Increase in Households Pressures Environment

An increase in the number of households throughout the world is threatening the environment, according to new research in the scientific journal Nature. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner explains:

Transcript

An increase in the number of households throughout the world is threatening the environment,
according to new research in the scientific journal Nature. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Erin Toner explains:


Researchers studied what they call “hotspot countries” – places where native species are
threatened by human activity. They counted 155-million more households since 1985. The study
says the reason for the increase is because fewer people are living under one roof. The number of
households grew even in countries where the population is going down.


Michigan State University researcher Jack Liu took part in the study. He says households with
fewer people aren’t necessarily more efficient.


“For example, in a two person household you would have one refrigerator. In a four-person
household you also have one refrigerator. So the energy efficiency in the two-person household
would be lower.”


Liu says reasons for the increase in households include the high divorce rate and a drop in the
number of generations living under the same roof.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erin Toner.