Current event 9: Japan's baby shortage

December 3rd, 2015

Current Unit of study: Unit 2

Baby Shortage Imperils Japan's Economy


Synopsis
According to Government officials, more than 1 million babies were born last year in Japan. This so happens to be the lowest figure on record. This shows that the country has made little, if any effort in their battle against unfavorable demographic trends. Aside from this, Japan's health ministry estimated that 1,269,000 people died in 2014 meaning that the country's natural population had declined by 268,000. This rapidly shrinking population is extremely alarming. Some factors to blame include the declining number of marriages, the number of women holding jobs, and Japanese immigration. Should the population continue to decline in numbers, that would threaten to limit economic growth. Some are even going as far to suggest that Japan's population could shrink by a third over the next five years.

Analysis
Japan's population is taking a huge blow due to many different factors. So Japan's current situation is looking, shall we say, not good. Without the birth of more children, Japan's graying population holds most of the power. This is because the more older people there are, the more of a dependent population the country will have. This will lead to all of these elderly citizens to rely on those who are still able to work. And lets face it, that's not many. Japan's natural increase rate could even decline by a third over the course of the next 5 years. Meaning, the country's economy will suffer greatly. Of course, some of the major causes include the decline of marriages, education of women, and Japan's growing number of immigrants. Should this troublesome trend continue however, Japan's population pyramid with grow alarming in old age, and remain sparse with younger ages.

Link to the original article:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/02/news/economy/japan-baby-shortage/

Current Event 8: Fastest growing city in the world

November 20th, 2015

Current Unit of study: Unit 2

Where is the fastest growing city in the world?



Synopsis
According to recent studies done by the US based consultancy Demographia, which only includes cities with populations of 1 million or more, the fastest growing cities in the world include  Batam, Indonesia, Mogadishu, Somalia and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. With a population of 1.1 million people, Batam is located close to Singapore and a free-trade zone boosts trade with the city. Mogadishu's population is at 2.1 million, a city driven by economic prospect. Ouagadougou has a population of 2.7 million and a growth of 6.8%, yet with a decline in Chinese economic growth could lead to a drop in the growth. One thing that all of these major cities have in common is the work and jobs available to those who want them. Could this be the reason as to why some of these cities populations are through the charts?

Analysis 
By looking at the numbers, there is no doubt that these cities populations are off the charts. But why in these specific cities and not anywhere else? When I was reading on each country, I did notice something that all top three had in common - opportunities for work. This took me back to the conversation we had in class on the english industrial revolution, and how the city had to expand to meet the needs of the population. During this time when all these new jobs were being created, the total fertility rates increased tremendously. This was because more people were needed to work and wanted to have children who would then be able to work as well. This also makes me wonder what exactly the population pyramids for each city must look like. I would expect there to be many working class people than people who fall under the dependent category.




Link to the original article: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/18/where-is-the-worlds-fastest-growing-city-batam-niamey-xiamen

Current Event 7: Report on Ebola

November 11th, 2015

Current unit of study: Unit 2

Ebola Situation Report
Synopsis
On November 7th, 2015 WHO declared that Ebola had been stopped in Sierra Leone, yet the country has now entered a 90 - day period of surveillance which is not said to end until February 5th, 2016. This is being done in order for the country to stop or prevent any remaining possibility of the virus to continue being spread. Unfortunately, the virus has had an impact on the population of the country. 470 deaths were reported in Guinea, the small community in which the virus was first found present. The number of deaths recorded represents approximately 20% of the 2248 deaths soon to be expected based on the population and crude mortality rate. Even worse, only 4 out of the 470 dead from the virus were actually properly buried, meaning that there is a high chance of the virus returning, despite the countries efforts to prevent it.

Analysis 
It's scary to hear that the Ebola virus has made a comeback in Guinea, and quite horrible to hear how the virus has had quite a heavy impact on the community's population and total death rate. 470 people had been killed by the virus, and that's only 20% of the 2248 deaths expected in the future. Although the country has been making efforts to stop the virus in its tracks and prevent it from ever returning, because of the lack of proper health care and medical attention needed to research or quarantine those suspected to be carriers of the virus, the population most likely will decline even more.

Link to the original article: http://apps.who.int/ebola/current-situation/ebola-situation-report-11-november-2015

Current Event 6:Britain and China's population challenges

November 6th, 2015

Current unit of study: Unit 2


The Observer view on Britain and China's Population Challenges

Synopsis

The UK and China seem to be polar opposites when it comes to issues dealing with population, but despite this stigma, new projections suggest that the British population could grow by 10 million over the next 25 years. All the while, China has gotten rid of its one child policy for the time being, yet the country's population could in fact decline over the long term if the trend continues.To see the UK and China come face to face with such a serious dilemma, it does show how misguiding raw population numbers can be, but there is no getting around the fact that both countries are dealing with an ageing population. There is an explanation as to why exactly we see this happening, and we find the problem linked to industrialization. As a country begins to develop, its death rates fall as public health improves, while at the same time birth rates remain high. This leads to a rapid growth of population. But once a country develops further, we begin to see birth rates drop and the population ageing.


Analysis

Both the UK and China alike are dealing with the issue of their populations ageing, and with this, things for both countries are becoming more difficult. When you are faced with an older population, the issues that come along with that include pressures to spend more on things such as pensions and healthcare which, mind you, account for huge chunks of government spending. But it's not only the expenses that come into the picture, but what the population looks like. The population pyramids, which we observed in class, provide us with an explicit image of what a population looks like, taking into account all ages. If we were to make one for both the UK and China, the top of the graph which shows the older population, would be quite big as their populations are ageing, and the lower half of the pyramid which shows the younger population, would be sparse. This is an issue, because as populations age, the dependent population increases and becomes more reliant on those who are still able to work.



