Environmental Science - Chapter 5
Developed Country
a country with relatively high levels of industrialization and income
Developing Country
a country with relatively low levels of industrialization and income
Age structure diagram
a diagram that shows the numbers of individuals within each age category, typically expressed for males and females separately
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
a measure of the value of all products and services produced in a country in a year
Demographer
a scientist in the field of demography
Population pyramid
an age structure diagram that is widest at the bottom and smallest at the top, typical of developing countries
Urban area
an area that contains more than 385 people per square kilometer (1,000 people per square mile)
Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
an estimate of the average number of children that each woman in a population will bear
What percentage of the world population lives in developing countries?
82
Evaluate the social, economic, and environmental factors that have contributed to decreasing growth rates in many countries.
A number of countries have undergone a demographic transition as their economies have modernized. Economic development generally leads to increased affluence, increased education, less need for children to help their families generate subsistence income, and increased family planning. These factors have reduced the average size of families in developed countries, which leads to slower population growth. Eventually, population size may even decline.
A country with an age structure diagram like the one below is most likely experiencing:
A short doubling time
What are the main factors that influence human population growth?
Birth rates, death rates, and immigration rates.
What determines the carrying capacity of a habitat?
Carrying capacity is defined as the "maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely." For most species, there are four variables that factor into calculating carrying capacity: food availability, water supply, living space, and environmental conditions.
How does age structure influence the population growth rate?
Depending on how many people are below and above the reproductive age, the population will go up or down
What is the difference between economic development and sustainable development?
Economic development is improvement in human well-being through economic advancement. Sustainable development goes beyond economic development to meet the essential needs of people in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs
What factors have we discussed that make sustainable development difficult to achieve?
Ecosystem sustainability will be threatened if the human population continues along its current path of resource consumption around the globe.The continued alterations to ecosystems that have improved human well-being (greater access to food, clean water, suitable housing) will also exacerbate poverty for some populations. Human actions are depleting Earth's natural capital, putting such strain on the environment that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted
Which of the following characteristics are typical of developed countries?
High technology use
IPAT Equation
Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology
What is the IPAT equation? What does it describe?
Impact = Population × Affluence × TechnologyThe IPAT equation is a conceptual representation of the three major factors that influence environmental impact
How do local and global environmental impacts differ? Where do we tend to see one versus the other?
Impacts on the environment may occur locally—within the borders of a region, city, or country—or they may be global in scale. The scale of impact depends on the economy and degree of development of a society. We see local versus global in agriculture.
How does a country's degree of development influence its environmental impact?
In developing countries, the relatively affluent portions of urban areas have safe drinking water, sewage treatment systems, and systems for disposal of household solid waste to minimize their impact on the surrounding environment.Wealthier countries can afford to make environmental improvements and increase their efficiency of resource use.
At current growth rates, which country will probably be the most populous in the world after 2050?
India
Which of the following pairs of indicators best reflects the availability of health care in a country?
Infant mortality rate and life expectancy
Which of the following countries best exemplifies phase 4 of a demographic transition?
Japan
Analyze relationships among changes in population size, economic development, and resource consumption at global and local scales.
Most population growth today is occurring in developing countries. Only one-fifth of the global population lives in developing countries, but those countries consume more than half the world's energy and resources. One person in a developed country may have 2 to 10 times the environmental impact of a person from a developing country. The IPAT equation states that the environmental impact of a population is a result of population size, affluence, and technology. A relatively small population can have a high environmental impact if its affluence leads to high consumption and extensive use of destructive technology. However, an affluent nation can more easily take measures to reduce its environmental impact through the use of technology that counters pollution and increases the efficiency of resource use. Rural populations tend to have a high local environmental impact but a low global environmental impact.
Child mortality rate
The number of deaths of children under age five per 1,000 live births
Infant mortality rate
The number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births
Crude Death Rate (CDR)
The number of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year
Will humans exceed Earth's carrying capacity? What evidence can you use to justify your argument?
No, the growing population of humans provides an increasing supply of intellect that leads to increasing amounts of innovation. By employing creativity, humans can alter Earth's carrying capacity
Even if a country reduces its birth rate and maintains replacement-level fertility, its population will still continue to grow for several decades because of:
Population momentum
Describe the potential limits to human population growth.
Scientists disagree about the size of Earth's carrying capacity for humans. Some scientists believe that we have already exceeded that carrying capacity. Others believe that innovative approaches and new technologies will allow the human population to continue to grow beyond the environmental limits currently imposed by factors such as the supply of food, water, and natural resources.
Explain how people have attempted to harmonize economic development with sustainable development.
Sustainable development attempts to raise standards of living without increasing environmental impact. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is a blueprint for sustainable development.
Which of the following statements about total fertility rate is correct?
TFR is the average number of children each woman will give birth to during her childbearing years.
Life Expectancy
The average number of years an infant born in a particular country can be expected to live, given the current average life span and death rate in that country.
How do education and demographic transitions relate to each other?
The birth rate will fall because of family planning
Describe important aspects of global and national population growth using demographic terminology and tools.
The human population is currently 6.8 billion (this was published in 2012) people, and it is growing at a rate of about 212,000 people per day. If we think of the human population--as a whole or in individual countries--as a system, there are more inputs--births and immigration--than outputs--deaths and emigration. To understand changes in population size, demographers measure crude birth rate, crude death rate, total fertility rate, replacement-level fertility, life expectancy, infant and child mortality, age structure, and net migration rate.
How might humans differ from other organisms in terms of carrying capacity?
The human population seems to be growing exponentially while the food supply we rely on seems to grow linearly so it may run out.
Doubling Time
The number of years it takes a population to double
In what ways are phase 1 and phase 3 in a demographic transition similar?
The population is in a steady state because the birth rate and death rate offset each other
What is the theory of demographic transition?
The theory of demographic transition says that as a country moves from a subsistence economy to industrialization and increased affluence, it undergoes a predictable shift in population growth
How is the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment project a blueprint for sustainable development?
This project's reports constitute a global analysis of the effects of the human population on ecosystem services such as clean water, forest products, and natural resources. The reports, prepared at the request of the United Nations, concluded that human demand for food, water, lumber, fiber, and fuel has led to a large and irreversible loss of biodiversity
How do a country's total fertility rate and net migration rate determine population growth?
When TFR is equal to replacement-level fertility and immigration and emigration are equal, a country's population is stable. A country with a TFR of less than 2.1 and no net increase from immigration is likely to experience a population decrease because that TFR is below replacement-level fertility. In contrast, a developed country with a TFR of more than 2.1 and no net decrease from emigration is likely to experience population growth because that TFR is above replacement-level fertility.
Population momentum
continued population growth that does not slow in response to growth reduction measures
Net migration rate
the difference between immigration and emigration in a given year per 1,000 people in a country
Immigration
the movement of people into a country or region, having come from another country or region
Emigration
the movement of people out of a country or region, to settle in another country or region
Crude Birth Rate (CBR)
the number of births per 1,000 individuals per year
Family planning
the practice of regulating the number or spacing of offspring through the use of birth control
Demography
the study of human populations and population trends
Theory of demographic transition
the theory that as a country moves from a subsistence economy to industrialization and increased affluence it undergoes a predictable shift in population growth
Replacement level fertility
the total fertility rate required to offset the average number of deaths in a population in order to maintain the current population size