Population

Question 1

Causes of population change

Answer 1

• tradition and religion (people may ban contraception) (or people want a boy)
• better education (on contraception) (dont need children for work)
• better living standards (children are less likely do die)
• more water sources
• migration (more people to give birth)
• natural resources (could increase GPD and help raise the economy)
• good healthcare (less death rates)
• fertile solids and flat land (could increase farm
• government policy (one child policy)

Question 2

Elderly vs youthful population impacts

Answer 2

Young population - less working women as they are busy taking care of children, more education and healthcare is needed, future workforce, provides a growing market for children’s products,

Elderly population - more healthcare needed, larger workforce to support children, political parties more likely to appeal to the elderly, need more social care, decline in working age population, less tax,

Question 3

Dependency ratio, its formula and limitations

Answer 3

Number of children (0-14) and elderly (over 64) / the working age population (14 - 64) x 100 = % of dependants

Limitations - a lot of students nowadays still stay in school above the age 14 and a lot of elderly still work above the age 64 also does not take the fact of unemployed people

Some of the factors can alter the dependency ratio

Question 4

Causes of food shortages

Answer 4

• soil exhaustion
• drought
• floods
• pests
• plant disease
• population growth
• fewer workers
• Climate hazards

Question 5

Consequences of shortages

Answer 5

Social
- malnutrition
- starvation
- death
- migration
- deficiencies
- Less resistance to other diseases
- Break up of family/community as some leave to find food
- cant properly work

Economic
- less productive workers (malnutrition)
- deaths, less workers
- increased food prices

Question 6

Solutions to shortages

Answer 6

• technology and innovation
• importing food
• GMO
• better fertilisers pesticides
• growth hormones
• immigration

Question 7

Two theories on population growth

Answer 7

Esther Boserup

• . She believed that no matter how large the world’s population increased, people would always be able to produce enough food to suit their requirements. She prophesied that when the world’s food supply became depleted, people would respond with technical advancements that would improve food production. Therefore carrying capacity will increase

Increase in ovulation doesn’t always result in innovations
Sometimes there are factors that render food increase, like environmental factors such as weather and unusable land

Thomas Malthus

• that the rate of global population growth would inevitably result in a population larger than could be fed and there would eventually be too many people for the available food. He predicted a disaster including hunger and conflict which will lead to a sharp drop in population numbers,

he also assumed food deficit for the entire population however its just the poor go hungry
He didn’t take in account globalisation and trade and technology
Malthus views are correct in some underdeveloped countries like India Bangladesh and some African countries

Question 8

Carrying capacity

Answer 8

The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size
(1) of a biological species that can be sustained in that specific environment without damaging the environment and the living standards deteriorating

Question 9

Optimum population

Answer 9

An economic concept for where population is in balances with the available resources

It is hard to move from an overpopulation/underpopulation to an optimum population and there are many ways to do so

Question 10

China one child policy

Answer 10

• lots of sterilisations and contraception
• forced abortions
• gender ratio imbalanced
• girls abandoned and killed
• twins is okay having one mentally unstable u can have another
• if u have a girl u can have another
• prizes if u have one child
• consequences if u have more than too

Question 11

Stages,

Answer 11

1. High death rates and high birth rates
2. High birth rates, death rates fall, therefore natural increase
3. birth rates begins to fall death rates have fallen
4. Death rates fall even more, lower birth rates
5. Death rates remain the same, even lower birth rates, natural decrease

Question 12

Overpopulation

Answer 12

Pressure on services eg: health care for early ages more pre/post natal support
Expansion of education provision
Increased food supply
Pressure on resources
Overcrowding, spread of diseases
Dependency ratio increases

Question 13

Underpopulation problems

Answer 13

More tax
Shortage of workers
Too much resources, underutilisation of resources, wasted resources
Business and services will have not many customers, shut down
Increased immigration to fill labour shortages

Question 14

Underpopulation causes

Answer 14

HICs
Low birth rates, women rather work than raise children (due to high education)
Cost of living is too high to raise children
Contraception is well known
Decrease in death, high life expectancy, as they have good healthcare and good quality of life
Government Policies
Less need for children to work so lower birth rates

LICS
People move too other countries to seek more opportunity, (pull factors)
Less opportunity in the country so people wont come here, place is more unattractive (push factors)
Lots of death rates poor healthcare

Both
Physical difficulties living in certain environments eg: relief and climate and water issues

Question 15

Technology that can increase food production

Answer 15

drip irrigation - directs water to roots of plants (so most is absorbed) and leads to greater/faster growth/less competition with weeds.
Fertilisers/Pesticides - increase the growth of the plants and reduce the incests eating it
GM seeds

Question 16

Fertility rate

Answer 16

Total fertility rate is the number of children that would be born per 1000 women

in LICS
- higher fertility rates (generally)

In HICs
- lower fertility rates (generally)

Question 17

Food security

Answer 17

The concept of food security may be outlined as:
When all people have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain an active healthy life

Question 18

environmental consequences of increasing food production.

Answer 18

• Overcultivation leading to soil erosion
  • Clearance of vegetation (desertification)
  • Loss of biodiversity/ecosystem, habitat loss
  • Pressure on water supplies leading to drought/increased salinity
  • Pollution

Question 19

Probelms for rural settlements caused by underpopulation

Answer 19

Ageing population structure; changes in rates of births, fertility, deaths
• Disruption of family structure and responsibilities
• Reduction in standard of living
• Service provision
• Lack of workforce; rising wages; skills loss
• Environmental decline

Question 20

Causes of an elderly population

Answer 20

Socio- economical reasons
- Economic development influencing personal goals
• increased costs of raising children
• increased literacy and education of girls and women
• increased availability, accessibility and affordability of contraception

Question 21

policies governments may use to lower fertility rates.

