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News articles on Population

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Mongabay.com news articles on population in blog format. Updated regularly.

Global wildlife declines 30% in 30 years
(5/16/2008) Nearly one third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to a study released by the Zoological Society of London, WWF and the Global Footprint Network.


No longer a fan of Earth Day
(5/1/2008) After April 22nd of this year, I am no longer a fan of Earth Day. It has become a strange pseudo-holiday that allows individuals, governments, corporations, and the media to focus a miniscule spotlight on our environmental crises, and then breathe a sigh of relief over the following days and weeks as they to go back to their old ineffectual ways. It is a day to stem the guilt of the sorry state of our natural—and 'civilized'—world. It is not a day where environmental education actually reaches the masses, or when people wake to the need—not the luxury—to change our ways. It is the opposite: a chance to feel good about our time's greatest crisis.


More people now live in cities than in rural areas
(2/27/2008) By the end of 2008, half of the world's 6.7 billion people will live in urban areas, according to a report released by the United Nations today.


Despite fire risk, more Americans building near forests
(10/29/2007) While much of the world is seeing an urbanization trend, U.S. housing density around national forests is expected to rise by 2050, reports a study from the U.S. Forest Service. The shift could put more people at risk of devastating forest fires and increase pressure on forests and the services they provide.


Asians played larger role in colonization of Europe than Africans
(8/6/2007) Humans with Asian origins played a larger role than those from Africa in colonizing Europe millions of years ago, reports a paper published in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).


Rural population decline may not slow deforestation
(6/3/2007) A new paper shoots down the theory that increasing urbanization will lead to increasing forest cover in the tropics. Writing in the July issue of the journal Biotropica, Sean Sloan, a researcher from McGill University in Montreal, argues that anticipated declines in rural populations via urbanization will not necessarily result in reforestation--a scenario put forth in a controversial paper published in Biotropica last year by Joseph Wright of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Helene Muller-Landau of the University of Minnesota. Wright and Muller-Landau said that deforestation rates will likely slow, then reverse, due to declining rural population density in developing countries.


World population to peak at 9.2 billion in 2050
(3/13/2007) World population is expected to reach 9.2 billion by 2050 according to a new study by the United Nations. Virtually all growth will occur in developing countries, with their population growing from 5.4 billion today to 7.9 billion mid-century. The population of developed regions is expected to remain unchanged at 1.2 billion, and would have declined, were it not for the anticipated net migration from developing to developed countries.


Human ecological footprint to grow 34% by 2015 finds study
(2/8/2007) Population size and affluence are driving environmental degradation according to a new study published in the current edition of the journal Frontiers in Ecology. The authors say other widely cited drivers of environmental stress -- urbanization, economic structure, age distribution -- actually have relatively little impact.


Just how bad is the biodiversity extinction crisis?
(2/6/2007) In recent years, scientists have warned of a looming biodiversity extinction crisis, one that will rival or exceed the five historic mass extinctions that occurred millions of years ago. Unlike these past extinctions, which were variously the result of catastrophic climate change, extraterrestrial collisions, atmospheric poisoning, and hyperactive volcanism, the current extinction event is one of our own making, fueled mainly by habitat destruction and, to a lesser extent, over-exploitation of certain species. While few scientists doubt species extinction is occurring, the degree to which it will occur in the future has long been subject of debate in conservation literature. Looking solely at species loss resulting from tropical deforestation, some researchers have forecast extinction rates as high as 75 percent. Now a new paper, published in Biotropica, argues that the most dire of these projections may be overstated. Using models that show lower rates of forest loss based on slowing population growth and other factors, Joseph Wright from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Helene Muller-Landau from the University of Minnesota say that species loss may be more moderate than the commonly cited figures. While some scientists have criticized their work as "overly optimistic," prominent biologists say that their research has ignited an important discussion and raises fundamental questions about future conservation priorities and research efforts. This could ultimately result in more effective strategies for conserving biological diversity, they say.


