Population Explosion is more Lethal than Nuclear Explosion. The title of this piece may be explosive. But the truth is indisputable. Millions suffer and millions die due diseases, hunger, poor living conditions, accidents and so on. All due to an unbridled growth rate of population of the humans.
Population and Development are intrinsically interwoven and they are the major forces behind the damages caused to the Environment. Today the development or growth is skewed irrespective of the nations or issues. The intelligentsia of this world conveniently forgets that the most important cause for the rising pollution levels is the unchecked growth of population.
The Asian majors; China, India, Pakistan,Bangladesh and Indonesia are with 50% of the world population. These nations think that they can occupy the whole earth without any battle or war. The silent war is on and it is massive. But the nations with lot of knowledge neglect this most crucial issue and they would be talking about all other issues. Neither in these 'high growth' nations nor the UNO care for this most crucial issue.
If just 5 nations are going to occupy the whole planet what would be the pressure on land, water and all other vital resources we depend on the earth? None in these countries bother about this menace. In 1970's and 80's children in the Indian sub-continent schools would be writing essays on Population explosion to pass in their academics and the news magazines would also carry the negative impact of the unabated growth of population. Today none uses the word, 'population' at all.
Unless some guidelines are in place, awareness programmes are carried out, incentives given to promote small families these 5 countries would capture the whole globe wielding pens alone.
Total population
In 2013, the world’s population reached 7.2 billion people, of which 60 per cent lived in Asia, 15 per cent in Africa, 10 per cent in Europe, 9 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5 per cent in Northern America, and 1 per cent in Oceania. China and India have the largest populations in the world— 1.4 and 1.3 billion respectively, while 34 countries and territories are inhabited by less than 100,000 people.
Share of persons aged 65 years or over.
The world’s population is ageing rapidly; 1 out of every 12 persons is 65 years old or over in 2013. The share of older persons is higher in the more developed regions than in the less developed regions: while one in six persons in Europe and one in seven persons in Northern American are aged 65 years or over, this proportion is much lower in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (1 in 14) and lower still (1 in 29) in Africa. All regions and most countries of the world are ageing.
Under-five (child) mortality.
In 2013, 51 out of every 1,000 newborns in the world did not survive to their fifth birthday. In the less developed regions, child mortality is 8.5 times higher than in the more developed regions. In the least developed countries, one in 10 children die before reaching age 5 years, while in Northern America, the ratio is 1 to 145. Child mortality varies widely across regions, from 4 deaths per 1,000 births in Western Europe to 158 deaths per 1,000 births in Middle Africa. At the country level, child mortality is lowest in Singapore (2 deaths per 1,000 births) and highest in Chad (153 deaths per 1,000 births).
Life expectancy at birth.
At the world level, life expectancy reached 70.1 years in 2013, but is only 60.8 years in the least developed countries. Life expectancy at birth in the more developed regions (77.8 years) is almost 10 years higher than in the less developed regions (68.4 years). With a few exceptions, female life expectancy exceeds male life expectancy, on average by 4.5 years. The gender gap tends to be larger in lower mortality populations. Female life expectancy exceeds male life expectancy by 6.8 years within the more developed regions and by only 2.7 years within the least developed countries.
Adolescent fertility rate.
Adolescent childbearing, which entails various types of risks for both mother and child, remains at high levels in many less developed regions. The birth rate among adolescent women (aged 15 to 19 years) is highest in sub-Saharan Africa (109 births per 1,000 women), with Middle Africa and Western Africa recording rates as high as 137 and 119 births per 1,000 women, respectively. Latin America and the Caribbean also have a relatively high adolescent fertility (68 births per 1,000 women). By contrast, adolescent fertility is very low (less than 10 births per 1,000 women) in Eastern Asia, Southern Europe and Western Europe. In Australia and New Zealand, Northern America, other European regions, Central Asia, and South-Eastern Asia, adolescent fertility rate ranges between 14 and 35 births per 1,000 women.
Contraceptive prevalence.
Contraceptive use helps to avert unintended and closely spaced pregnancies as well as to reduce unsafe abortions. Contraceptive prevalence is low in the least developed countries, where just over one in three (37.7 per cent) married or in-union women of reproductive age are currently using a method of contraception. The lowest contraceptive prevalence is recorded in sub-Saharan Africa where only one in five married or in-union women of reproductive age practice contraception. By contrast, contraceptive prevalence is much higher in the less developed regions (two out of three women, or 63.6 per cent) and even higher in the more developed regions (almost three-quarters of women, or 72.4 per cent).
Urbanization.
The twentieth century witnessed a rapid urbanization of the world population. More than half (52 per cent) of people were living in urban areas in 2011. The more developed regions tend to be more highly urbanized than less developed regions: while more than three-fourths (78 per cent) of the population in the more developed regions live in areas classified as urban, less than half (47 per cent) of those in the less developed regions do so. Among the less developed regions, though, Latin America and the Caribbean is an exception. With an urbanization rate of 79 per cent, that region is more urbanized than Europe (73 per cent) and not very far from Northern America (82 per cent). Asia and Africa are less urbanized but their urban populations are growing faster than in other regions of the world. At the country level, urbanization rates range from just over 10 per cent in Burundi and Papua New Guinea to populations that are entirely urban, such as those of Hong Kong (SAR of China), Macao (SAR of China) and Singapore.
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, at purchasing power parity.
