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POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT – WHAT'S THE CONNECTION?
11 April 2005

The world's population is growing, and many scientists and conservationists say that the natural environment is deteriorating as a result. The Australian Academy of Science's new Nova: Science in the news topic called 'Population and the environment – what's the connection?' has the latest information at www.science.org.au/nova.

Although some aspects of the Australian environment are in relatively good condition, Australia has many environmental problems: land degradation, endangered species, an increasing incidence of toxic algal blooms in our rivers, declining fish stocks, land clearing, air pollution, and vulnerable water supplies. However, it's difficult to be certain of the extent to which population growth is a contributing factor.

Many environmental problems can be attributed to poor management techniques, policy failure or even feral animals. But the sheer number of people can also contribute to the problems.

When Australian consumption of material resources is viewed from a global perspective, we leave a large 'ecological footprint'. This is a measure of how much productive land and water is needed to produce the resources that are consumed and absorb the wastes produced by a person or group of people.

In 2004, Australia's ecological footprint was calculated at 7.7 hectares per person – among the world's top four resource-consuming nations.

Factors such as population growth, population distribution and migration combine with high-consumption patterns to put stresses on the environment. There is a limit to the environment in terms of supply of resources and the ability to absorb waste products. Land degradation, loss of forest cover, pollution of water and air, soil erosion and loss of biodiversity are all occurring at a fast pace, and are evidence of the impact of an increasing population on the environment.

To come up with the best solution, insights and ideas need to be drawn from many disciplines. These include, but are not limited to, environmental science, geology, economics, demography, human biology and health, geography and political science. The future of both the global human population and the global environment relies on bridging disciplinary divides.

More information is available on the Australian Academy of Science's Nova: Science in the news website at www.science.org.au/nova. The topic also includes a glossary; student activities; further reading; and annotated links to relevant websites. This topic is sponsored by the Australian Academy of Science's Population and Environment Fund.

The principal sponsor of Nova: Science in the news is the Commonwealth Bank Foundation (www.commbank.com.au/foundation). The Australian Foundation for Science and the Federal Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy are also supporters of Nova.