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Demography and the environment

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Demography

Abstract

Demographers' interest in the environment has generally been enmeshed in broader issues of population growth and economic development. Empirical research by demographers on environmental issues other than natural-resource constraints is limited. In this paper, I briefly review past demographic thinking about population and the environment and suggest reasons for the limited scope of demographic research in this area. Next, I describe more recent demographic research on the environment and suggest several newer areas for demographic research. Finally, I consider the future of research on the environment in the field of demography.

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    Anne R. Pebley

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Correspondence to Anne R. Pebley.

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Many people were generous in providing suggestions, advice, ideas and/or unpublished material, often on short notice. I am grateful to William Axinn, John Bongaarts, Barney Cohen, Barbara Entwisle, V. Jeffrey Evans, Andrew Foster, Noreen Goldman, Wolfgang Lutz, Linda Martin, Brian O'Neill, Alberto Palloni, Narayan Sastry, Judith A. Seltzer, Burton Singer, James P. Smith, Barbara Boyle Torrey, and James Trussell. The Editor and a Deputy Editor of Demography also provided several useful suggestions. I gratefully acknowledge support from RAND for this work.

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Pebley, A.R. Demography and the environment. Demography 35, 377–389 (1998). https://doi.org/10.2307/3004008

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