Human Geography

Global Village (my own notes from in-class discussion) modern developments in technology and communication let people across the globe connect instantly this allows for the spread of ideas and news transportation is relatively cheap everything is connected; global village eg. In Chinese culture, shark fin soup is a delicacy. Fishermen catch the shark, cut off their fins, and throw the animals back alive. Without the ability to swim, the sharks drown, and this leads to fewer predators for seals. A large number of seals migrate to the North Pacific and eat salmon. As a result, shark fishing in the South Pacific causes a decrease in salmon catches in B.C. - this is the interconnectedness of the world we live in today. The Three Worlds (my notes) developed developing underdeveloped: lots of problems with infrastructure, no strong political system when developed countries help underdeveloped or developing countries, the first thing they do is fix infant mortality rates by providing medical care and technology

World Population Dynamic

Population Explosion: A Recent Event (refer to picture above)

Last 200 years or less for More Developed Countries (MDCs) Industrial Revolution Improvement in sanitation and medicine Last 50 years or less for Less Developed Countries (LDCs) Transfer of technology (ie. medical, agriculture, Green Revolution)

Agricultural Revolution: led to a rise in population Enclosure Act: forced people into cities Rates of Global Population Change

CBR (Crude Birth Rates) = number of births per 1000 population 1990: 24 Today: 21.3 CDR (Crude Death Rates) = number of deaths per 1000 population 1990: 9 Today: 8.93 growth rate = birth rate - death rate (often in %) 1990: 1.5% Today: 1.3% growth rates have come down Special Kinds of Fertility and Mortality Rates

TFR (Total Fertility Rates) = number of children born to a woman during her reproductive years (or lifetime) 1990: 3.1 Today: 2.8 IMR (Infant Mortality Rates) = infant deaths per 1000 live births (infant < 1 year) 1990: 62 (1900: 200) Today: 56

Population: number of persons Population Change: increase in the number of persons (per year) Growth Rates: rate of change (per year) Doubling Time

Number of years in which a population reaches twice its size. Doubling time can be approximated using growth rates Rule of Seventy

Population Pyramids: Demography in Action

Population Pyramids Geographers have a penchant for graphs and charts. These easily readable visual guides can offer a lot of information. When studying population, the population pyramid is very useful. A short glance at a population pyramid can give a lot of information about the country represented. You can see below that there are variations on the design of the population pyramid:

The information on the population pyramid is, however, the same. The Pop Pyramid always measures certain common factors. What does a population pyramid tell us about a country?

Let us look at the shape of the pyramid: look at the pyramid for Benin above. The pyramid is very wide at the bottom. What does this mean? a high birth rate The pyramid gets very narrow near the top. What does this mean? a low life expectancy Populations that have a very high birth rate and a very high death rate (ie. low life expectancy) have many common features. Reasons for a High Birth Rate No social safety net Lack of family planning assistance High infant mortality (better chance Traditional values (ie. large families) one child will survive to adulthood) As a society develops, many of these problems are resolved: Better health care reduces infant mortality. Better economy helps create a social safety net. This reduces the need for children taking on the responsibility of caring for their aging parents. As the health care improves, the wide bar at the bottom of the pyramid shrinks. However, this takes time, because traditional or religious values can come into play (ie. people may want to have large families, or they keep reproducing until they get a male heir) At the same time, the narrow bar at the top expands. This is due to the older people living longer (ie. more people are living longer, healthier lives). The population pyramid begins to change shape. This shows how the society is advancing. Ideal: You want 0% population growth rates. Stable: optimum 2.4 kids/couple. The wrong people are having babies - the more educated you are, the fewer babies you have. DINKS = Double Income No Kids. YUPpies = Young Urban Professional. Societies go through stages: The first stage is when the country is developing. It is typified by all the factors indicated in the Benin population pyramid. This stage is called Expansive or Expanding. It is exemplified by the very sharp pyramid shape.

