2.4  Impacts of population growth

As noted in Study Session 1, an increase in the number of people on Earth will mean that the impacts of their activities will increase too. However, it is important to note that this is not a simple cause and effect relationship. High population growth may deplete resources and trigger social or economic problems, but these same problems may also contribute to the causes of high population growth.

The impacts of population numbers on water resources and sanitation are covered in other study sessions. In this section we will look at the links between rapid population growth and problems with food, health and poverty.