Society, Geographic Change and the New Longevity

• Report rights infringement
• published: 28 Feb 2012
• views: 2572

Dr. Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr., Associate Dean, University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Professor of Geography and Development, presented this lecture on Feb. 21, 2012. It was the fifth presentation in the College of Science's Living Beyond 100 lecture series. Abstract: Data demonstrate that the world's human population is getting older as life expectancy continues to increase globally. Much of this increase is taking place in the so-called developing world. Despite these trends, there remains tremendous variability in the geography of life expectancy. There are in fact points in time and place where life expectancies have dropped or will drop in the future. We are just beginning to understand, what the "new longevity" means for society as we adapt our social welfare systems to the changing demographics of our aging populations. Where will our aging populations live? Who will care for them? How are the roles of older populations changing? Aging will continue to present new challenges as our global population reaches toward 9 billion over the next 40 years. To better respond to the needs of our world's changing demographic distributions, it is critical that we understand the nature of aging at both global and local scales today.