Human Populations Flashcards
What are the main contributors to population growth?
- food production
- improved medical treatment
What factors of food production contribute to population growth?
- more land cultivated
- improved farming methods
- use of artificial fertilisers
- monoculture
- genetically modified crops
What factors of improved medical treatment contribute to population growth?
- medicines
- anti-biotics
- vaccines
- more people survive to reproduce
- lower infant mortality
- higher life expectancy
What does exponential population growth assume?
Unlimited population growth assumes that there are unlimited resources
When does zero population growth occur?
birth rate = death rate
What is carrying capacity?
Carrying capacity is the maximum population size that a particular environment can support
What is the ecological footprint (EF)?
The EF is a measure of the consumption of nonrenewable natural resources and waste production by a human population
What does the ecological footprint represent?
It represents the land area necessary to sustain current levels of resource consumption and waste discharge by that population
What is a country’s ecological footprint?
A country’s EF is the total area of productive land or sea required to produce all the crops, meat, seafood, wood and fibre it consumes, to sustain its energy consumption and to give space for its infrastructure
What are the qualities of a more developed country (MDC)?
- high standard of living
- good medical care & resources
- high level of education
- industrialised
- low population growth rate
- low birth rate
- low death rate
- long life expectancy
- higher level of dependents over the age of 65
What are the qualities of a less developed country (LDC)?
- low standard of living
- poor medical care and resources
- lower level of education
- lower use of contraception
- economy based on farming
- high population growth rate
- high birth rate
- high death rate
- majority of population are young children (dependent)
What is the purpose of population pyramids?
- planned use of resources
- politics
- schools
- old age homes
- housing