Link to the original article: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/01/observer-editorial-britain-china-population-challenges

Current Event 5: Will China's parents rush to have more Children?

October 30th 2015

Current unit of study: Unit 2

'Two is too much trouble': will China's parents rush to have children?

Synopsis

Next Chinese new year is the year of the Monkey - a symbolic time for Chinese families to have children, and now that the Chinese government has scrapped its "one-child policy," doctors are preparing themselves to face a busy year. China expects to have a baby boom now with its "two-child policy," with many families eager to have more than one child. But will it be long lived and will these young couples even be able to support two children? Wang Feng, a sociologist and demographic expert from the University of California says  no looking out to the long run. This is because Chinese couples have smaller families due to social and economic factors rather than the rules regarding conceiving. China's population is aging...and fast. If more children are birthed, this means a positive outcome for the country's development, but raising a child, especially in places like Beijing, can be expensive. And with an uncertainty in the job market, this so called "baby boom" may not last long. 

Analysis 

Because of China's "one-child" policy, the countries fertility rate has been quite low. But now, since China has very recently abandoned the policy, the country is expecting a baby boom. Couples are now allowed to conceive two children, which would in turn benefit the country very much. This is because of the limit put on children. Now, the majority of the population is elderly and with the new children being born, the country's development would be positively impacted. But the only problem is that this movement may not be sustainable for long. Raising two children in a city like Beijing can be very expensive. With social and economic factors impacting families (not to mention the pressing financial situation), the baby boom does not look like it will be sustainable in the long run.

Link to the original article:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/30/two-is-too-much-trouble-china-parents-rush-more-children

Current Event 4: World Population Expected to Reach 9.7 Billion

October 23rd 2015

Current unit of study: Unit 2

World Population Expected to Reach 9.7 Billion by 2050


Synopsis

As of right now, the global population is about 7.3 billion. Yet, by 2050 it is estimated that the world's population will end up growing to 9.7 billion according to a projection done by the United Nations. With a number like this, this new estimate has surpassed last year's estimate by around 150 million people. Based off of this study, we can tell that the greatest increase in population will happen in or around Africa, and Asia following closely behind in numbers. Despite this, the UN does admit that  there's an 80% chance that population could be as low as 9.4 or even as high as 10 billion by then. This is assumed by analyzing fertility patterns of the past and applying them to the future. This new number is not fully based off of fertility rates, as they have in fact been down in most places, but rather on longer life spans, as about 12% of the population is over the age of 60.

Analysis 

It's kind of scary to think that by the time I'm 50, the world's population will be exceeding the population we have now by 2.1 billion! It's remarkable! Yet at the same time, it's nice to know that it's not based off of total fertility rate (TFR) but rather the longer life spans being acquired. While reading this article, I found myself thinking back to our discussion in class on the "Do it for Denmark" campaign where they were basically bribing couples into having kids to increase Denmark's population and in return get a free fancy vacation and 3 years of baby supply. So it brought to mind... because the fertility rates have been going down could there be a sudden baby boom based off of things like the declining rate or fertility and the Denmark campaign? But then again, this estimation of having a population of 9.7 billion people isn't entirely based off of fertility rates, but rather longer life spans. But you never know...heck, I'd be easily bribed by the notion of a free vacation.

Link to original article:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/world-population-expected-to-reach-9-7-billion-by-2050/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20150801news-datapointspopulation&utm_campaign=Content&sf11585780=1

Current Event 3: Earth is Loosing Topsoil

Thursday October 15th, 2015

Current unit of study: Unit 1 Basic Concepts

Earth Could Lose a Third of Its Topsoil

October 15th, 2015 7:31PM

Synopsis

Although it may not seem like a pressing issue currently (since the Earth has so much soil), the problem of earth loosing top soil can become a relevant problem. Due to erosion, pollution, acidification, nutrient depletion and bad land management, 33 percent of our planet's soil resources are being degraded. Because of this, the loss of topsoil could on the whole, have a catastrophic effect on the world's supply of food and agriculture. Without this precious topsoil, we will no longer be able to grow food crops who absorb excess carbon and supply us with new antibiotics. On and even darker note, besides our effort to replenish the soil through natural processes, it is being lost much faster than we could imagine. Many scientists have suggested fixing the problem by changing methods of agriculture, such as eliminating synthetic fertilizers which are currently the main culprit in this issue. But is it now too late to prevent further damage? Or do we still have a chance of salvaging the soil?

Analysis

As presented in the article, we as a human race are beginning to face a major issue with loosing earth's topsoil. Because of our careless actions and new agricultural methods, soil is literally slipping through our fingers. While things such as synthetic fertilizers may seem to work faster than natural fertilizers, it is taking a serious toll on our top soil. In key issue 4, we address sustainability and resources. But what is a resource? A resource is classified as a substance in the environment that is useful to people, economically and socially acceptable to use. Top soil, although it may not seem like it, is one of our most important resources as it provides us with nutritious food that is good for our health. Without it, we are doomed. There would be a huge loss of farmers and jobs as the soil is what keeps most of them in business. Top soil may also become classified as an non renewable resource at the rate it's going, despite our efforts to save it and keep it and renew it. 

Link to the original article:

http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/earth-could-lose-a-third-of-its-topsoil-151015.htm