Environmental Studies Essay

The population of the world has been on an upward trend for the most part of the past many years. The rapid rise in the population in the past had been attributed to factors like improved medical care and good nutrition. However, the statistics appear to be changing as the 21st century wears on. There has been recorded a decrease in the overall global population growth rate such that although there is still a growth in the population, the rate is reducing. However, the rate is not evenly distributed. Instead, only the developed nations where industrialization and modernity are advanced are experiencing the population slowdown. The developing World still has rising rates of population growth (I. R. C. , 2005). The reduction in the growth rate can be attributed to climatic changes that have in turn caused people to resort to totally new ways of living. There has been a lot of destruction to the atmosphere and the resultant effect has been that some of the plants and animals that were useful for improving the immunity of the people when included in the diet are now extinct. Global warming has killed many such plant and animal species; and the other effects have been that there is an increase in strange, previously uncommon diseases caused by climatic changes which are making more people to die faster than before. Life expectancy has also reduced because of these changes (Johansen, 2009). In addition, the lifestyles of people have changed drastically, including having diets that are less healthy such as the consumption of genetically modified substances whose chemical contents are harmful to the body and shorten life. This trend is bound to go on for as long as industrial development is going to continue, worsening as the effects of global warming resulting from industrial pollution increase (Vormedal, 2005). New factors are bound to come into play, including increased child mortality and increased resistance to medication available even as new species of pathogens and parasites emerge with changing environmental conditions. It is also expected that more people will be less willing to have children as the pressure on available resources increases, thereby pushing the population growth rate down. With globalization opening up doors of nations, more technologies and immigrants are expected to get in, and not only will there be a real pressure on resources available pushing families to downsize but there will also be a massive movement away from the use of natural, more nutritious food items to those that are artificial and developed through technology (I. R. C. , 2005). As such are likely to be more harmful to the body, many people will find themselves less fertile while the fertile ones will be less willing to have more than a few children. The few children born will have a reduced life expectancy due to increased diseases; and child mortality will be very high. As the figure below shows, the population of Canada has been on a downward trend ever since the start of this century. It is expected that this will go on as the country becomes more industrialized and as global warming becomes more pronounced. By the year 2030, the country will most likely be faced with the problem of having a majority of its population being people over the age of 65 years because the young people are those who are likely to be affected negatively by the forces causing this trend (I. R. C. , 2005).