Week 3: The great transformation and global population growth

Question 1

REM Definition

Answer 1

• Resource and environmental management is the management of the interaction and impact of the human society on the environment; includes fields such as:
  
  • Land use planning
  • Water management
  • Resource extraction
  • Waste management
  • Pollution reduction
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Agriculture
  • Forestry
  • Fisheries
    Tourism

Question 2

IPAT Framework

Answer 2

Impact = population x affluence x technology
Framework proposed by Barry Commoner, Paul R. Ehrlich and John Holdren in the 1970s to describe the impact of human activity on the environment.

Question 3

Population

Answer 3

Impact = POPULATION x Affluence x Technology
Population of an area (e.g. country, the world)
* Increased land use
* Increased resource use
* Increased population

Question 4

Affluence

Answer 4

Impact = Population x AFFLUENCE x Technology
Average consumption per person
* Commonly expressed as GDP per capita (gross domestic product per person)= average economic activity per person
* Increased consumption/economic activity
* Increased environmental impact

Question 5

Technology

Answer 5

Impact = Population x Affluence x TECHNOLOGY
Represents how resource intensive the production of affluence is
* How much environmental impact is involved in creating, transporting, and disposing of the goods, services and amenities
* More efficient extraction of resources–increased impact
* More efficient use of resources–decreased impact

Question 6

Summary
* Resource and environmental management is the management of the interaction and impact of human society on the environment
* The IPAT framework describes express the key factors influencing the impact of human activity on the environment
* Population–up
* Affluence–up
* Technology (resource intensity) –up, down