AIDS will block Millennium Development Goals for some counties
(11/27/2006) HIV/AIDS will make it difficult, if not impossible, for many countries to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a new analysis by researchers published to coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1, 2006.


By 2030 AIDS could be leading global cause of illness
(11/27/2006) HIV/AIDS, depression, and ischemic heart disease could be leading causes of illness by 2030 say researchers from the World Health Organization in a new paper published in the journal PLoS Medicine. However the researchers project that fewer children under the age of 5 years will die from disease in coming decades.


US population set to break 300m Tuesday
(10/16/2006) The U.S. population is expected to reach 300 million people on Tuesday, October 17 according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The world's largest economy has the fastest population growth (0.91 percent) of G-8 countries, meaning the country adds another 2.8 million people a year, equivalent to the addition of another Arkansas or Kansas. The United States is the third largest country in the world, behind China and India.


Remote island provides clues on population growth, environmental degradation
(8/25/2006) Halfway between South America and New Zealand, in the remote South Pacific, is Rapa. This horseshoe-shaped, 13.5 square-mile island of volcanic origin, located essentially in the middle of nowhere, is 'a microcosm of the world's situation,' says a University of Oregon archaeologist.


Jacob, Emily again the most popular baby names in America
(8/7/2006) Jacob was the most common name for baby boys born in the United States during 2005 according to the Social Security Administration. Emily was the most popular name for girls.


Map projects regional population growth for 2025
(7/18/2006) The number of people living within 60 miles (100 km) of a coastline is "expected to increase by 35 percent over 1995 population levels, exposing 2.75 billion people worldwide to the effects of sea level rise and other coastal threats posed by global warming," according to a new map showing projected population change for the year 2025. The map, developed by researchers at the Center for Climate Systems Research, a part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York, shows "that the greatest increases in population density through 2025 are likely to occur in areas of developing countries that are already quite densely populated," according to a release from The Earth Institute.


Growth of cities can affect local weather
(6/19/2006) In the past half-century, cities have begun to expand in some of the Earth's most arid areas. While scientists have known for some time that the so-called "heat-island" effect of large cities such as Atlanta and Houston can affect their weather, they knew less about this effect and other processes in arid cities, such as Phoenix, which have experienced explosive population growth.


World cereal production forecast to decrease in 2006
(5/7/2006) Worldwide, 39 countries are in need of external food assistance -- the majority required for drought-affected and chronically food insecure populations in southern and eastern Africa, according to a new FAO report released today.


Pittsburgh has more urban sprawl than Los Angeles, new maps show
(4/26/2006) Recent urban development in Los Angeles is less scattered than recent development in Boston. Miami is America's most compact big city and Pittsburgh its most sprawling. Changing the number or size of municipal governments in a metro area has no impact on whether or not urban development is scattered, but controlling access to groundwater does. These are among the startling findings from a University of Toronto-based team of researchers who used satellite data and aerial photography to create a grid of 8.7 billion data cells tracking the evolution of land use in the continental United States.


Tropical deforestation rates to slow in future - new study
(4/6/2006) As human population growth rates diminish in coming years deforestation rates are expected to slow according to research published in Biotropica online. The report offers hope that reduced rates of forest conversion can stave off a future extinction crisis in the tropics, where most of the world's biodiversity is found. Scientists estimate that as much as 50 percent of the planet's terrestrial biodiversity is found in tropical rainforests distributed around the world but the United Nations recently warned that the current rate of extinction is running 100 to 1,000 times the normal background rate.


Without recycling, world metals face depletion finds Yale study
(1/26/2006) Researchers studying supplies of copper, zinc and other metals have determined that these finite resources, even if recycled, may not meet the needs of the global population forever, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


Number of hungry Africans doubles in a decade
(1/24/2006) number of Africans requiring food assistance has doubled in the past decade due to crop failures, drought, failing governments, civil strife, and the impact of AIDS, said the United Nations World Food Programme. The World Food Programme says it will to provide food assistance this year to some 43 million people across Africa, including some 35 million in need of emergency food aid, for a total of over $1.8 billion.