Answer 21

• access to family planning
• improving infant and maternal health
• information and/or education
• social and/or economic empowerment of women
abortion
• sterilisation

Question 22

why the death rate falls before the birth rate falls in the DTM.

Answer 22

death rates can be reduced by improvements in basics such as water supply, sanitation, food supply, etc., which are applied to the whole population
developments in medicine that affect death rate taken up more quickly
acceptance of improvements to factors that affect basic standard of
living is easier than factors influencing birth rates
the need for a large workforce remains
factors such as culture, religion and the role of women in society
influence birth rates and are harder or take time to change

Question 23

Why are death rates high

Answer 23

economic, e.g. lack of finance to support health care provision, immunisation programmes, infrastructure provision such as safe water, etc.
social, e.g. spread of communicable disease, e.g. AIDS, Ebola, COVID-19
environmental, e.g. natural disasters, climatic hazards
political, e.g. war and its wider impact
demographic, e.g. ageing population

Question 24

underpopulation definition

Answer 24

An area is underpopulated when there are too few people/workers to exploit their resources (efficiently) to provide economic growth/development

Question 25

Overpopulation, definition

Answer 25

As a population rises above the optimum population/exceeds the carrying capacity of that area, this causes an increases in pressure on resources

Question 26

Environmental consequences of increasing food production.

Answer 26

Overcultivation leading to soil erosion • Clearance of vegetation (desertification) • Loss of biodiversity/ecosystem • Pressure on water supplies leading to drought/increased salinity • Pollution (air, water and land) through attempts to increase production • Changes in (micro)climate, e.g. increased cattle numbers increase methane/global warming

Question 27

Natural increase definition

Answer 27

Natural increase is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate. Usually expressed as a %. If the birth rate is higher than the death rate the population will increase.

Question 28

Probelms with exceeding carrying capacity

Answer 28

• Soil erosion • Water shortage • Pollution (should be qualified) • Species extinction • Resource depletion

Question 29

Why does overpopulation occur

Answer 29

 Increased population due to high natural increase or migration  Increased levels of consumption by the population  Failure in the resource base due to a climatic or geological hazard e.g. drought  Exhaustion of the resource base e.g. soils become exhauste

Question 30

Suggest why there are more elderly females than elderly males in 6 many HICs.

Answer 30

 Higher male death rates due to lifestyle (e.g. drinking, smoking), more dangerous work (e.g. building), etc.  Lower female death rate as fewer now die in childbirth, more female education so more aware of healthy lifestyles, tend to work in safer tertiary jobs  Males may have died in previous conflicts  Biological – there is evidence to show that female hormones provide some protection against heart disease. Also, it is believed that females have stronger immune systems.  In most HICs, the retirement age for women is/has been lower than for men – so women may be less exposed to work-related stress, illness etc.

Question 31

With the aid of examples, explain why infant mortality rates may decrease as a country develops.

Answer 31

The explanation may draw on the following factors:  Greater antenatal and postnatal care, as better health care  Increased female education, so mothers aware of risks e.g. smoking  Better diets – in both quantity and quality  Better housing conditions/less overcrowding  Better sanitation and water supply  Increased numbers live in cities where aid and health services can better be provided  Women have fewer children (more birth control) so easier to look after themselves and newborns  Women have children later in life

Question 32

Infant mortality rate (IMR). Definition

Answer 32

The number of children who die under the age of 1 (1) per thousand live births (1) per year (1).

Question 33

Suggest two environmental factors that cause high infant mortality 4 rates (IMR) in LICs/MICs.

Answer 33

• disease carried by insects, e.g. malaria, water-borne disease such as bilharzia • other issues of water quality • poor sanitation • food supply issues caused by factors such as drought, flooding, storms, pest, e.g. locusts, which influence the ability of parents and especially mothers to feed babies or their general health • extreme climatic events such as droughts, floods • other environmental factors

Question 34

What affects birth rates

Answer 34

Explanation of factors influencing fertility rates in HICs may include: • female empowerment • government policy • health and diets • cost of child-raising • education/birth control • factors leading to lower death rates • low infant mortality rates • compulsory education and working age limits • other

Question 35

Why death rates fall with the increased 8 economic development of an area.

Answer 35

Improvement in diets (quality and quantity) – farming improves  Improved health – medical advances, more hospitals, better health education (especially reduces infant mortality)  Greater security so fewer wars, violence  Improved water supply (quality and quantity)  Greater education on safer living – anti-smoking, better hygiene etc.  Improved housing – so fewer fires, fewer bugs etc.  More tertiary jobs – safer than primary/secondary  Cultural shift such that females more valued and protected  Improved transport so aid can reach problem areas

Question 36

Explain how low life expectancy of the population may be linked to low 5 levels of development.

Answer 36

Low level of development means few resources for the government • Issues related to poor food supply and limited access to food • High rates of infant mortality (due to disease, poor sanitation, etc.) • Limited access to medical infrastructure/health care • Lack of resources to control and/or treat disease • Limited provision for pensions/social security, so poverty

Question 37

mortality rate.

Answer 37

Mortality rate, or death rate, is • the number of deaths per thousand (1) in a population (e.g. country, region) (1) per year (1).

Question 38

Explain why the dependency ratio may vary within a country.

Answer 38

• Difference in numbers in the different age groups • Difference between rural areas and urban areas (rural may have more young and old dependents) • Retirement areas (especially coastal) may attract older dependents • Variation in health care – where it is poor, high IMR • Type of activity – industrial areas may have fewer dependents • University towns (or military towns) may have more young dependents • Location – remote areas compared to more central area