Demography is the discipline that studies the human population in its different dimensions, for example its structure according to age ranges, birth and death rates or mobility. One of the phenomena studied by demography is the disproportionate increase in the population in some territories, especially in the large cities of the planet. This phenomenon is known as a population explosion.
Causes and consequences of rapid population growth
There are several causes that explain the population increase:
1) an improvement in nutritional and hygienic conditions,
2) better access to health services,
3) a change from a rural to an urban society (many current large cities began to grow from the industrialization processes that occurred in the cities) and
4) the promotion of the birth rate (for example, in the 1960s in Spain there was a "baby boom" promoted by the Franco regime).
With regard to the consequences, they are also diverse:
1) a disproportion between the population and the services available to them,
2) a growth in degraded urban areas and the extreme poverty associated with them (the phenomenon of the favelas would be an example in this regard) and
3) an increase in environmental problems, since the number of people is related to the consumption of the territory and natural resources.
The complex debate over the population explosion
This planetary phenomenon presents multiple associated realities. There are very diverse problems and challenges that humanity faces in relation to the vertiginous increase of the population. Some of them are the following:
- The loss of population in some territories as a consequence of migratory movements.
- Overcrowding and social tensions in large cities (Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, Bogotá, Bombay or Mexico City are clear examples of this).
- Imbalances in some territories (the exodus from the countryside to the city generates depopulation in certain areas and overpopulation in others).
- The need to establish strategies to combat population growth (for example, through birth control by some governments or by seeking new territories in uninhabited areas).
Photos: Fotolia - Sudok1 / TrishaMcmillan