Questions: What must occur for a country to move from this stage to the next? sanitation, access to medical care, education (for women) Describe the transition. What is occurring in the country as it develops? Is it inevitable for a country to develop? What factors could prevent development? More developed countries go in to help developing countries build up their infrastructure. As this improves, people begin living longer and healthier lives. The Gross National Product (GNP) may increase. At the next stage, the country has achieved many of the goals necessary to develop. This stage is called Stable Population. At this stage, the country has a well developed economy. This supports a strong infrastructure. Generally, the people tend to be well educated and upwardly mobile (moving your way up the ranks in a job). eg. Iceland is an example of a country with Stable population growth. Look at the shape:

Stable Populations tend to be the more economically developed nations. These population pyramids have a less triangular shape. The bottom bars begin to contract. Reasons? As women become more educated, they tend to follow their careers first before settling down, making babies, and having a family. The final stage is called Contracting. At this stage, the rate of natural increase is significantly lower. There tends to be a lower death rate and a lower birth rate. People live longer and in better health. Contracting stage is also called Zero Population Growth. Very few countries in the world have achieved this stage: they include Germany, Japan, and Sweden. What are the implications of this type of population growth?

Japan has reached a contracting population model. Lets look at the projections for Japan based on the current level of population growth:

The Dependency Ratio This figure is based on the assumption that neither the oldest nor the youngest of society work and contribute to the growth of the economy. *remember senior citizens of society have put in a full life of work and contribution and have earned the support they now receive. The more workers a country has, the better the economic advantage it has. The large work force can grow the economy and thereby build a strong infrastructure. A country in the opposite position is at a disadvantage. A smaller number of workers are needed to support a larger population. To calculate the dependency ratio, you need to find the percentage of total population of working age. This is usually taken to be people between 15 and 65 years of age. Those younger are called young dependants. (not really a big burden on society) Those older are the old dependants. (take up many resources - require pharmaceuticals, health care, pension) The dependency ratio is calculated as follows: ( ) ( ) ( )

If this is calculated for Canada (1981), you get

Canadas dependency ratio for 1981 was 47.5. This is a low figure and means that Canada, at least in 1981, had a stable economic forecast. Countries that have a higher proportion of older or younger dependants have a higher economic burden. Demographic Transition Model

As we have seen from the population pyramids, countries can be in varying levels of their economic development. A model was needed to show how countries develop. As the economic, social, and political factors of a country improve, the country will advance in its development. A model is a simplified version of the way things work in the real world. The DTM can chart the transition of a country as it moves through the stages. The reasons for a countrys move has been discussed earlier (ie. health, sanitation, and education). The demographic transition model is used to show this growth:

Notice that the terms are not consistent. The advantages of the demographic transition model are that is shows a movement. Whereas the population pyramid can only show the snapshot of a country, the DTM allows us to see the movement of a countrys development.

High Stationary is also called high fluctuating. Birth rates and death rates are both high. Population growth is slow and fluctuating. Birth Rate is high because lack of family planning high infant mortality rate: putting babies in the bank need for workers in agriculture religious beliefs children seen as economic assets Death Rate is high because high level of disease famine war lack of clean water and sanitation lack of health care lack of education competition for food from predators such as rats

Five Stag:es of the Demographic Transition birth rates, death rates, and growth rates systematically change through time as societies change: modernize, urbanize, gain access to technology Stage 1: high birth rates, high (at times erratic) death rates, low growth rates stage for much of human history, traditional societies practically no country today Stage 2:

high birth rates, declining death rates, rising growth rates (wide base)

improvements in sanitation (water) and medicine in Europe during Industrial Revolution in developing countries since the 50s and 60s much of Africa today, some countries of Asia (eg. Afghanistan, Nepal, etc.) Stage 3: continued decline of death rates, declining birth rates, growth rates decline from high to lower levels (wide middle)

change in behavior: adaptation to lower death rate, in particular infant mortality rate economic change: urbanization (incentive to have fewer children) Mexico today Stage 4 and 5: Stage 4: low birth rates, low death rates, low growth rates (slender)

United States today Stage 5: low birth rates, rising death rates, declining growth rates (if birth rates drop below death rates: negative growth values) (narrow base)

Western Europe (Germany, Sweden) and Japan

The Environment: Climate Change and Human Activities

The Greenhouse Effect A greenhouse is a place where people grow stuff. There are two types of radiation: long and short wave. Long waves are reflected. Short waves get trapped and cannot escape: the greenhouse becomes warmer. In normal situations the radiation that is emitted from the sun is dispersed, absorbed, or reflected. The clouds and the atmosphere do much to protect humans from the harmful rays of the sun.

