Climate change has become a topic of concern in recent times, with different organizations focusing their efforts towards evaluation on the impact of climate change and its effects on the environment, animals and the human race. Demographic trends in the globe have an essential connection and role regarding both the challenges and solutions related to the issue of climate change. Rapid population growth that has been registered has resulted in exacerbating vulnerability towards negative consequences of climate change. Besides, it exposes the increasing population to climate risk. On the other hand, population growth has been one of the drivers of the increase in greenhouse gases, a factor that has continuously been related to climate change. Meeting people’s demands in terms of family planning, as well as reproductive health focuses on the building of resilience to climate change impacts. Climate change affects the global population, an increase in population does impact climate change.
Human population impacts and is impacted by climate change and in turn, deserves consideration with reference to climate compatible development plans. According to Tran Ngoc Dang (N/A), the conception of the idea of the human population impact on the change of the global climate, tend to focus extensively on the correlation between the increasing number of people as well as the rising among of greenhouse gas emissions. While there exist various other natural emissions of such gases, the growing magnitude of the emissions from human activities have raised concern with aspects such as global warming, and climate change becoming a specific area of focus. Ferguson (68) argued that, if the human population were zero, there would be no human-caused emissions of the greenhouse gases, and since in human beings can exist without contributing some emissions to the atmosphere, an increase in population would mean additional greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. There has been a direct relationship between human population growth and change. While climate change has been a contentious issue, concerning how it affects human life and how to control the different climatic changes, the increase in human population has not only contributed to the climate change but also been affected by the change themselves.
The Global Population
According to Tiller (29), the world population is estimated to over 7.5 billion people with more than 50% of this population living in less developed regions. Additionally, by 2050, the population is expected to reach 9.0 billion people or more, with developing nations more likely to register the bigger percentage of this growth. On the other hand, there is a general acceptance that, human industrial activities have vastly contributed to the emission of greenhouse gases, with about 80% of carbon dioxide caused through industrialization, and the rest through activities such as deforestation. There is solid proof that the consuming of petroleum derivatives since the start of the recent upset has just caused a 0.75OC ascent in global temperatures and a 22 cm rise in ocean level amid the twentieth century (Ferguson 70). With such changes, the intergovernmental panel on climate change has estimated that the weather patterns would become more unpredictable, as well as marred by extreme cases of climate events such as floods, droughts and heat waves.
Different factors have been related to the increase in the population growth globally. However, much of the increase has been recorded in developing nations. According to Tiller (30), climate change has been identified as one of the significant factors behind global health threat in the current century. While the developed countries have a more significant impact on climate change, the effect of this change is worse felt in developing nations. The fastest population growth fueled by the high rate of fertility among the population hinders the overall reduction of poverty and the realization of global developmental plans. Despite an overall decrease in the worldwide fertility rate since the 1970s, most of the least developed nations record fertility rates of 5 children for every woman, a factor that has been aligned with overall population growth globally. The increase in population has had its adverse effects on the environment such as competition and reduction of natural resources, weak infrastructures as well as the ability of the people to adapt to change in climate. However, the population is one of the factors behind the change in climate but overlay neglected.
Relationship between population growth and climate change
Drawing from the discussion above, it is evident that, population growth and climate change are intertwined in various ways. While each element can affect the other negatively, the strategies to control each of the elements adverse effects can result to impact on the other and vice versa. According to Smirnov (46), it is critical to recognize the different ways in which issues related to the global population can be linked to climate change. One is through Mitigation which refers to the reduction of greenhouse gasses which contributes to climate change, and Adaptation which defines strategies adopted to reduce vulnerability to the adverse effects related to climate change. In his article Graves (187), addressed the often taken statement or argument that people cause climate change. This view is often made to look as if the climate change witnessed today or as the climate change unfolds today is a human-induced thing, and not a natural phenomenon despite the cause of climate change is a different aspect, the high consumption trend of population in developing nations while the population growth has been low (Ferguson 60). There is an enormous variation regarding greenhouse gas emissions between countries with high level of consumption and low fertility to the amount recorded in nations with low consumption powers and high productivity such as the case of developing nations. In other words, it can be deduced that climate change is more driven by consumer behavior rather than the population number.
Nevertheless, while recognizing the lack of a link between population and greenhouse gas emissions, the recent trends and future projections puts the connection between the two most critical. Taking the case of China, which has over the last decades' recorded tremendous development, it is such a development trend that is already contributing to an increasing portion of the greenhouse gas emissions. Such like events in recent years in many developing economies/countries are significantly adding a substantial amount of greenhouse gases to the environment. These patterns of development in developing nations, as well as consumer behavior in such countries, determine the extent and nature of links between population dynamics and future climate change. However, the total human impact on the environment and climate scales with the human population.
The rapid population growth has a negative related impact on human development. These include aspects such as the provision of essential services and strategies to eradicate poverty. The effects are, however, magnified and become more urgent to be addressed in the context of climate change. Due to the impact of high population growth in the rate of economic development, different measures have been proposed to control the population growth. For example, due to population growth, the number of people in abject poverty has been increasing in sub-Saharan Africa. Fueled by high fertility, population growth prevents the progress towards the realization of millennium developmental goals, and instead of sustaining poverty, which is the critical phenomenon underlying the vulnerability to climate change. Growth in population aggravates the harmful effect of climate change.
