

14th Century Mortality 50% in Asia and Europe Bubonic Plague

Reason
Three Factors
Fertility
Infant Mortality
Longevity
Animal Domestication and
Agriculture

Industrial Revolution
Growth of Cities and
Infrastructure
Water
Energy
Transportation
Increased Productivity
Nutrition
Sanitation
Medicine

Overshoot

POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND VARIATIONS

AMONG NATIONS
Exponential Growth: 10, 102, 103etc
Doubling Time = 70/r; r Growth Rate
Total Fertility Rate:
Average number of children that would be born to a woman in her
lifetime if the age specific birth rates remain constant.
Value of TFR varies from 1.9 in developed nations to 4.7 in developing
nations.
In 1950.s the TFR has been 6.1.

 Infant Mortality Rate:

Percentage of infants died out of those born in a year.
This rate has declined in the last 50 years.

Replacement Level
This is an important concept in population dynamics or demography.
Two parents bearing two children will be replaced by their offspring.
For developing nations, where infant mortality is high and life expectancy is
low.
The replacement level is approx 2.7.
Developed nations it is 2.1.

Age Structure
Pre-Reproductive (0 14 Yrs), Reproductive (15 44 Yrs) Post Reproductive
(45yrs and above)
Pyramid Shaped: India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria
Bell Shaped: France, USA and Canada
URN Shaped: Germany, Italy, Hungary, Sweden and Japan

GERMANY

INDIA
France

 Zero Population Growth:

birth plus immigration in a population are just equal to deaths plus
emigration
Male-Female Ratio:
China - 140:100

Life Expectancy:
The average life expectancy, over the globe, has risen from 40 to 65.5 years
over the past century.
In India, life expectancy of males and females was only 22.6 years and 23.3
years, respectively in 1900.
In the last 100 years improved medical facilities and technological
advancement has increased the life expectancy to 60.3 years and 60.5 years,
respectively for the Indian males and females.
In Japan and Sweden, life expectancy is quite higher, being 82.1-84.2 for
females and 77-77.4 for males.

 Demographic Transition:
Population growth is usually related to economic development.
A typical fall in death rates and birth rates due to improved living
conditions leading to low population growth, a phenomenon called
demographic transition.
Developed Nation GR=0.5%
Developing Nation GR = 2%

Pre-Industrial Phase: Net PG is Low

Transitional Phase: High PG
Industrial Phase: Lowering PG
Post Industrial Phase: Zero PG

Population Explosion
Population explosion means the tremendous increase in the number of people.
It is a known fact that the increase of population is playing vital role of all
environmental damage.
Most of our natural resources are under threat because of the population
growth.
Population explosion increase disease, economic inequity and environmental
abuse.
Therefore we need population stabilization to achieve good health, education
and prosperity.

Important Views on Population Growth

Malthusian Theory:
Human populations tend to grow at an exponential or compound rate
whereas food production increases very slowly or remains stable.
Starvation, poverty, disease, crime and misery are invariably associated
with population explosion.
Marxian Theory:
Population growth is a symptom rather than the cause of poverty,
resource depletion, pollution and other social ills.

Reason for Population Explosion

1.Increase in birth rate in developing countries due to illiteracy.

2. Invention of modern medical facilities reduces mortality rate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFgb1BdPBZo

Human rights
1. Human rights means that a human being must enjoy on this earth.
2. Foundation of human was laid in 13th century. But positive hopes for all people for a happy,
dignified and secured living condition we raised only after Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UNDHR) by UNO on 10. 12. 1948
3. It highlights on protection to all individuals against injustice and human right violation.
4. UNDHR defines specific rights to life, liberty, security, freedom of thought, association, freedom
of movement right of equal pay for equal work, right to form or join union, right to health care,
education etc.
5. Universal declaration rights are universal but disparity between developing and developed
countries.
6. Poverty and population leads to violation of human rights.
7. Acute scarcity of employment.
8. Merit of universal education and child labor prevention is of much less importance than his
struggle for existence
9. Developed and developing country give importance only to respect to human rights and non
social economic rights respectively.

Draft Declaration of Human Rights and Environment

Describes Rights as well as Duties

Principles of Draft Declaration:

Part 1: Deals with HR related to an environment, sustainable development and
peace for all. Rights to fulfill their needs, good quality life.
Part 2: Environment free from pollution and degradation.
Part 3: Right of every person to environmental information, education,
awareness and also public participation in environmental decision making.
Part 4: Duties to protect and preserve the environment and prevent environmental harm.
Part 5: This lays stress on social justice and equity with respect to use of natural
resources and sustainable development.

Value Education
Education is one of the most important tools in bringing about
socioeconomic and cultural progress of a country.
The objective of education should not be merely coaching the
students to get through the exams with good results and get some
good job.
Education does not simply mean acquiring information but using
the resources within the limits of Ethical Value.

