Ecological Footprint

1. Choose an overpopulated country in the world. Describe its situation (use some statistics) and then find out if that country (or perhaps a United Nations program, or NGO program, is in place to the help in the resolution of the problems associated with the overcrowding.

Rapid population growth during the 20th century helped shaped China’s society in a myriad of ways as China struggled with the breakdown of its dynastic structures, world wars, civil wars and the founding of a new nation. The 20th century was a time of momentous changes for the Chinese people and demographic change was as essential as their social and political transformation. China’s recent population history contains two remarkable episodes with respect to human population. The first was the famine that followed after the Great Leap Forward, considered the largest famine of the post- World War II era and also the biggest population disaster. The second episode was the rapid reduction in birth rates during the 1970’s, which was engineered by strict government birth control policies, that was faster and more complete compared to any fertility decline in other countries. China has consistently been the most rapidly growing economy on earth sustaining an average annual growth rate of 10% from 1978 to 2005, according to official statistics. (Naughton) China is the most populous country in the world: its population surpassed 1.3 billion people in 2004 despite a declining birthrate. Rapid growth and huge population have implied that China would eventually emerge into the front ranks of world economies (Naughton). Currently, China has the following demographic statistics: There are approximately 12 births per 1,000 populations, 7 deaths per 1,000 populations and a rate of natural increase of 0.5% (Raven, Hassenzahl and Berg). The infant mortality rate in China is 17%; the life expectancy at birth for women is 77 years and men 72 years respectively (Raven, Hassenzahl and Berg). Global population trends depend, to a significant extent on China’s demographic trajectory and the slowdown in China’s population has contributed significantly to global demographic deceleration. Despite the economic growth in urbanization and industrialization, there are major concerns about the impact of China’s economic growth and the effect of overpopulation on the environment. The pressure of population on China’s limited natural resources has led to severe environmental degradation. Population Growth has created another set of challenges such as massive pollution and unsustainable demands on natural resources. The environmental problems faced in China can be divided into two groups. The first group refers to pollution. Pollution causes many deaths and millions of dollars in health costs. Pollution is the aspect of the environment most susceptible to a degree of optimism based on economic development and changing population preferences. Pollution in China exits in the forms of air pollution, and water pollution which encompasses industrial waste, municipal waste, and agriculture. Another group is the sustainability of resource use. Population growth has led to the rapid depletion of natural resources and has affected their availability and sustainability. Soil erosion, loss of forest and grassland and loss of species and habitat are some of the many problems cause by economic and population growth to make accommodations for human activity. Efforts to address the issue of rapid population growth in China have started from the 1950’s. Shortly after the first modern consensus, the government initiated family planning. This program provided contraceptive information and services on a voluntary basis but was abandoned in the late 1950’s by the intervention of Mao Zedong who believed that big populations was an advantage and that human labor and creativity would allow people better living and better societies. In 1971, the Chines government launched a major family planning initiative. The policy was known as wan-xi-shao, or later –longer-fewer, meaning “later marriages, longer spacing between children and fewer children in total”. The legal minimum wage of marriage was increased and couples were urged to wait before having a second or third child. The policy lasted until 1978 and was mainly directed at both urban and rural couples. The success of the later-longer-fewer-policy was not sufficient enough to allay fears of a population crisis. Even with reduced fertility rates, population growth was projected to accelerate as China’s “baby boomers” reached the age of marriage. With this projection, China’s leaders worried that continued population growth would outstrip the nation’s population carrying capacity and obstruct economic development. Due to these views, policies tightened leading to the adoption of the One-Child policy in September 1980. The One-Child policy convinces Chinese families that the most desirable number of children is one, and it provided an array of sanctions and penalties for women who have two or more than two children. The One-Child policy subjects all Chinese households to monitoring of fertility and births. Efforts by international organizations such as the United Nations have developed different programs to deal with the range of issues that countries face. The United Nations Development Programme: China, focuses on promoting human development to help build resilient nations and to empower people to build better lives. Its main focus in China is poverty reduction, governance, energy, environment and climate change and South South cooperation and global issues. The United Nations Population Fund also addresses population issues in East and Southern Africa, West and Central Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America & the Caribbean. The work of the UNFPA encompasses a wide range of issues, ranging from the most intimate and personal decisions to the impact of those decisions on global population and development trends. Another organization is The Asian Population Association is a non-profit association of population specialists with the aim of drawing attention of governments, international governmental and non-governmental organization and the general public to population issues in Asia and to promote demography as a science. Overpopulation and overcrowding are critical issues facing China’s social and economic development. Beijing, China’s capital is the third most habitable city in China based on economic development, economic potential, social welfare network, environment, quality of life and daily living activities. Despite the positive attributes of the city, it is ranked the nosiest city in China due to overcrowding and constant migration into the city. In order to successfully address the issues of overcrowding and overpopulation in China there must be a continued concerted effort by governments, non-governmental organizations and the population. The severity of the issue and the long-term effects on the environment and future well-being of humanity should be mutually understood by all parties involved.

Works Cited

Naughton, Barry. The Chinese Economy. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2007.

Raven, Peyer, David Hassenzahl and Linda Berg. Environment. Jefferson City: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012.

Cited: Naughton, Barry. The Chinese Economy. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2007. Raven, Peyer, David Hassenzahl and Linda Berg. Environment. Jefferson City: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012.