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Human Population and the Environment

In: Science

Submitted By JordinMartinez69
Words 1273
Pages 6
Human Population and the Environment
SCI/275
12/22/2013

Urbanization is the movement of people from rural areas, such as country sides, to urban areas, such as cities. Cities like Los Angeles did not come to be the way it is simply overnight of course, urbanization is also the transformation of rural areas into urban ones. According to the text book, “When Europeans first settled in North America, the majority of the population consisted of farmers in rural areas. Today, approximately 79 percent of the U.S. population lives in cities” (Berg, Ch. 7.5). One more important distinction between rural and urban areas isn't how many people live there but how people make a living. Most people residing in rural areas have jobs involving harvesting natural resources—such as fishing, logging, and farming. In urban areas, most people have jobs that are sites of industry, economic development, and educational and cultural opportunities. There are factors that produce urbanization.
The four major factors that affect population are the death rate of the people versus the birth rate of the people in that urban population and the immigration rate (people coming in), versus the emigration rate (people going out). These factors determine the rate of the population decline or growth. If the birth rate and immigration rate is larger than the death and emigration rate the population will grow exponentially. If the death rate and the emigration rate is larger than the birth and immigration rate than the population rate will decrease. Some of the factors that one must look at that produce urbanization are the flow of energy, water, and other resources into and out of the city. These are directly linked to the flow of money and the human population into and out of the city. The better the water quality, resources and wealth are in a city the more people are going to immigrate into a

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