26 Population and Human Development Traffic congestion
The increasing population of Mumbai has placed extreme pressure on the transport infrastructure. Increased car ownership has led to traffic jams. Poorer migrants have to rely on the public transport system, and the overcrowded trains and buses indicate that the transport resources are insufficient to cope with the large population.
CHECK YOUR LEARNING
1. List two reasons why people move to Mumbai from rural areas. 2. Name four impacts of overpopulation on the city of Mumbai. 3. Describe any two impacts of overpopulation on Mumbai.
The Impact of Technology on Population
Technological advances since the 19th century have increased food production, led to improved nutrition and increased life expectancy. Medical advances have also improved mortality rates. These factors have led to an increasing global population.
While improved food resources can increase the carrying capacity of areas, population growth will lead to increased pressure on resources, which can reduce the carrying capacity.
Two areas where technological advances have impacted on population are agriculture and healthcare.
Agriculture
The Green Revolution describes the technological changes that have been brought to agriculture since the late 1960s. The combined impacts of all these advances – farming practices, machinery, research and development, genetically modified crop varieties, irrigation – has been an increase in yields and quality of food.
KEYWORDS
food production nutrition
life expectancy mortality rate agriculture healthcare machinery
medical research irrigation birth rate
dependency ratio
Demographic Transition Model
population momentum fertility rate
carrying capacity
Fig. 26.18 The mechanisation of agriculture. Fig. 26.19 Traditional farming methods.