On average, GDP per capita in the less developed regions ($6,470) is less than onefifth of that of the more developed regions ($37,423). Countries in sub-Saharan Africa rank the lowest, with an average per capita GDP per capita of $2,390. Among the less developed regions, Latin America and the Caribbean have relatively high GDP per capita, of $12,901 on average. GDP per capita varies widely across countries; in the more developed regions, for example, it ranges from $3,424 in the Republic of Moldova to $88,318 in Luxembourg. In these regions, GDP per capita is on average lowest in Eastern Europe, and highest in Western Europe and Northern America.
Poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day (PPP).
New estimates from the World Bank show that extreme poverty, that is, the proportion of the population living on less than $1.25 a day, has fallen considerably in developing countries, from 47 per cent in 1990 to 22 per cent in 2010. However, this average figure masks great variations across regions and countries. In Africa, 43 per cent of the population still lives on less than $1.25 a day. In Southern Asia, almost more than 30 per cent of the population are in this category, whereas in Latin America and the Caribbean, Western Asia and Northern Africa, less than 10 per cent of the population live in extreme poverty. At the country level, extreme poverty is still widespread (ranging from 60 per cent to 90 per cent of the population) in 13 countries located mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the highest rate of extreme poverty: 87.7 per cent. By contrast, extreme poverty has dropped significantly in several countries of Asia and Latin America. In developed countries, extreme poverty is lower than 2 per cent and is found only in a handful of countries located mainly in Eastern Europe and Southern Europe.
Gini index.
Developing countries tend to have higher income inequality than developed countries, as measured by the Gini index. In the less developed regions, inequality levels are high in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, mostly within the 40-59 per cent range, than in the countries of Asia and Northern Africa, mostly within the 30-39 per cent range. In the more developed regions, inequality levels are higher in the countries of Northern America, 33 per cent in Canada and 41 per cent in the United States of America, than in the countries of Europe (mostly within the 20-29 per cent range in Eastern Europe and within the 30-39 per cent range in the rest of Europe. Seven developing countries and three developed countries have the highest inequality levels: the Gini coefficient is over 40 per cent in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Russian Federation and United States of America, and it is greater than 60 per cent in Comoros, Seychelles, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Haiti and Micronesia.
Mean years of schooling.
At the world level, the average length of schooling of the total population aged 25 years or over was 7.2 years in 2010. Educational attainment is much higher in the more developed regions than in the less developed regions (11.5 years vs. 6.7 years of schooling, on average). In the more developed regions, the mean years of schooling is somewhat higher in the countries of Northern America and Oceania (above 12 years) than in the countries of Europe (10-11 years). In the less developed regions, no country has yet attained an average of 10 years of schooling. Educational attainment is particularly low in the least developed countries; In all but two, the mean years of schooling was less than 5 years in 2010.
Energy use.
Energy use has been growing rapidly in the less developed regions, but the more developed regions still use four times as much energy on a per capita basis, 4,942 kilograms of oil equivalent in the more developed regions versus 1,112 kilograms in the less developed countries. Energy use per capita is correlated with per capita income, as demonstrated by the low use in Africa (730 kilograms on average), and the higher use in Latin America and the Caribbean (1,283 kilograms on average) and in Asia (1,341 kilograms). In the more developed regions, countries in Northern America use more energy per capita (more than 7,000 kilograms) than countries in Oceania and Europe (almost 5,000 kilograms of oil equivalent). In Europe, energy use per capita is higher in Northern Europe and Western Europe (around 4,000 kilograms) than in Eastern and Southern Europe (less than 3,000 kilograms in general). At the country level, the oilproducing countries of Western Asia, such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, use the highest amounts of energy, more than 7,000 kilograms per capita.
Carbon dioxide emissions.
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main gas linked to global warming, have increased substantially in the course of economic development. CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions also affect human health through local air pollution. At the world level, manmade emissions of carbon dioxide in 2009 stood at 4.7 metric tons per capital.
CO2 emissions per capital in the more developed regions stood at 11.2 metric tons in 2009, compared to only 2.9 metric tons in the less developed regions, 0.9 metric tons in sub-Saharan Africa and 0.3 metric tons in the least developed countries. Since CO2 emissions are determined, in large part by consumption, population size is also an important factor of emissions. For instance, China and India produce 23 per cent of global emissions of carbon dioxide despite of their being slightly above (China) and much below (India) the world average with respect to per capita emission.
Sulfur dioxide emissions.
Sulfur dioxide, which is generated by the combustion of coal and petroleum, is a precursor to acid rain and a major air pollutant that has significant impacts upon human health and biodiversity. There is a slight inverse relationship between emissions of sulfur dioxide per capita and the level of economic development. Among the countries with data in 2012, anthropogenic emissions of sulfur dioxide were highest in Australia, Bulgaria, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Montenegro and Serbia (more than 100 kilograms per capita) and lowest in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Togo (less than 0.5 kilograms per capita).
Particulate matter concentration.
In 2010, particulate matter concentration, which is a measure of urban air pollution, stood at 46 micrograms per cubic meter at the world level. The particulates have natural origins and are also generated by man-made activities, such as burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and various industrial processes. Coal combustion in developing countries adds significantly to this type of pollution since coal is the primary energy source for heating homes and supplying electricity. The concentration of particulate matter is inversely correlated with the level of development. The level of urban pollution is almost three times higher in the less developed regions (49 micrograms per cubic meter) than in the more developed regions (18 micrograms per cubic meter) although wide variations exist within each development group. Whereas countries with the highest concentrations of particulate matter (more than 100 micrograms per cubic meter) are all developing countries (Bangladesh, Mali, Sudan and Uruguay), countries with the lowest concentrations (less than 10 micrograms per cubic meter) are found in both less developed and more developed regions—Belarus, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
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