Causes of Population Explosion
The central driver of a population explosion is a fundamental imbalance: the death rate falls dramatically while the birth rate continues to stay high. This sharp decline in mortality is primarily due to several key factors:
Advances in Medicine and Healthcare: The widespread availability of immunization programs, antibiotics, and improved medical treatments has drastically reduced fatalities from infectious diseases and other health crises.
Increased Food Security: Innovations in agriculture, including higher-yield crops and better farming techniques, have led to a more reliable and abundant food supply, reducing deaths caused by famine and malnutrition.
Social and Educational Factors: High levels of illiteracy, particularly among women, and a general lack of awareness about the benefits and methods of family planning contribute to sustained high birth rates.
Consequences of Population Explosion
This unchecked growth places immense strain on a nation’s systems and environment, leading to severe consequences:
Resource Scarcity: The most immediate impact is the shortage of essential resources, including food, clean water, and habitable land, as demand outstrips the available supply.
Environmental Degradation: Rapid population growth accelerates pollution of the air, water, and soil.
Economic and Social Strain: A large and growing population creates intense competition for a limited number of jobs, resulting in widespread unemployment and underemployment. This, in turn, perpetuates cycles of poverty and places excessive pressure on public services like healthcare and education.
Population Control Measures
To manage growth and mitigate its effects, several measures can be implemented:
Contraception: Promoting the use of various temporary birth control methods gives individuals and couples the ability to plan and space their children.
Permanent Surgical Methods:
Vasectomy: A surgical procedure for men that involves cutting and sealing the vas deferens, preventing sperm from being released during ejaculation.
Social Initiatives: Empowering people through education, especially for girls and women, and raising awareness about the advantages of smaller families are crucial long-term strategies. Additionally, raising the legal age of marriage helps delay childbirth and contributes to lower fertility rates.
A. MULTIPLE CHOICE TYPE:
1) What was directly responsible for the rapid rise of world population in the twentieth century?
(a) Increased food production
(b) Better transport facilities
(c) Better education and job prospects
(d) Use of antibiotics and prophylactic vaccinations
Ans: (d) Use of antibiotics and prophylactic vaccinations
Question 2: Birth rate is the number of live births
(a) Per 1000 people per year
(b) Per 100 people per decade
(c) Per 1000 people per decade
(d) Per 100 people per year
Ans: (a) Per 1000 people per year
B. VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE:
1) Give the technical term for the statistical study of human population of a region
Ans: Raising the legal age of marriage is a powerful demographic tool that governments can use to deliberately shape a country’s population trends. Its primary effect is not just on the institution of marriage itself, but on the timing and number of children a woman has, which sends ripples through the entire population structure.
The most immediate and significant impact is the postponement of the first childbirth. When marriage occurs later, the onset of childbearing is naturally delayed. This creates a crucial window of opportunity for young women, particularly in areas where early marriage traditionally cuts education short. With more years before marriage, women are more likely to complete secondary or even tertiary education, join the workforce, and gain economic independence.
This empowerment is intrinsically linked to fertility choices. Educated women with careers tend to marry later and have children later. They often choose to have fewer children, investing more resources into each child’s health and education. This behavioral shift leads to a measurable decline in the Total Fertility Rate (TFR)—the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime.
This decline in fertility sets off two major long-term demographic shifts. First, it slows the overall rate of population growth. A sustained lower birth rate means each generation is slightly smaller than the one before, leading to a gradual stabilization or even a future decline in the total population size.
Second, and perhaps more profoundly, it accelerates the aging of the population. The proportion of children and young adults shrinks, while the proportion of older, non-working adults increases. This creates a demographic shift with substantial social and economic consequences, such as a potential strain on pension systems and healthcare services designed to support the elderly.
In essence, raising the marriageable age is far more than a social reform. It is a strategic policy that directly influences core demographic metrics—birth rates, population growth pace, and age distribution—ultimately steering the future shape of a nation’s society and economy.
2) Name two surgical techniques (one for the human male and another for the human female) that can be used to prevent pregnancy.
Ans: Vasectomy is a permanent birth control procedure for men where the vas deferens (sperm-carrying tubes) are cut or sealed, preventing sperm from mixing with semen. Tubectomy, or tubal ligation, is the permanent female counterpart where the fallopian tubes are cut or blocked, stopping sperm from reaching the egg. Both procedures prevent fertilization.
C.SHORT ANSWER TYPE:
1) Write true (T) or false (F) for the following:
(a) Vasectomy is the surgical method of sterilization in human males………….
(b) Tubectomy is the placing of a diaphragm on the cervix……………………..
Ans: (a) True
(b) False
