How Technology Influences Population (Leaving Cert Geography): Revision Notes
How Technology Influences Population
Introduction
Earth's population has grown dramatically over the past 40 years, doubling to reach 7.4 billion people. By 2025, projections suggest it will reach 8 billion, highlighting that overpopulation challenges will persist. This rapid growth creates increasing demand for food, water, fuel and other essential natural resources.
The growing population puts significant pressure on:
- Potable water supplies
- Quality and quantity of arable land
- Rainforests and biodiversity
- Medical services globally
Carrying capacity: The maximum population size that a region can sustain given its available resources and technology
The world food supply will need to double by 2050, raising critical questions about environmental sustainability and resource management. However, technological advancements have helped increase the carrying capacity of regions across the globe, particularly through agricultural and medical innovations.
Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution began in the 18th century in developed countries, introducing major improvements to farming practices that significantly increased food production.
Key innovations included:
Crossbreeding and crop rotation
Crossbreeding involves mating different breeds of animals to create new varieties with desirable traits. Farmers began breeding cattle that could produce more meat for food production, while crop rotation meant growing different crops on the same land each year to maintain soil nutrients and control pests.
Crop rotation: Growing different crops on a piece of land each year to avoid depleting soil nutrients and control weeds, pests and diseases
Mechanisation and specialist machinery
Development of specialist machinery allowed larger areas to be cultivated for food production and reduced the need for manual labour significantly. Combine harvesters greatly increased food output, while improved transport links enabled quick, efficient movement of fresh produce to markets.
Chemical developments
Pesticides were developed to combat crop-damaging pests, leading to reduced crop diseases from insects and fungi and increasing yields. Artificial fertilisers enabled food production on marginal land that previously couldn't support crops, allowing more intensive farming with greater yields.
Irrigation schemes
Systems like those in California's Central Valley and Italy's Mezzogiorno allow crops to grow during drought periods. This is an effective method for combating desertification in arid regions globally.
The Green Revolution and genetically modified foods
Green Revolution: The era of increased food production, agricultural technology and research beginning in the 1960s
The Green Revolution marked a new phase of food production advancement starting in the 1960s. Scientists began developing methods to increase food production by genetically modifying crops.
Benefits of genetic modification:
Enhanced crop characteristics
Plants can be given traits like drought resistance or high salt tolerance, enabling GM foods to grow in harsh climate conditions or poor soils. This increases the amount of arable land available worldwide, while crops can be engineered to have higher nutritional value.
Global impact examples
High-yielding GM crops have significantly impacted countries like China and India. These nations have greatly increased their carrying capacity through improved maize and rice yields.
Case Study: India's Population Growth
India's population grew from 351 million in 1950 to 1.3 billion in 2016, largely supported by GM food production. Without GM foods, India would not have been able to feed its growing population.
The comparison of chickens shows dramatic changes: in 1950, chickens took 68 days to mature, but by 2008, genetically modified chickens matured in just 47 days and were much larger.
Challenges with agricultural technology
Despite major advantages in global food production, significant disadvantages exist with both the Agricultural and Green Revolutions.
Economic barriers
High costs exclude developing countries
Agricultural technology is extremely expensive, putting it beyond reach of the world's poorest countries - often the countries that need it most. Greenhouses are highly effective for developed countries but too expensive for developing world farmers.
Resource dependency issues
Many artificial fertilisers are oil-based, and oil is a rapidly depleting resource. As oil supplies decrease, fertilisers become increasingly expensive. Over-fertilisation can make soil toxic and contaminate water supplies.
GM food concerns
Reduced genetic diversity
Declining bee populations threaten pollination, while over-reliance on few varieties of seeds creates vulnerability. Traditional seed varieties are being abandoned for high-yielding GMO seeds.
If these few seed types fail, food production could collapse due to lack of genetic diversity.
Corporate control
Companies can patent GM seeds, creating monopolies on food production. This gives a few corporations enormous control over global food security.
Monopoly: Possession or control of the supply of a good or service
Food distribution inequality
Developed countries can afford these technologies and often produce surplus food, whilst poorer countries have little food security. The EU has 'food mountains' of surplus supplies, but this excess food is typically sold at very high prices rather than being used to address food security in the developing world.
Medical improvements
Improvements in medical technology have significantly impacted population growth by reducing mortality rates and increasing life expectancy.
Impact on population growth:
Reduced child mortality
As health conditions improve, families tend to have fewer children. More children survive to adulthood, reducing the need for large families. Development of new medications and vaccinations has been crucial in this process.
Disease prevention
Vaccines for diseases like malaria and measles have greatly increased life expectancy. These medications are relatively cheap and can be administered in basic conditions, making vaccinations particularly effective in reducing infant mortality rates.
Long-term demographic effects
Better healthcare leads to long-term decreases in population growth. Families become confident that their children will survive, reducing birth rates and creating a more sustainable population growth pattern.
Key Points to Remember:
- Technology has dramatically increased the carrying capacity of regions worldwide through agricultural and medical advances
- The Agricultural Revolution (18th century) and Green Revolution (1960s) transformed food production through mechanisation, chemicals, and genetic modification
- GM crops can grow in harsh conditions and have higher nutritional value, enabling countries like India and China to support much larger populations
- Major challenges include high costs that exclude developing countries, environmental concerns, and corporate monopolies on food production
- Medical improvements reduce child mortality, leading families to have fewer children and creating more sustainable population growth patterns