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Course: Big History Project > Unit 9
Lesson 3: The Anthropocene | 9.2- WATCH: The Anthropocene and the Near Future
- READ: The Anthropocene
- READ: Anthropocene Africa — Out of Every Crisis, an Opportunity
- WATCH: Solving the Maize
- ACTIVITY: Graphing Population Growth
- READ: Gallery — The Modern World
- Quiz: The Anthropocene
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ACTIVITY: Graphing Population Growth
Purpose
Rapid population growth is one of the key features of the modern world and provides key evidence for the idea of acceleration. In this activity, you will study and analyze the nature and patterns of human population growth over the last 10,000 years. This will help you understand the differences between population growth before and after the Modern Revolution.
Process
Carefully study the population chart above and answer two of the following questions:
1. How would you describe human population growth in the first 5,000 years represented in the graph?
2. How would you describe human population growth in the next 5,000 years represented in the graph?
3. What are two periods in the last 5,000 years where population rises and then drops or levels off? Can you think of a reason for either of these instances of population drop or leveling off?
4. When did the most dramatic rise in human population begin and how does this population rise compare to earlier ones?
For Further Discussion
Share your answers to two of the questions in the Question Area below. Then, take a look at someone else’s answers and think about whether you agree or disagree with one of their answers – be sure to point out why you agree or disagree.
Want to join the conversation?
Population growth in the first 5,000 years represented on the graph was extremely slow. There was a gradual increase in growth in the next 5,000 years. One Period within the last 300 years when population growth may have leveled or dropped, would be during the Great Plague in Europe, the other would be the outbreak of Asian Flue during World War 1, and the development of more effective methods of birth control.
But, during the last 100 years, there has been a dramatic rise in population growth due to improvement in medical treatment and better nutrition. This latest movement in growth compared to earlier times, has been astronomical. However, in recent times, with better education for women and the appearance of birth control methods, women generally are tending to have smaller families. Many choose to have only one child, or none at all. So that it has been projected that in our country (Trinidad & Tobago) one quarter of the population will be over 60 by the year 2050.(4 votes)
I would say that the players seen are reminiscent of Malthusian cycles of the agrarian era in which the population proved too large for the resources at hand this may be the cause for the natural factors you stated coming in a destroying large portion of the population effectively preserving the resources for a period of time. As innovations and collective learning increases these cycles began to vanish.(3 votes)
- The human population growth in the first 5000 years was very slow and steady a slight increase over a long period of time but no drops. I would say that the most static rise in population began roughly 200 years ago and it differs from the others in that the growth is ever increasing and exponential. The growth is much greater over the shortest period of time with no dips or plateaus.(2 votes)
- I would describe human growth in the first 5,000 years as slow because of the lack of resources to sustain life and to create life successfully. I assume that in the next 5,000 years we will have increased in population ten fold simply for the fact of we have the resources to have healthy birthing cycles and healthy life cycles compared to 5000 years ago and also because no one knows how to have safe sex anymore.(2 votes)
- In regards to question number one, the human growth looks to be rather slow. I believe humans back then were more prone to diseases and were not able to stay alive nor reproduce as much, therefore they were slower at reproducing.
In regards to question number 4 and according to the graph the most dramatic rise in human population looks like it began about 1,000 to 2,000 years ago and has gradually increased especially within the last 100 years.
I would have to say back then humans were poor, dealing with wars, trying to find or grow food, make or sell goods to survive, and way more prone to diseases. Compared to now a days we have amazing doctors, buildings, shelter, food, cures/ medicines to treat diseases, and humans are able to reproduce more gradually with everything humans have accomplished from then to now.(2 votes) 
1) At first, it seems to be relatively linear or constant, increasing at slow paces, until the slope increases until increasing to very large levels. However, there's a bit of leveling off at the present time.
2) From the leveling off as mentioned before, I would guess that the population will level off at around 8 billion, and won't expand until people colonize other planets, or until there are more innovations.
3) At around 3,500 years BP to 2,400 years BP, there isn't a remarkable change in population, and I would attribute that to small amounts of innovations. Another zone is at around 900 to 500 years ago. I guess that interval corresponds to the Silk road collapsing, and China starting to move away from trade, and the end of that interval corresponds to the Columbian Exchange.
4) At about 200 years BP to present, there's a very significant population explosion. It really beats all of the others, as the slope is much higher, and the expansion seems to be sustained, with factors that actually lead to its acceleration, than its deceleration.(2 votes)- 1. How would you describe human population growth in the first 5,000 years represented in the graph? - I would describe it as slow because of the lack of knowledge of the other peoples in the world zones and the lack of the trade system known as the Silk Roads.
4. When did the most dramatic rise in human population begin and how does this population rise compare to earlier ones? - Within the last one thousand years the population of humanity has risen so drastically that it's kind of mind blowing to me. I believe that the reason why it's risen so much is because of the knowledge of trade networks. It really doesn't compare at all to any of the previous population rises because the world back then wasn't nearly as connected as it is in the last thousand years.(2 votes)- I don't know if your reason for question one is correct. I think that the reason human population grew slowly was the lack of abundant resources.(1 vote)
1. It was incredibly slow, only getting up to maybe 100 million by the 5000 year mark.
2. Again, it was rather slow until the last 250 years, when the population skyrocketed from around 800 million to the 8 billion that we see today.(1 vote)
1. I describe the human population in the first 5,000 years as slow changing, although the graph did show a change in population it was not a very drastic change.
2. I describe the human population growth in the next 5,000 years as a very fast change, thee graph shows a huge spike in the population especially in the last 500 years shown on the graph.(1 vote)- By which method we are calculating the population of humans in BC and million years before?(1 vote)
1. How would you describe human population growth in the first 5,000 years represented in the graph?
A constant slow increase with very little risk, vs a very large fast increase with a larger risk. Kinda like stocks.
3. What are two periods in the last 5,000 years where population rises and then drops or levels off? Can you think of a reason for either of these instances of population drop or leveling off?
Period 1
about 2,500ys ago to 1,000yrs ago.
Period 2
about 1,000yrs ago to 500yrs ago.
Wars between powerful nations, Pandemics, over population that is until new technology was invented that raised the population barrier, I forgot what the exact name is.(0 votes)
This is good work, but I wonder if you intended to post it here, for all KA learners around the world. Does it belong in your Google Class or somewhere like that for your teacher to see? If so, you should post it there, too.(2 votes)