Chapter4 Resource Flashcards
Ecological footprint def
The theoretical measurement of the amount of land and water a population needs to produce the resource it consumes and to absorb its waste, under prevailing technology
Ecological footprint calculation includes
Arable land Pasture land Forest Oceans Infrastructure Energy costs
Living planet index
Measures trend in the earth’s biological diversity
Report calculates human are using 30% more resource than earth can replenish
Populations and consumption keep growing faster than ability in technology
Thomas Malthus’ theory of population
There is finite optimum population size in relation to food supply, and that any increase in population beyond this point would lead to a decline in the standard of living.
Population grow exponentially
Food supply grow arithmetic
Positive and negative check
Positive: lack of food
Disease
War
Negative: abstinence in marriage
Delay in marriage
Abstinence from sexLimitation of Thomas’s model
Rarely observed population grow exponentially
Agriculture grew at at a rapid rate
Increase food production
Esther Boserup’s theory of population
People have the resource to increase food production(knowledge and technology)
An increase in population stimulate a change in agriculture techniques
Limitation to Esther model
Based her idea on a closed village
Open system for the world is different
Similarity and difference between Thomas’s and Esther’s theory
Similarity: both agree population growth will cause increase demand for food
Both based on a closed system
Difference: consequence of population growth
Limits to growth model
Examine five basic factors:
Population /agricultural production/ natural resources/ industrial production/ pollution
Limits of growth: Physical necessities(food material) Social necessities (peace education)
Criticism of the Limits to Growth Model
Doesn’t distinguish between different parts of the world
Ignores special distribution of population
Emphasize exponential growth
Carrying capacity def
The maximum number of people that may live in or visit a destination at the same time without causing destruction of the physical economical and cultural environment
Factors affecting carrying capacity
Terrain Climate Stability Technology Arable land Disease Resource Disaster Awareness
Four types of carrying capacity
Ecological carrying capacity
Economical carrying capacity
Social carrying capacity
Physical carrying capacity
Problem exceeding carrying capacity
Tension Deforestation Congestion Pollution Unemployment Drought famine Inflation
