This balanced text offers a concise and readable introduction to world population growth and its implications for the future. With a population currently exceeding six billion and expected to reach ten billion by mid-century, the globe faces a demographic situation that is now more critical than ever before. While the developed world grapples with the problems of an aging and declining population, the developing world will contend with the opposite dilemma of explosive growth. And so the strongest factors shaping the global environment in the decades to come will include population fertility, the social and economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, legal and illegal immigration, and refugees. The implications are enormous as population growth exacerbates food and resource scarcities, places pressure on institutions, and promotes the potential for conflict. Drawing on a geographical perspective and using examples from around the world, this fully updated edition will be an invaluable resource for all readers concerned with the intertwined issues of population, environment, and health.

Private James Herbert (Herb) Gibson was 26 years old when he volunteered for service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War. Born near Perth, Ontario and descended from Scottish settlers, Gibson enlisted against his father's wishes because he viewed the war as justified and felt he needed to do his part. "Without fear and with a manly heart" collects his personal letters and diaries as well as those sent to him by family and friends. They reveal his beliefs, hopes, realizations, and tragedies through an account of his contribution to the war. The letters trace Gibson's wartime service from 1916 to 1919 from his enlistment and training with the 130th (Lanark and Renfrew) Battalion to his service on the Western Front with the 75th Battalion. Gibson was wounded twice, first near Vimy during the Gas Raid of March 1917 and again more seriously during a night patrol in July 1918 which ended his war. He also had to deal with tragedy on the home front from afar. Gibson's religious beliefs significantly influenced and sustained him through his darkest hours. He felt himself a gentle man caught up "on an errand the full consequences of which we did not realize."

This balanced text offers a concise and readable introduction to world population growth and its implications for the future. With a population currently exceeding six billion and expected to reach ten billion by mid-century, the globe faces a demographic situation that is now more critical than ever before. While the developed world grapples with the problems of an aging and declining population, the developing world will contend with the opposite dilemma of explosive growth. And so the strongest factors shaping the global environment in the decades to come will include population fertility, the social and economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, legal and illegal immigration, and refugees. The implications are enormous as population growth exacerbates food and resource scarcities, places pressure on institutions, and promotes the potential for conflict. Drawing on a geographical perspective and using examples from around the world, this fully updated edition will be an invaluable resource for all readers concerned with the intertwined issues of population, environment, and health.