Definition of Population Explosion

Demographics is the discipline who studies the population human in its different dimensions, for example its structure according to age ranges, birth rates and mortality 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 increase in the population:

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 processes of industrialization that occurred in 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 of degraded urban areas and of the poverty extreme associated with them (the phenomenon of the favelas would be an example in this sense) and

3) an increase in environmental problems, since the number of people is related to the consumption of territory and of the natural resources.

The complex debate over the population explosion

This planetary phenomenon presents multiple associated realities. There are many different problems and challenges that humanity faces in relation to the vertiginous increase in population. Some of them are the following:

- The loss of population in some territories as a consequence of migratory movements.

- The overcrowding and social tensions in large cities (Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, Bogotá, Bombay or Mexico D. F 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 of birth control by some governments or seeking new territories in areas not inhabited).

Photos: Fotolia - Sudok1 / TrishaMcmillan

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