Human Population and Toxins Resource
There are different perspectives on human population growth and the dynamics associated with population change. Go to the CIA World Factbook website (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html) and choose one developed (not the United States) and one developing country and compare the following and answer the questions:
| Developed country
(The developed country is a country which has an effective rate of industrialization and individual income) |
Developing country
(The developing country is a country which has a slow rate of industrialization and low per capita income)
|
|
| Population growth rate | 0.15% | 2.38% |
| Birth rate | 8.4 % per 1,000 people | 37.6 % per 1,000 people |
| Death rate | 10.6 deaths per 1000 people | 13.3 per 1,000 people |
| Net migration rate | 3.8 migrant per 1,000 people | -0.10 migrants per 1,000 people |
Question 1
The main reason the population is decreasing in the developing country is because of poverty and war. With the presence of terrorist groups like Isis and domestic warfare that are out of control, it makes it almost impossible to maintain a populace’s healthy growth rate. The organizations and groups that support terrorism steal the resources required to support a healthy life in the country. The young populations in the towns and cities encounter some form of slavery whereby they are taken and recruited to join the terror groups. When their services are no longer needed, they are killed in order to maintain the secrets of different criminal groups. There is no value attached to life, which makes it easy for the members of these groups to be murdered. In other cases, the young generation participates in criminal and violent acts that result in war and poverty. These organizations and groups control the job market, and this makes the population rely on them for basic needs. When people cannot access vital resources like basic needs, their quality of life keeps deteriorating, and this increases the death rates. Also, people cannot give birth because they cannot raise children, contributing to a low rate of population growth.
Question 2
The availability of different diseases in a country impacts the health of the citizens. Eventually, it leads to the crude birth rate, short life expectancy, urbanization, immigration, and high mortality rate. Among the famous disease that has impacted the human population is Leprosy. The disease is religious significance because it is often mentioned in the Bible. This is a pathogenic disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (Scollard et al., 2005). It is not perceived as fatal, but it is very contagious if not treated, this jeopardizes the rate of population growth. This disease is a raging prevalent enigma and is a memento of social inequality in different spheres of life, including the health sector. The country has a long journey to getting rid of Leprosy because there are no stable approaches that have been put in place to control the population growth. When people are not in good health, they are likely to stay at home or in the hospital, which is very expensive for them. It hinders people from giving birth because their fertility level is impacted, which acts as an obstacle to population growth. Together with other diseases, Leprosy has played a major role in reducing the quality of life and fertility level among the populations.
Question 3
Jordan, a state in the Middle East, is greatly impacted by pollution. This is fooling the toxins that are there in the environment, which poses a great danger to the human race. These chemicals are dumped in landfills. The country has approximately eight chemical plants that produce 31.5% of the state’s chemical pollutants. These plants are located in Aqaba, Tafileh, Maan, and Karak. These plants majorly focus on the production of fertilizers and paints. The quality of air is reduced by the release of these chemicals into the environment, and this leads to different respiratory diseases. Among the health conditions associated with pollution are allergies, cardiovascular conditions, lung cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases (Al-Qura’n, 2005). compared to a developed country like Canada, the rate of chemical emission is 13 times higher. The difference in the emission can be attributed to the adoption of clean fuel and green technology, which reduces the use of lead fuel and fossil fuels in general. Many people living in the areas where the population is prevalent have reported many health issues that lead to death or the reduced quality of life. Lead is a very toxic metal which impacts adults with cardiovascular conditions and children neurologically.
References
Al-Qura’n, S. (2005). Ethnobotanical survey of toxic folk plants in the southern part of Jordan. Toxicon, 46(2), 119-129.
Scollard, D. M., Adams, L. B., Gillis, T. P., Krahenbuhl, J. L., Truman, R. W., & Williams, D. L. (2006). The continuing challenges of Leprosy. Clinical microbiology reviews, 19(2), 338-381.