BIO 220 Topic 3 Assignment PDF

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Human Population and Toxins Resource There are different perspectives on human population growth and the dynamics associated with population change. Go to CIA World Factbook website (https://www.cia.gov/the-worldfactbook/countries/) and choose one developed (not the United States) and one developing country and compare the following and answer the questions:

Developed country

Developing country

(Developed country is a country which has an effective rate of industrialization and individual income)

(Developing country is a country which has slow rate of industrialization and low per capita income)

Switzerland

Cuba

Population growth rate

0.65% (2021 est.)

-0.23% (2021 est.)

Birth rate

10.41 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

10.25 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate

8.44 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

9.22 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate

4.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

-3.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

1. Why do you think the population is increasing or decreasing for that country? Try to explain at least two reasons as to why this is happening? (Please refer to your textbook) The population in Switzerland has been relatively stable in the past eight years. This country has a growth rate of 0.65%, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. Although its increase has been low, it does have had an increase in the past years. This is because Switzerland is a country that espouses neutrality, is a prosperous and modern market economy with low © 2018. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

unemployment, a highly skilled labor force, and a per capita GDP among the highest in the world (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). This country is also one of the safest countries in the world in all categories, including infectious diseases, political unrest, and road safety. This made the emigration to stay low, and the migration rate to be 4.55 migrant(s)/1,000. On the other hand, in Cuba, the population growth is decreasing. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. It is not a secret that Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1959, which has made that many Cubans live in poverty and others emigrate outside their country trying to find a better quality of life. This is one of the reasons why the population is decreasing in this country, which has a migration rate of -3.32 migrant(s)/1,000 (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). 2. How do diseases affect the population? Can you think about any diseases that have affected the human population? (Please use peer reviewed sources to support your answer). Some diseases can affect the human population because plenty of people get infected and eventually die. Diseases tend to spread quickly, affecting a lot of people at the same time. A good example of that, is what we are experiencing right now with the virus COVID-19. Since the first case of COVID-19 in the world in late 2019, the virus has spread rapidly affecting all countries around the world. According to "worldometer.com", as for the moment there have been 2,396,033 of people who died from COVIV-19, which has affected the human population worldwide. Another example of a disease that has affected the human population is the Spanish Flu in 1918. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus, of which 50 million died. One of the most serious pandemics known to today’s society is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), better known as AIDS. The first documented case took place in the early 80’s, and since then it has spread throughout the world. Treatments have been developed to slow the progress of the disease, but 35 million people worldwide have died of AIDS since its discovery, and a cure is yet to be found (History.com Editors, 2020). 3. Looking at the countries you compared, what are the toxins present in the environment that impact human health? Provide one example for each country. Toxins are poisonous substances that are harmful to organisms, and they react with the cellular components of organisms, thereby disrupting their metabolic functions (Grand Canyon University, 2015). In Switzerland, a country found in Europe, is affected by toxins. Scientists have detected harmful chemicals including cadmium, mercury and lead in plastic samples taken from Lake Geneva, which sits on the border between Switzerland and France (Ochs, 2018). Other carcinogenic toxins have been found in groundwater, killing thousands of fish and putting in danger human health. In a city named Cienfuegos, Cuba, traces of petroleum oil have been found in the bay of that area. This is due to an oil spill at a refinery near the city, which fell into bodies of water that flows into the bay. This has affected many marine species which die due to the toxins in the oil, and this in turn affects the fishing in the area. Many fishermen depend on fishing to bring food to their homes, especially in a country like Cuba where the food © 2018. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

is scarce. Most of them live day to day from what they catch in the sea. Usually it takes from 40 to 60 days to totally renew the water in the bay because the flow of the water around the bay tends to be slow.

References

Central intelligence agency. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2021, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/switzerland/#introduction Grand Canyon University. (Ed.). (2015). Environmental science: The human impact on natural resources. Available from: https://lc.gcumedia.com/bio220/environmentalscience-the-human-impact-on-natural-resources/v1.1/#/chapter/5 History.com Editors. (2019, February 27). Pandemics that changed history. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/pandemics-timeline Ochs, R., (2018, April 03). Toxic chemicals found in plastic waste in Lake Geneva. Retrieved from https://www.europeanscientist.com/en/environment/toxic-chemicalsfound-in-plastic-waste-in-lake-geneva/#:~:text=Scientists%20have%20detected %20harmful%20chemicals,border%20between%20Switzerland%20and%20France.

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