Mu’s Current Event

31 October, 2011was not only

Halloween

It was when the World’s population hit

7 Billion!

Some Countries Celebrated:

Zambia- song contest Vietnam- staged concert Russia- authorities gave gifts to selected babies

Ivory Coast- comedians staged a show. Philippines- 7 billionth baby born (Danica)

But other countries do not think it is a cause for celebration!

Instead they are VERY concerned.

WHY are they so concerned?More babies are being born and people are living longer.Population of the world is increasing too rapidly for it to be sustainable.

1987- 5 billion1999- 6 billion2011- 7 billion2025- 8 billion (predicted)2100- 10 billion (predicted)

What is happening? More people means more people taking

resources such as Food Land for farming and building Loss of ground water Deforestation Heavy energy use (which leads to climate change)

Population is growing most in poorest/ developing countries

Rich countries try to protect what they have and don’t really want to share

Activity to help you understand:

4 people stand on one side of the room- represent developed countries

Rest of class stand on other side of room- represent developing countries

Resources allocatedDoes it seem fair to you?

Who is populating the world?

People in developing countries, especially Africa, Latin America and Asia (5 kids or more on average)

These people have big families because of Cultural values Lack of education No family planning Want large families to work the land and as many of

their children die young Developed countries (2 kids on average

per year)

Facts India will overtake China as the world’s most populous nation by

2025, with an estimated 1.5 billion people.

If China did not have a family planning law (only 1 child per family) the world population would have reached 7 billion in 2006.

Some people say the Chinese law is against human rights, but it has worked.

USA is only developed country that has a growing population.◦ European population is not growing◦ New immigrants are causing population growth from

Latin America, especially Mexico (laborers) Asians (educated professionals)

How can this problem be solved?

Education Family planning

◦ Keep girls in poor countries in school so they know about family planning and have a choice (many marry at 13-14 years old and start having babies)

Put less stress on the environment-decrease dependence on fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas)

Decrease the number of households (use less energy)

SourcesVideo articleshttp://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/17/opinion/sachs-global-population/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/10/26/why-is-global-population-spiking.cnn http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/28/opinion/pearce-population-fertility/index.html?iref=storysearch Chinahttp://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/28/world/asia/china-one-child/index.html?iref=allsearch CNN with maphttp://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/28/opinion/pearce-population-fertility/index.html?iref=storysearch http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/10/31/vassileva-seven-billionth-baby.cnn?iref=allsearchBirth Rate Maphttp://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenmanning/2979574719/Article in Philippine Enquirer 31st Oct 2011

Sources ContinuedPhotosDanicahttp://img1-cdn.newser.com/square-image/132204-20111031075632/7-billionth-babies-born-danica-in-philippines-nargis-in-india.jpegDeforestationhttp://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/Images/slash_and_burn_children.jpgIndiahttp://www.indiaonlinepages.com/gifs/india-population-2011.jpgAfrican Familyhttp://blog.invisiblechildren.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Screen-shot-2010-03-30-at-10.31.57-AM.pngEducating Girlshttp://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/images/streetpic.jpg