(iPoster) After the Crisis: Do Populations Increase or Decrease?

• In Event: Poster Session: Immigration Politics in a Changing World & Middle East Section
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Immigration Politics in a Changing World

Abstract

World population in 2024 is increasing, but UN population predictions show a quick decrease beginning in the next few decades. Many countries in all regions around the world face decreasing populations. There are many reasons for these decreases — education, choice, and new technology, to name a few. This paper will consider an alternative: crisis events. Considering an increase in disasters in the 21st century, this paper asks whether populations are more or less likely to decrease following a crisis and why. When a discouraging event ends, like the 2019 pandemic or the 2018 drought in South Africa, for example, do populations bounce back? Populations, freed from crisis and uncertainty, could potentially choose an optimistic faith in the future. Do fertility rates increase amid an enthusiastic end to social challenges? Another potential crisis to occur would be war. A key recent example in Syria shows that public opinion can increase and decrease on seemingly a whim. Does population bounce back after war ends? Offering a potential answer to the population crisis itself, this paper will address whether and why events can have a positive influence.

Authors

• Tarren Thornton, Laurel Ridge Community College

• Cynthia M. Nolan, American Military University