Value Education
The scientific and technological advancements have shrunk the world.
Value based education has a very significant role in providing proper direction
to youth to inculcate positive attitude and to teach them the distinction
between right and wrong.
Teaches them to be compassionate, peace loving, helpful, generous and
tolerant so that they can move towards more harmonious, peaceful, enjoyable
and sustainable future.
Value education help in arriving value based judgments based on practical
understanding of various natural principles.

Value Based Environmental Education

Environmental education is something that every person should be well versed
with.
The principles of ecology and fundamentals of environment helps to create a
sense of earth citizenship and a sense of care for the earth and its resources
Management of the resources in a sustainable way so that our children and
grand children too have a safe and clean planet.
Ethical values of earth-centric rather than human-centric world-view.
Spiritual values highlight the principles of self-restraint, self-discipline,
contentment, reduction of wants, freedom from greed and austerity.

Population Pyramids

One way to illustrate the structure of a population is to plot the number of

males and females for various ages.
Horizontal bar graph with data for males on the left and females on the right
is called a population pyramid.

Family Planning

Family planning is the planning of when to have children and the use of
birth control and other techniques to implement such plans.
Raising a child requires significant amounts of resources: time, social, financial,
environmental. Planning can help assure that resources are available.
Waiting until the mother is at least 18 years old before trying to have children
improves maternal and child health.
Also, if additional children are desired after a child is born, it is healthier for the
mother and the child to wait at least 2 years after the previous birth before
attempting to conceive (but not more than 5 years).
After a miscarriage or abortion, it is healthier to wait at least 6 months

Family Welfare Programme

Family Planning
Allows couples to describe their family size and also time
spacing of their offspring.
Provide importance, knowledge and benefits of their small
family.
Sex education awareness.
WHO estimated 50% of worlds married couples adopted family
planning measures, 300 million couples not assessed to family
planning.

Basic Philosophy of Family Planning

Family planning is one of the responsibilities of married persons.
They must decide the size of their families after careful consideration of the
many factors involved - medical, economic and social.
The fertility of the husband and wife is a special bond between them and
part of the intimate, exclusive gift of themselves to each other in marriage.
There will be some husbands and wives who choose to make a generous
decision to raise a large family exercising in so-doing their freedom to take
no action at all to avoid pregnancy.

HIV/AIDS
AIDS-Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
Acquired means disease is not hereditary but develops after birth from
contact with a disease causing agent.
Immune deficiency means - Weakening of immune system.
HIV- Human immuno deficiency - Virus cause AIDS disease.
According to research, the origins of HIV date back to the late nineteenth or
early twentieth century in west-central Africa.
AIDS and its cause, HIV, were first identified and recognized in the early
1980s.

Alters the immune system, making people much more vulnerable to infections and
diseases.

Worsens as the disease progresses.

The virus is passed from one person to another through blood-to-blood and sexual
contact.

In addition, infected pregnant women can pass HIV to their babies during
pregnancy, delivering the baby during childbirth, and through breast feeding.

HIV can be transmitted in many ways, such as vaginal, oral sex, anal sex, blood
transfusion, and contaminated hypodermic needles.

The development of numerous opportunistic infections in an AIDS patient can

ultimately lead to death.

No cure for HIV/AIDS. Treatments can slow the course of the disease.

HIV, does not spread through tears, sweat, urine, saliva during normal kissing,
sharing utensils, towels, clothing, toilet seats or insect bite.

o AIDS was discovered in 1983.

o Definite source of this virus could not be identified.
o Most evidences have suggested that AIDS has spread from Africa. It is
believed that the virus has been transferred to humans from primates like
African Monkey (White sooty mangabeys) or chimpanzees.
o According to another theory HIV has spread through vaccine programmes
1. HIV has spread in Africa through HIV contaminated polio vaccine
prepared by using Monkey.s kidney.
2. It had spread through hepatitis B viral vaccine in New York, Los
Angeles and San Francisco.
3. It has spread through small pox vaccine programme of Africa.

AIDS Virus

Dr.V.Jaikumar

Chemical Engineering Department

HIV PREVALENCE IN VARIOUS REGIONS

Sub-Saharan Africa
South/South-East Asia

18%

Latin America

4%

Eurasia

4%

North America

3%

East Asia

3%

Western Europe
North Africa/Middle East
Caribbean
Oceania

2%
1%

Total = 39.4 million

1%
< 1%

Source: UNAIDS, AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2004.

42%

 Another hypothesis that AIDS is a man made epidemic

produced by genetically engineered laboratory produced virus.
AIDS itself does not kill humans. The deaths occur due to
attack by other diseases because of the weakening of immune
system.
T-cells - Key infection fighters.
HIV destroys or disables these cells.
Cancer can easily develop in the HIV infected persons.

