3.2.4.1 Introduction

Question 1

What are the links between population size and distribution and the environment?

Answer 1

• the impact of population growth on the environment through climate change, pollution, depletion of natural resources, etc.
• the ability of the environment to support growing populations in terms of basic resources
• hazards to population growth and development (for example the environmental variables and health)

Question 2

How is population affected by climate?

Answer 2

Climate has a direct impact on food supply as it determines the global distribution of farming types and the quantities of food produced.

Adequate water supplies are vital to sustaining human populations and climate change directly controls the quantity and distribution of rainfall.

Climate can also drive the level and nature of disease, e.g. malaria.

Question 3

How is population affected by soils?

Answer 3

They key relevance of soils is their fertility as this impacts food production.

Densely populated areas often occur where there are fertile soils.

Modern technology allows the improvement of soils for food production through fertilisers and chemicals, but these have environmental consequences such as:

• pollution
• greenhouse gases

Question 4

Resource distribution of water

Answer 4

Water supply is uneven due to variation in rainfall distribution, therefore some locations have a water surplus and others suffer from water scarcity.

Question 5

Population density

Answer 5

Population density is the population of an area divided by the size of the area.

Question 6

Population distribution

Answer 6

Population distribution is the pattern of where people live.

Question 7

How has global population changed since the 1800s?

Answer 7

It took until 1804 for the population to reach 1 bn. Before this was, famine and disease prevented the population to grow rapidly.

Since 1950 global population has increased rapidly.

Most of the growth since the 1950s has been from developing countries with higher life expectancy and falling death rates.

Globally urban populations are growing faster than rural ones.

Question 8

What are the key population parameters?

Answer 8

• Distribution
• Density
• Numbers
• Change

Question 9

How does development affect the population and environment

Answer 9

Population growth and development usually have negative impacts on the environment.

In general terms the fastest growth rates of population have been in the poorer parts of the world, but as countries develop and medical care improves, fertility rates fall.

In richer parts of the world population growth has been slow for several decades and some countries have seen a small decline in population. This is because people more people are working and have less time to have a family.