Topic 8.1

Question 1

Define Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

Answer 1

the number of births per thousand individuals in a population per year.

Question 2

Define Crude Death Rate (CDR)

Answer 2

the number of deaths per thousand individuals in a population per year.

Question 3

Define Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

Answer 3

the average number of children each woman has over her lifetime.

Question 4

Define Doubling Time

Answer 4

the time in years that it takes for a population to double in size.

Question 5

Define Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

Answer 5

the rate of human growth expressed as a percentage change per year.

Question 6

How is birth and death rates calculated?

Answer 6

By dividing the number of births or deaths by the population size and multiplying by 1000.

Question 7

How is NIR calculated?

Answer 7

NIR = CBR - CDR/10 (migration is ignored)

Question 8

How is doubling time calculated?

Answer 8

70/NIR

Question 9

What is the relation between doubling time and NIR?

Answer 9

A NIR of 1% will make a population double in size in 70 years.

Question 10

Fertility rates of what results in either population increase or decrease?

Answer 10

fertility rates higher than 2 result in population increase and lower than 2 result in population decrease.

Question 11

Why is fertility rates based around the number 2?

Answer 11

Because the two parents should be replaced by 2 children in order to maintain a stable population. Migration is not taken into consideration.

Question 12

Why is the replacement fertility in LEDCs higher (2.16) than in MEDCs (2.03)?

Answer 12

Because of infant and childhood mortality.

Question 13

What is the Human Development Index (HDI)?

Answer 13

a composite measure that measures the ‘well-being’ of a country. it combines measures of health (life expectancy), wealth (GDP per capita) and education into one value. It is used to rank countries. Iceland, Norway and Canada have been at the top of this list recently.

Question 14

What scale is the HDI scored on?

Answer 14

Scores range from 1 to 0 with one being the highest.

Question 15

What is the limitation of the HDI?

Answer 15

It simplifies and captures only part of what human development entails. It does not reflect on inequalities, poverty, human security, empowerment etc.

Question 16

How is human population growth having an impact on the environment?

Answer 16

more people require more resources; more people produce more waste; people usually want to improve their standard of living; so the more people there are, the greater the impact they have.

Question 17

When does a population remain stable?

Answer 17

when the death and birth rate are equal so there is no net gain in population size.

Question 18

Apart from population, what other factors are responsible for our impact on our resource base and impact on the environment in which we live?

Answer 18

wealth of a population, resource desire and resource need (or use).

Question 19

What is a limitation of population impact models?

Answer 19

They assume that all individuals or populations of a similar size have the same resource needs and thus have the same impact environmentally (based on resource use and waste associated with exploiting a resource). However, individual resource use (and population resource use) is a dynamic principle. Resource use varies in time and space.

Question 20

What is Mathus’ principle?

Answer 20

If population was not managed and slowed it would outsrip the food supply.
Then, negative consequences will follow, such as war and famine.
Population grows exponentially, while resources follows a linear trend.
Once the carrying capacity is reached, further growth will be prevented by ‘checks’
Negative checks = Decreases birth rate e.g. postponement of marriage and sexual abstinence.
Positive checks = Increases death rate e.g. war, famine and disease.

Question 21

Evaluate Malthus’ theory

Answer 21

In many aspects he was correct, we are experiencing checks.
However, there were factors he did not predict:
- Industrial Revolution - transport goods and services all over the world easily.
- Technology improving agriculture
- Better transport links
- Better birth control

Question 22

Apply Malthus’ theory to the real world.

Answer 22

COVID - population was growing exponentially, disease brought it back down.

Question 23

What is Boserup’s theory?

Answer 23

humans are a ‘smart race’
we would find ways to allow population growth to keep up with food production.
population grows exponentially, resources will continually be extracted as population increases.

Question 24

Evaluate Boserup’s theory.

Answer 24

She rightfully predicted that technology would help improve the extraction of resources.
However, overpopulation can lead to unsuitable farming practices that may degrade the land so population pressure may be responsible for desertification in the Sahel.

Question 25

Apply Boserup’s theory to the real world.

