The Environmental Implications of Population Dynamics

Lori M. Hunter

ResearchPublished 2000

The globe is now inhabited by 6 billion people, twice as many as in 1960. Understanding the effects this population growth has on the environment will be paramount in developing policies that will mitigate the negative environmental effects. This report discusses the relationship between population and environmental change, the forces that mediate this relationship, and how population dynamics specifically affect climate change and land-use change. The author outlines both sides of the policy debate that have emerged — those who would limit fertility and population growth in the developing world and those who call for reduced consumption in the developed world. She concludes by calling for policymakers to pay increased attention to the role of population and forsake the search for one-step solutions to environmental problems.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 2000
  • Pages: 128
  • Document Number: MR-1191-WFHF/RF/DLPF

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Hunter, Lori M., The Environmental Implications of Population Dynamics. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2000. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1191.html.
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The research described in this report was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The work was conducted in the Population Matters project within RAND's Labor and Population unit.

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