The impact of population dynamics on environmental hazards and issues: A scoping review

Human population dynamics is the central question of the causes and consequences of environmental changes. As a result, without taking social and demographic changes into account, it is impossible to have an integrated and reliable assessment of future environmental changes in order to manage natural hazards. The current study uses the scoping review method and time study analysis to investigate and evaluate the concept of "environment" in the existing literature in the field of demography from 2000 to 2022. The results revealed that the contribution of these studies increased from 0.5% to 4% during the period. Furthermore, such variables as household dynamics, gender structure, urban population distribution, the effect of migration on the environment, age structure, educational composition, the effect of migration on the environment, and rural population distribution have been covered as the most important demographic components of the effects in 28% to 4% (in order) of the studies. In addition, the components of energy consumption, pollution emissions, climate change, natural resources, deforestation, natural hazards, waste production, water resource reduction, soil erosion, sustainability and protection, and biodiversity were the most important components highlighted in relation to environmental issues, ranging from 21 to 2 percent. The majority of studies in this field have been hampered by the lack of a broad and adaptable theoretical framework. Therefore, with a deeper understanding and awareness of the impact mechanism of population dynamics on environmental issues in various dimensions, it is possible to rewrite environmental risk management, energy consumption, pollution reduction, climate change reduction, and environmental protection policies in a novel way.