8.4: human population carrying capacity

Question 1

what is carrying capacity

Answer 1

maximum number of a species that can be sustainably supported by a given area

Question 2

what is ecological footprint

Answer 2

the area of land and water required to support a population at a standard of living.

if the ef is greater than the land available, it indicates the population is unsustainable and exceeds its carrying capacity

Question 3

difficulties in measuring carrying capacity

Answer 3

• greater range of reosurces used by humans
• humans have substitutes for all resources (eg. burning coal instead of wood)
• resources vary depending on different lifestyles, culture and economic situation
• humans import resources
• developments in technology lead to using more or less resources

Question 4

ways to change human carrying capacity

Answer 4

ecocentrist;
reuse, reduce, recycle
become self sufficient (eg. recycling rain water for water supply)

technocentrist;
believe carrying capacity can expand due to technological advancements (usually, only the efficiency can increase)

Question 5

what is remanufacturing

Answer 5

the objects materials are used to make a new object of the same type

Question 6

what is absolute reductions

Answer 6

means we can simply use less resources

this can increase carrying capacity but could also lead to a population increase

Question 7

what is a fair Earthshare

Answer 7

amount of land each person would get if all the ecologically productive land was equally divided