Chapter Introduction
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CHAPTER 4
HUMAN POPULATIONS
ONE-CHILD CHINA GROWS UP
A country faces the outcomes of radical population control
CORE MESSAGE
A variety of factors influence whether and how fast a population grows. Many human populations have grown explosively in the recent past. The human population is still growing, especially in developing nations, which can lead to overpopulation in those areas. We can pursue a variety of approaches to reduce population growth and stabilize population size; many of these approaches focus on issues of social justice. While population size has increased our impact on the environment, that rising impact is also being caused by an increasing per capita use of resources and generation of waste.
AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING GUIDING QUESTIONS
1 How and why have human population size and growth rate changed over time? How many people live on Earth today?
2 What cultural and demographic factors influence population growth in a given country? How do they differ between more and less developed countries?
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3 What is the demographic transition, and why is it important? What is the current trend for global population growth?
4 What are some strategies for achieving zero population growth?
5 What determines Earth’s carrying capacity for humans? Is Earth’s carrying capacity enough to support the current or future (projected) human population?
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It’s not hard to imagine a life without siblings; plenty of families have just one child. But what about a life without cousins or aunts and uncles? Imagine not just one family with a single child but an entire country of single children, and you’ll begin to get a sense of what China is like for the current generation of young adults.
Their elders call them the “Little Emperors”—a title that is meant to reflect the spoiled life and haughty temperament we sometimes associate with only children. These young adults are the result of a colossal social experiment the Chinese government set in motion some 30 years ago, in an effort to curb population growth: one child per family.
From its very inception, the policy has been fraught with controversy. Critics say that enforcing it—often through legally mandated abortions—has amounted to gross human rights violations. Proponents say such measures have been essential to stave off an even greater catastrophe of human suffering that would have resulted from unchecked population growth. In recent years, as the policy has been revised, its success remains a subject of intense debate.