Abstract
In recent decades the power of humans to modify the landscape has been transformed by the achievements of humans in increasing their numbers, the increase in individual affluence and consumption in western societies, and the application of new technologies. During the twentieth century the human population of the planet has exploded. It was not until the time of George Perkins Marsh, author of that great landmark work on conservation Man and Nature (1864), that the world's population reached 1000 million-a process that had taken about 3 million years. However, by 1930 it had doubled yet again to 2000 million, by 1975 it had doubled yet again to 4000 million, and by 1989 it has reached a figure of over 5000 million. The time required to add 1000 million people to the Earth's population has been reduced to just 12 years. Likewise, world industrial production has grown more than fiftyfold over the past century, with four fifths of this growth occurring since 1950. Urbanization has been equally rapid. The world's urban population has increased tenfold, from around 100 million in 1920 to 1 billion today. In 1940 one person in 100 lived in a city of 1 million or more inhabitants; by 1989 one in ten languished in such a city
Recommended Citation
Goudie, Andrew
(1991)
"Projections and Perceptions-Editoral Comments. The Changing Human Impact,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 33:
Iss.
1, Article 1.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol33/iss1/1