Department
GeographyCourse Code
GGRC02H3Professor
ElrickLecture
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Exams: each of the exams will include short note questions and essay questions
Malthus’ dawning: Are we too many?
•Theories and idea on how population growth will benefit or not benefit the world
•Ideas will follow us through most or all of lectures in future
Current World Population
•More and more people are living on this planet
World population growth rate
•However, the world population growth rate is declining
•We will become less more over the years
•World population growth rate = surplus of population in comparison to years in time
•Population growth rate = pop t2 – pop t0/ pop t1
World population throughout history
•We will get less more on this planet
•Is this a benefit or catastrophe?
Population densities 2010
•Population density = total population / area
•Canada has the least dense population among these countries
•Although there are other countries that are really rich (i.e. Netherlands), they deal
with more people, so it’s one of the most highly dense country in the world
•India is big country and quite a lot of people per square kilometres live
•The media covers this topic on a daily basis – food prices to rocket as population
explodes
•We were concerned about population growth in 1970s and 80s, and we should still be
concerned nowadays
Malthus’ prophecy
•There are other theories out there that state the world can’t hold that many people
anymore
•When Malthus made his prophecy, there were about 3 billion people worldwide and
he was concerned about this state especially when he looked at the food production
and the technologies out there to cater these populations
•Malthus thought in late 18th century that these two statements he made were fixed
laws of nature:
1.People have to eat – fixed law
2.We like to procreate and have sex and get children
Malthus’ prophecy (cont’d)
•Geometrical ratio = population is increasing exponentially
•Arithmetical ratio = population would increase in a linear way
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•Growth of food will grow in a linear way
•Population growth will increase exponentially
•Where growth of food and population growth meets = carrying capacity (when
population growth will be higher than production of food, which will be final stage of
population growth and there will not be any growth further than that)
Cornucopians
•These people think there is no limit to growth, and resources will be there for people
on Earth
•These people are called Cornucopians according to Greek term, which defines
“plenty” of food he/she needs
Population doctrines
•These are at the moment the most powerful ones
•Doctrine = qualified collection of thinking, not a theory as such because it doesn’t
have to be scientific
•Most well known book of genesis – food needed to be multiplied
oPositive population doctrines applied about 1300 BC
•Confucius – population growth is good, but governments should balance on
population and resources
oHe might have experience some cases where there are overpopulation and the
resources (food) wasn’t enough for those people, but he thought there may be
food in the future
•Plato – population quality is more important than quantity
oEmphasis should be on population stability
oSaw the density in cities in Greece and thought that it might be more
valuable to draw on the quality on the population (develop thinking in
education) and the quantity
•Cicero – Roman emperor said population growth is necessary to maintain Roman
influence
oThese doctrines had an underlying belief system
•St. Augustine – abstinence is the preferred way to deal with human sexuality
oSecond best is to marry and to procreate
oHis doctrine was to stop making kids only if you have to marry then that’s ok,
but the best is to not have children
•St. Thomas Aquinas – abstinence is not better than marriage and procreation
oCountered St. Augustine and said well if you want to marry and get children,
that is better than not getting children
•Ibn Khaldun – population growth is inherently good because it increases
employment specialization and raises income
•Physiocrats – wealth of nations is in land, not in people
oPopulation depends on wealth of land stimulated by free trade
oAgenda is on economic trade and not so much on population growth
•Malthus – population grows exponentially, that results in poverty when we don’t
have more restraints
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