Symptoms:
Persistent fever
Fatique, Weakness
Diarrhoea
Wait loss
SEM image of a human T Cell
Low number of T cells in blood
Swelling lymph nodes, neck
Susceptible to infections

Treatment:
AZT-Azidi thymidine
DDI Dideoxyinosine

Screening test:
ELISA-Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbant Assay
Western blot
Polymer chain reaction
Saliva and urine test
Branched DNA test
Immuno fluorescent antibody assay

The Major Precautions to Avoid AIDS

Education
Prevention of blood borne HIV transmission
Primary health care
Counseling services
Drug treatment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Ck2M12tDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3J-PPbz_P8

ESCALATING EPIDEMIC !!!

Source: WHO/UNAIDS/UN The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2009, p.32 and WHO.

WHAT WE CAN DO??

UNAIDS Outcome Framework 20092011: nine priority areas
We can reduce sexual transmission of HIV.
We can prevent mothers from dying and babies from becoming infected with
HIV.
We can ensure that people living with HIV receive treatment.
We can prevent people living with HIV from dying of tuberculosis.
We can protect drug users from becoming infected with HIV.
We can remove punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination
that
block effective responses to AIDS.
We can stop violence against women and girls.
We can empower young people to protect themselves from HIV.
We can enhance social protection for people affected by HIV.

Woman Welfare
Overcome gender discrimination, devaluation at home, at work place, in
matrimony, in inheritance, in public life and power.
Woman Groups Woman Cells
Ministry for Woman and Child Development.
National Network for Woman and Mining (NNWM).
Mahila Mandals: Awareness among remote villages woman to empower,
train, educate, self dependant.
United Nations Decade for Woman (1975 - 1985): Witnessed inclusion of
several woman welfare related issues.
CEDAW International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Woman 1979.

Child Welfare
Children are considered to be the assets of a society.
Around 20 million - Child labors.
In various hazardous industries like the match industry,
firework industry, brassware industry and pottery industry.
Poverty - Main reason - Unhealthy conditions - do not get the
minimum nutritive food.
Educational and recreational facilities - Childhood rights.

 Children are also the most affected due to environmental

pollution.
Consume more water, food and air than adults, hence more
susceptible to any environmental contamination.
Scientific reports of Center for Science and Environment
(CSE), New Delhi: Water borne diseases - Biggest threat to
children, affecting around 6 million children in India.
Childhood cancer rates are also increasing by 6% every year.

 UN General Assembly 1959 Declaration of the Rights of a

Child Became International Law in 1990.
Objective of Law
Right of the Child to Survival, Protection, Development
and Participation.
Good standards of Living, Good Nutrition and Health.
Freedom from exploitation, Abuse, Inhuman treatment and
Neglect.
Education, Childhood care and support, right to leisure and
recreation.
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion and
appropriate information to the child.

 World Summit on Children Sep 1990 Focused on

Well being of the Children.
India Signatory World Declaration on Survival,
Protection and Development of Children.
National Plan of Action for Children has been
Formulated by MHRD.

Environmental Impact Assessment

Stages of EIA
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
FONSI Finding of No Significant Impact
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
ROD Record Of Decision

ENGINEERS IDEAL APPROACH

PROBLEM DEFINITION.
GENERATION OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS.
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES.
IMPLEMENTATION OF A SELECTED SOLUTION.
REVIEW AND APPROPRIATE REVISION OF THE
IMPLEMENTED SOLUTION.
NEPA NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT

EIS CONTENT
Environmental Impact of Proposed Action.
Any Adverse Environmental Effect that can be Avoided.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action.
Relationship between local short term uses of Mans
Environment and the Maintenance and Enhancement of
long term Productivity.
Any Irreversible and Irretrievable commitments of
Resources that would be involved in proposed action should
be implemented.

Assessment Results
FONSI
EA EA must be expanded or FONSI
EIS Detail Potential Environmental Impacts of a Proposed
Action and Alternative Solution.
Draft EIS
Final EIS After Detailed Discussion about the Projects
ROD

 An Environmental Assessment must be thorough,

interdisciplinary, and as quantitative as possible.
Impact Assessment for an Extended or Multifaceted project Generic EIS (GEIS).
Assessment of Entire Program Programmatic EIS (PEIS).
Writing of EA involves 4 Phases
Scoping
Inventory
Assessment
Evaluation

Semiquantative Approach

Checklist.
Interaction Matrix.
Checklist with Weighted Rankings.
Potential Impact = Importance * Magnitude

0 = No Impact
1 = Minimal Impact
2 = Small Impact
3 = Moderate Impact
4 = Significant Impact
5 = Severe Impact

Role Of Information Technology In Environment And

Human Health
Computer based instruments for environment studies: There are several online use instruments by which data can be collected automatically at fixed
interval of time.
Eg.
1. Instruments for monitoring and analysis of meteorological parameters, the
acoustic sounding system, radar is used.
2. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) Performs complex
chemical and heavy metal analysis in water and waste water.
3. Inductive Coupled Plasma Spectrometer (ICPS), attached with powerful
computers to facilitate easy manipulations, is used for waste water analysis.

Summary

Population growth
Population explosion
Human rights
Value education
Family planning
HIV/AIDS
Woman and Child Welfare
EIA
Role Of Information Technology