Chapter 15: Populations, Cities, and the Environment

Demography – the study of the size, composition, distribution and changes in human population 

1. Fertility rates: the average number of birth rates per 1,000 people in the population 
2. Mortality rates: the average number of deaths per 1,000 people in the population 
3. Migration – the movement of people from one geographic area to another for the purpose of resettling 

Environment – natural world 

Environmental sociology – study of interaction between society and the natural environment 

Increases in global temperatures since the late 1800s have led to shifts in the ranges of many animals. Insects in particular are sensitive to changes in temperature, with consequences for the transmission of vector-borne pathogens. Mechanistic models, capable of explaining how recent climate change has affected vector distribution and abundance, could be used to predict future disease risks , but existing studies often rely instead on statistical correlations.

In general, the ways in which climate change will affect infectious disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa is poorly understood because of a lack of empirical evidence. It has been suggested that requirements for accepting a ‘causal’ relationship between climate change and changes in human health outcomes for vector-borne diseases should, as a minimum, include evidence of biological sensitivity to climate, meteorological evidence of climate change, and evidence of entomological and/or epidemiological change in association with climate change. (https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002675)