New evidence shows abrupt worldwide increase in birth rate during Neolithic period
(1/3/2006) In an important new study assessing the demographic impact of the shift from foraging to farming, anthropologists use evidence from 60 prehistoric American cemeteries to prove that the invention of agriculture led to a significant worldwide increase in birth rate.


New maps reveal the human footprint on Earth
(12/5/2005) As global populations swell, farmers are cultivating more and more land in a desperate bid to keep pace with the ever-intensifying needs of humans.


Plague could worsen with global warming
(11/14/2005) Warmer, wetter weather brought on by global warming could increase outbreaks of the plague, which has killed millions down the ages and wiped out one third of Europe's population in the 14th century, academics said.


Pre-Columbian Amazon supported millions of people
(10/18/2005) Controversial evidence uncovered over the past decade suggests that the Amazon rainforest was once home to large sedentary populations of people. Besides the well-known empires of the Inca and their predecessors, the Huari, millions of people once lived in the forests and shaped the environment to suit their own needs.


New measure of wealth accounts for resource depletion, environmental damage
(9/18/2005) Accounting for the actual value of natural resources, including resource depletion and population growth, shows that net savings per person are negative in the world's most impoverished countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new World Bank publication, Where is the Wealth of Nations?, launched on the eve of the 2005 U.N. World Summit.


Atlas shows Africa impacted by war, environmental degradation, population growth
(6/5/2005) Atlas shows Africa impacted by war, environmental degradation, population growth


Gray Corps of senior citizens could help fight poverty, health problems in developing world
(5/30/2005) According to recent data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States, the proportion of the population aged 65 years and over is projected to increase from 12.4% in 2000 to 19.6% in 2030. It is this growing segment of the population that could be key to addressing a number of looming social issues both here in the United States and abroad.


World population growth rate continues to plummet
(5/2/2005) According to figures released earlier this year by the UN, global birth rates fell to the lowest level in recorded history with the average woman in the developing world having 2.9 children, down from an average of nearly 6 babies in the 1970s. UN demographers also predict that fertility in most of the developing world will fall below the replacement level (2.1 children per woman) before the end of the 21st century. Factors leading to falling birth rates include increased level education for women, the use of contraceptives, and urbanization.


Impact of Population and Poverty on Rainforests
(3/1/2005) The ultimate driving force behind all deforestation is human overpopulation; both the population in the temperate region that places demands on the resources derived from the tropical rainforests, and the expanding population of developing tropical nations, who exploit the rainforest for survival. Today the world's population stands at approximately 6,490,000,000 (6.49 billion) people. Each minute another 145 people are added to the planet, each day another 208,000, and each year another 76,000,000. Despite declining global birth rates, which have now fallen to the lowest level in recorded history, the U.S. Bureau of the Census projects the population will reach 8 billion by 2026 and expects the population to then level off at 9.1 billion in 2050, barring an outbreak of a widespread deadly plague or a catastrophic environmental disaster. Over 99 percent of this new growth will occur in the less-developed countries of today..


Human Threats to Rainforests - Consumption, Conclusion
(3/1/2005) Misdirected consumption in wealthier countries contributes to rainforest destruction in tropical countries. For example, during the 1970s and 1980s American demand for cheap beef triggered the clearing of vast stretches of rainforest in Central America and Brazil. Similarly demand for certain forest products like tropical hardwoods and inexpensive particle board gives impetus for companies to exploit forest stocks. Japan converts thousands of acres of tropical rainforest every year into wood framing for cement blocks (discarded after the cement dries) and chopsticks. The cultivation of cassava in Thailand for European cattle feed increased more than ten-fold from 1965 to the mid-1980s, causing extensive deforestation in northeastern Thailand.



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