It can, in turn, be viewed that, population growth acts in turns to change in climate to deplete primary natural resources such as soil fertility, fuel, and water among others. Secondly, rapid population growth can cause a significant increase in demand for natural resources and subsequent mismanagement of the funds. This, in turn, results in compromised resources and subsequent decline of the same due to climate change and environmental variability. Thirdly, population growth heightens human susceptibility to change in climate in different ways, and in turn, may force people to migrate to areas that are more prone to climatic disasters (Ezeh 190). For example, in Ethiopia, population growth is resulting in decreasing land holdings and low productivity in agriculture. These factors, in turn, increase the people in the country to move to environmentally marginal areas or urban settings. The result is that the move exposes the Ethiopians to more vulnerability to exploit new resources in an unsustainable way and turn resulting in a spiteful cycle of degradation and poverty.
The growing link between population and climate change on the globe has been more affiliated to the negative aspect of the two diverse yet related issues affecting the overall sustainability of the world. According to Tiller et al (26), migration is a crucial aspect concerning the link between population and climate change. Large-scale population relocation or movement is likely to intensify as the change in climate results to the abandonment of inhospitable areas such as flooded and arid areas. In turn, the migration will, in turn, result in varying health problems. Most people living in the lowlands and along coastal lines may be forced to relocate if sea level changes s projected by varying climate change experts (Smirnov 52). Droughts, on the other hand, may the farming population to seem alternative livelihoods from cities. The migration trend may, in turn, reduce income-earning opportunities for the increasing population, and in turn, driving them to seek refuge across the border. As factors behind people seeking asylum are involved, it makes it unimaginable to forecast as to what extent climate change would become a significant force concerning future migration of the population.
In his article Ferguson (60) identified the majority of environmentally induced migration is from rural areas more in the least developed nations. However, it’s anticipated that future movements environmentally induced migration from urban may be witnessed. In addition to the rapid growth of population, a high rate of urbanization is also at fault in causing problems in developing nations. Urbanization exerts pressure on infrastructures, and employment opportunities among other needs. Climate change, in turn, would exaggerate these issues as its adverse effects would increase human migration which would, in turn, contributed to worsening case of the climate condition and its change to worse.
Why Climate Change and Population Growth a Sensitive Issue
Links between the changes in global population as well as climate change can be regarded as a complicated thing and controversial as well. Ethically and politically, the connection can be said to highlight between the highly populated and low population nations, which is responsible for climate change at a greater extent. Population control initiatives have raised a shadow of the doubt, as developing countries looked to oppose the artificial and foreign methods of family planning. Despite the desire to control the population growth in developing nations, the developed nations do not reduce the volume of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere (Scovronick 12340). Based on the argument that developed countries have contributed more towards the production of emission of greenhouse, control of populations in developing nations is more likened to blaming the victim concerning climate change causing factors. I.e., Attributing climate change to high population growth, while the high rate of consumption is the factor behind the move (Smirnov 49). Advocates for cleat control, recognize the role of consumption in developed nations and well as the high population in developing countries as important aspects about control of climate change.
Strategies Improve the Situation As Far As Population and Climate Change Is Concerned " recommendations
One major plan or undertaking that can help towards providing a solution to this intertwined issues of population growth and climate change. This is a contraction and convergence; which seeks to reduce overall carbon emissions per individual. This would mean industrialized nations would focus on reducing their emissions to the internationally agreed level, in order to allow as well as stimulate for poverty eradication and development. Secondly, there is a need for increased investment in family planning in order to realize both climate change and development goals. In addition to providing a medical approach to the problem, it provides poverty reduction as well as child mortality (Wolfgang 12104). This approach helps in improving access to primary education, women empowerment which in turn contributes to increasing environmental sustainability as well as mitigating the effects of climate change via stabilization of the global populace.
Increased adoption of family planning measures, and investment in women are some of the key recommendations that ought to be adopted towards establishing a positive reference between global population and climate change. Effective leadership is another inevitable solution towards ensuring population and its relation to climate change are discussed effectively and at the effective level — finally, the adoption of strong initiatives towards encouraging the development of cities in safe climate areas.
In conclusion, drawing from the paper, population growth and climate change are two intertwined yet individually influencing factors with concern to the overall well-being of the people. Population dynamics ought to be incorporated effectively into climate change science. While climate change has been a contentious issue, with reference to how it affects human life and how to control the different climatic changes, the growth in human population has not only contributed to the climate change but also been affected by the change themselves. The rate of development and population growth has led to exerting different pressure concerning the production of greenhouse gases, which plays a significant role in global climate. The difference in development between countries is equally a factor. Developed nations have high consumption rates which increase emission of gases while developing nations have high population but lower consumption later. However, in both cases, human activity is principal towards the emission of greenhouse gases, and in turn the necessary relation between the two.
Works Cited
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Ferguson, Michael D., et al. “Coping with Climate Change: A Study of Great Lakes Water-Based Recreationists.” Journal of Park " Recreation Administration, vol. 36, no. 2, Summer 2018, pp. 52–74.
Graves, Alisha. “Population’s Part in Mitigating Climate Change.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, vol. 72, no. 3, May 2016, pp. 186–188.
Scovronick, Noah, et al. “Impact of Population Growth and Population Ethics on Climate Change Mitigation Policy.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 114, no. 46, Nov. 2017, pp. 12338–12343.
Smirnov, Oleg, et al. “The Relative Importance of Climate Change and Population Growth for Exposure to Future Extreme Droughts.” Climatic Change, vol. 138, no. 1/2, Sept. 2016, pp. 41–53.
Tiller, Tina Roenhovde, and Christian Schott. “The Critical Relationship between Climate Change Awareness and Action: An Origin-Based Perspective.” Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 18, no. 1/2, Mar. 2013, pp. 21–34.
Tran Ngoc Dang, et al. “Green Space and Deaths Attributable to the Urban Heat Island Effect in Ho Chi Minh City.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 108, May 2018, pp.
Wolfgang Lutz. “How Population Growth Relates to Climate Change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 114, no. 46, Nov. 2017, pp. 12103–12105.
