population and the environment - Introduction Flashcards
always and enviromental context for human population characteristics and population change, key elements in the physical environment: climate, soils, resource distribution including water supple, difference between key population parameters: distribution, density, numbers and rates of change, key role of development processes, interpret global patterns of population numbers, density and change rates
what factors affect population change
countries economic status
natural disasters
conflict/war
diseases
jobs
healthcare
population age
child policies
contraception
what factors affect the physical environment
climate
soil fertility
water supply
other resource distribution e.g. geology
how does climate affect the physical environment
rainfall
temperature - many crops need a temp of at least 5
wind velocity
solar insolation
characteristics of environment can also affect the incidence of disease
how does soil fertility affect the physical environment
depends of soil structure, texture, acidity, organic matter and nutrients
influences type of farming used
fertilizers and pesticides
fertile areas may be prone to hazards
how does water supply affect the physical environment
main use for irrigation - agriculture accounts for 69% global water use + most of this is for irrigation
sanitation, hygiene, industrial processes - 95% Egypt population of 80million live withing 12 miles of river Nile
how does other resource distribution e.g. geology affect the physical environment
concentration of resources (fossil fuels) have given rise to industrialization and consequently densely populated areas
even when resources become depleted, large, dense populations remain with new tertiary industries to serve them
what are development processes
a process of change that effects people lives
how do development processes occur
from triggers - neolithic agrarian revolution (12,000 years ago) - wide scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle if hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement making possible and increasingly larger population
industrial revolution in europe (18th and 19th century) - increased machinery and speed of production cand support a growing population
what have development processes enabled us to do
support a larger human population
control infectious diseases