Upcoming Seminar Series: The Arc of Human History: Challenges to Sustainability. Sundays, October 1 through November 5, 11:00 a.m., Fellowship Hall.
October 8: David Sherwood: Professor Emeritus, UI Colleges of Medicine and Liberal Arts and Sciences, Former Director of UI Reproductive Biology Training Program. Whereas Homo sapiens evolved over 200,000 years ago, global population remained less than 1 billion until the early 1800s when technological advances in food production, health measures, etc., enabled a rapid increase. For living humans born before 1950, Earth’s finite resources are being shared with three times as many people as when they arrived! Furthermore, global population is predicted to increase from the present population of 7.5 billion to 9.8 billion by 2050, an increase that exceeds the combined present populations of Europe, North America and South America. This presentation will describe key factors associated with population that greatly influence human impact on the environment. It will conclude with a description of voluntary cultural and technological factors that are leading to lower fertility rates in many countries in the world.