countries to raise standards of living and, at the same time, protect the
environment because of governmental priorities, financial restraints, and
special interest groups (e.g., spending money on food, health care,
education, housing, jobs, energy, etc., vs. spending that same money on
wetland restoration). Adding more people to a country’s population means
that the wealth must be redistributed among more people, causing the
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to decrease.
CASE STUDY
HIV/AIDS (1983–PRESENT): The HIV/AIDS pandemic* has had a
considerable and dramatic impact on mortality rates, life expectancy, and
population growth rates, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. A change in life
expectancy at birth, defining the average number of years a newborn is
expected to live, is one of the most direct indicators for development and
indicates the progress a country has made in improving the standard of living
in terms of factors such as income, health, and education, resulting in longer
lives for its population. Current trends show that by killing and incapacitating
adults in the prime of their lives, HIV/AIDS undercuts human security and
derails development, leading to a dramatic decline in the life expectancy of
affected countries. The high incidence of HIV infection within the age group
of 15 to 24 years means that the majority die before they reach their thirties,
resulting in lower total fertility rates. However, the development and
distribution of antiretroviral drugs is beginning to have an impact on mortality
rates in areas where these drugs are available and affordable.
* An epidemic occurs when the incidence rate of a certain disease outbreak is concentrated in a
particular region and substantially exceeds what is expected. A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious
disease that spreads through human populations across a wide geographic area (continents) and affects
a very high proportion of the human population.
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
- Which would be least likely to be affected by a density-dependent limiting
factor?
(A) A small, scattered population
(B) A population with a high birth rate