Answer 25

• Medical advances have allowed improvements in life expectancy and quality.
• Industrial and technological advances have allowed us to meet the demand for food sources in order to feed the ever-growing population.

Question 26

Why do people have large families?

Answer 26

• High infant and child mortality
• Security in old age
• Children are an economic asset
• Status of women
• Unavailability of contraceptives

Question 27

What are the ways to reduce family size?

Answer 27

• Provide education
• Improve health (preventing spread of diseases through simple measures like boiling water, improving nutrition, providing simple medication and vaccines).
• Make contraceptives and family counseling available.
• Enhance income - by small scale projects focusing on the family level.

Question 28

What is the demographic transition model (DTM)?

Answer 28

The pattern of decline in mortality and fertility of a country as a result of social and economic development.

Question 29

1st stage of DTM

Answer 29

• High stationary (Pre-industrial societies)
• High birth rate due to no birth control, high infant mortality rates, cultural factors encouraging large families. High death rates due to disease, famine, poor hygiene and little medicine.

Question 30

2nd stage of DTM

Answer 30

• Early expanding (LEDCs)
• Death rate drops as sanitation and food improve, disease is reduced so lifespan increases.
• Birth rate is still high so population expands rapidly and child mortality falls due to improved medicine.

Question 31

3rd stage of DTM

Answer 31

• Late expanding (wealthier LEDCs)
• As a country becomes more developed, birth rates also fall due to access to contraception, improved healthcare, education, emancipation of women.
• Population also begins to level off and desire for material goods and low infant mortality rates mean that people have smaller families.

Question 32

4th stage of DTM

Answer 32

• Low stationary (MEDCs)
• Low birth and death rates, industrialising countries.
• Stable population sizes.

Question 33

5th stage of DTM

Answer 33

• Declining (MEDCs)
• Population may not be replaced as fertility rate is low.
• Problems of ageing workforce.

Question 34

Exceptions and limitations of DTM

Answer 34

• DTM explains changes in some countries but not others.
• China and Brazil have passed through the stages very quickly.
• Some sub-Saharan countries or those affected by war or civil unrest do not follow the model.
• It has been criticized as extrapolating the European model worldwide.

Question 35

Purpose of population pyramids

Answer 35

to reflect the DTM stages.

Question 36

Stage 1 pop. pyramid

Answer 36

• Expanding

- High birth rate; rapid fall in each upward age group due to high death rates; short life expectancy.

Question 37

Stage 2 pop. pyramid

Answer 37

• Expanding

- High birth rate; fall in death rate as more living to middle age; slightly longer life expectancy.

Question 38

Stage 3 pop. pyramid

Answer 38

• Stationary

- Declining birth rate; low death rate; more people living to old age.

Question 39

Stage 4 pop. pyramid

Answer 39

• Contracting

- Low birth rate; low death rate; higher dependency ratio; longer life expectancy.

Question 40

Limitations of population pyramids

Answer 40

• Deaths from AIDS-related diseases may also affect this.
• The fall in death rate has not always been as steep as this suggests as movement from the countryside to cities has created large urban slum areas which have poor or no sanitation and consequent high death rates of the young and infirm
• This is a eurocentric model and assumes that all countries will become industrialized. This may not be the case in some ‘failed states’ for instance.

Question 41

How do policies that may reduce population growth rates influence human population growth?

Answer 41

• Parents in subsistence communities may be dependent on their children for support in their later years and this may create an incentive to have many children. So if the government introduces pension schemes the CBR comes down.
• Policies that stimulate economic growth may reduce birth rates as a result of increased access to education about methods of birth control.
• Urbanization could also reduce CBR as fewer people can live in the smaller urban accomodation.

Question 42

How do policies that may increase population growth rates influence human population growth?

Answer 42

• Agricultural development, improved public health and sanitation, etc. may lower death rates and stimulate rapid population growth without significantly affecting fertility.
• Lowering income tax of giving incentives and free education and health care may increase birth rates e.g. Australia baby bonus.
• Encouraging immigration, particularly of workers. E.g. Russia allows migrants to work who do not have qualifications to fill the gap in manual labour.