Human caused elements released into the atmosphere have led to an increase in the amount of solar radiation that is prevented from returning to space. This is trapping more radiation and leading to a global increase in temperature. This is known as the greenhouse effect. Climate Change

Since many countries around the world were experiencing the effects of Climate Change, the world had to come together to look at causes and solutions. It was agreed upon that humans were contributing to the problem. Pollutants released into the atmosphere were contributing to the greenhouse effect. In the 70s, scientists discovered a hole in the ozone layer that lay in the upper atmosphere. The ozone is a layer of highly oxygenated molecules that helps protect the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays.

CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons were being released from popular products such as aerosol cans (hairspray, deodorants, etc.) These CFCs were eating the ozone and causing a dangerous hole. This was the first time that the world banded together to stop an environmental catastrophe. The hole in the ozone was very real. The loss of the ozone would mean the loss of millions of plant crops and a rise in temperatures. As it is, incidents of melanoma (a type of skin cancer) grew rapidly throughout the 80s and into the 90s. Australia was most affected by this as the hole in the ozone was mostly located around the poles where the atmosphere is thinnest. The Montreal Protocol became the first meeting where the world leaders decided to try and stop such an environmental catastrophe. From this conference, the world leaders began to ban CFCs from all products. We also started to take care in the disposal of old refrigerators as the Freon gas used in them also contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Acid Rain

Acid Rain was another example of an environmental issue that crossed international boundaries. Pollutants from factories around the Great Lakes were reaching the upper atmosphere, causing a chemical change, and falling to the earth as highly acidic rain. Canada and the USA had to work together to solve this problem. The damage caused by Acid Rain was not confined to the flora and fauna. Buildings and monuments were also being affected. Canada developed a policy to prevent Acid Rain. The USA, however, did not believe it was an issue and so did not act on it until much later. This is an example of how environmental issues that affect us all can be sidelined by political forces. Lake Erie was a dead lake in the 70s. Conservation efforts in Canada saw a slow recovery on the Canadian side. The Kyoto Protocol

In 1997, the world met again to discuss climate change. The industrialized nations mostly signed on to the Kyoto Protocol, but the USA held off. What are the barriers to solving Climate Change? The major industrial nations are not coming on to the change because they blame the less industrialized nations. The less industrialized nations cannot afford to effect change. Politics again became the issue as the Americans did not want to do anything to jeopardize their industrial machine.

Many of the western countries also had an issue about the causes of climate change. Canada signed the protocol but with the election of Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, it was quietly abandoned. Water and Soil

Water is essential for all life on the planet. The earth is called the Blue Planet for good reason. This is the only planet in our solar system where water occurs naturally in all three states. However, of all the water on the earth, only a small fraction is available for use. Most of the water is salt water and therefore not available for use.

Agriculture and Industry are the two sectors that consume the majority of our fresh water supply. However, the use of fertilizers and pesticides has combined to pollute much of the water used in agriculture. Chemicals and pollutants seep into the aquifers (underground layers of water-bearing rocks) The United Nations has consistently refused to have water declared a basic human right. There is a lot of pressure from large corporations to commodify our water. They want to trade water as any other resources. Soil and soil quality are other issues that need to be addressed. Since we get most of our food from agricultural activities, we need to be concerned with the quality of the soil. Erosion, desertification, and urbanization are diminishing our arable land. Erosion: poor farming practices and the overuse of fertilizers have depleted the soil in many areas. Loss of protecting flora has also contributed to this decline. Desertification: the worlds deserts are growing at an alarming pace. Mono -cultural practices and cash crops are leading to the destruction of large areas of once-arable land. Brazil is of special concern as the forests of the Amazon are considered the lungs of the earth. Deforestation

Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet.

They produce vital oxygen and provide homes for people and wildlife. Many of the worlds most threatened and endangered animals live in forests, and 1.6 billion people rely on the benefits forests offer, including food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine, shelter, and OXYGEN. But forests around the world are under threat from deforestation, jeopardizing these benefits. According to the World Wildlife Federation; deforestation comes in many forms, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. This impacts peoples livelihoods and threatens a wide range of plant and animal species. Some 46-58 million square miles of forest are lost each year - equivalent to 36 football fields every minute.

