Course Name: GEOG 31070 Population and the Environment
Description: Just a generation ago, people worried about a population “bomb” which would flood the world with more people than it could handle. While we are still experiencing tremendous population growth in some places today, we are also seeing population declines and migration influxes in countries where fewer and fewer babies are being born. This course examines the interrelations of population growth, migration, resource depletion and the environment from a geographic perspective. We begin with the major patterns and impacts of population. Then we focus attention on two major factors affecting the European continent, especially Italy. The first is the declining fertility rates, which has transformed Italy into a land of older people and not so many children. What are the reasons for declining fertility and what are the implications of the resulting population decline? The second factor involves changing migration patterns. Italy and many other European countries once exported people to countries like the United States but are now major destinations for peoples from Middle Eastern, African, and Latin American countries in search of better opportunities and relief from conflict. This course will appeal to Environmental Studies majors, Conservation majors, students in Public Health and in many of the social and biological sciences in general.
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: None