In the Amazon, the most life is found in the arboreal canopy (ie. treetops) - the soil is poor. Consequently, many crops soon fail, and more forests are cut down for farmland.

Mining and forestry practices are destroying the Amazon.

Standards of Living: Indicators and Influences

How do we determine Standard of Living? For many, the term is highly subjective. The United Nations, however, has developed a formula for determining a countrys SOL. Merriam-Webster.com says it means: 1. the necessities, comforts, and luxuries enjoyed or aspired to by an individual or group 2. a minimum of necessities, comforts, or luxuries held essential to maintaining a person or group in customary or proper status or circumstances The World Bank says: the level of well-being (of an individual, group, or the population of a country) as measured by the level of income (for example, GNP per capita) or by the quantity of various goods and services consumed (for example, the number of cars per 1000 people or the number of television sets per capita). GDP Gross Domestic Product is the total market value of all the goods and services produced in a country in a year. Since our prevailing world view is still stuck on more money = better life, GDP is often used as a quick and dirty way to infer a countrys standard of living. However, does this accurately reflect the many variables within different countries? Not only can money not buy happiness, but not all spending is good spending. Clearing up a pesky oil spill or sustaining multiple wars in foreign lands might be great for expenditure and therefore GDP, but it does not mean the country or its people are any better off than they were beforehand. GDP top 10 in 2010 according to the IMF (GDP given in millions of $): What people really want is to live long, fulfilling lives, not just to be filthy rich. 1. United States (14,624,184) 2. China (5,745,133) 3. Japan (5,390,897) 4. Germany (3,305,898) 5. France (2,555,439) 6. United Kingdom (2,258,565) 7. Italy (2,036,687) 8. Brazil (2,023,528) 9. Canada (1,563,664) 10. Russia (1,476,912)

Human Development Index The Human Development Index was instituted in 1990 as a way to assess development in terms of human wellbeing as well as economics. Its a composite statistic that takes into account health, education, and income. Its used by the UN Development Programme each year in its Human Development Reports to produce a sort of league table of countries, each of which are placed in one of three divisions: developed, developing, or underdeveloped. However, country rankings are relative rather than absolute, and there is no ecological dimension to the index. HDI top 10 in 2010 according to the UN: 1. Norway 2. Australia 3. New Zealand 4. United States 5. Ireland 6. Lichtenstein 7. Netherlands 8. Canada 9. Sweden 10. Germany Note: Many countries here, particularly the Scandinavian ones, did not appear in the top 10 GDP list above. Satisfaction with Life Index Developed by a psychologist at the University of Leicester, the Satisfaction with Life Index attempts to measure happiness directly, by asking people how happy they are with their health, wealth, and education, and assigning a weighting to these answers. This concept is related to the idea of Gross National Happiness that came from Bhutan in the 1970s. Although it may sound like a country-wide grinning contest, it was actually a casual remark by the king that was taken seriously by the Centre for Bhutan Studies, which set about designing a survey to measure the populations well-being. Satisfaction With Life Index top 10 in 2006 : 1. Denmark 2. Switzerland

3. Austria 4. Iceland 5. The Bahamas 6. Finland 7. Sweden 8. Bhutan 9. Brunei 10. Canada Note: Again, many Scandinavian countries rank at the top. Escaping Poverty Poverty is a global problem. Poverty exists in all countries in one form or another. In developing countries and less developed countries, escaping poverty can be more difficult. Health is essential. It is measured by the number of doctors per 1000 people. In several African and Asian countries, hunger is an issue. Access to clean water and proper sanitation are essential for health. Diseases associated with poor water and sanitation are things like dysentery, kwashiorkor, and other diseases related to malnutrition and poor nutrition. Diseases like dysentery cause the body to lose liquids. The child will die no matter how much they try and take in, as the loss of nutrients and salts prevents them from absorbing the needed liquids and nutrients. This is where the UN has come through: The United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund created the ORT. The Oral Rehydration Therapy is a packet of salts and minerals that are dissolved and fed to a sick child. The childs body begins to recover, allowing the body to retain nutrients. The ORT costs very little but has the potential to save a life.