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Chapter 12: Population and Environment - Coggle Diagram
Chapter 12: Population and Environment
The Tea-Sellers Dilemma
Clay cups used
Replaced by styrofoam
Leads to a lack of concern about conserving resources
Turned into a society of Waste Makers
The Household of Nature: The Plight of Natural Resources
Ecology has developed into the science of the relationships among living things and their environments.
Organisms and environments are assumed to be inseparable
As organisms of an ecosystem reproduce, age, and die, the physical environment undergoes transformations
Duncan's Model
Everything is related to everything else
Nothing is nature grows indefinitely
Relationships between organisms and their environments are very complex
Fresh Water
Virtually all human settlements are located in areas where fresh water is available
The main source of freshwater supply is precipitation
The world's annual freshwater supply is about 110,000 cubic kilometers
Nearly 2/3 is lost due to evaporation
Water quality is very easily destroyed by pollutants
The presence of inorganic elements and compounds in drinking water is harmful to health
Water pollution is a side effect of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services
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Duncan's Model Expanded
Environmental Factors
Technological Stock and Innovations
Level of Industrialization
Cultural Conditions
Population Dynamics
Social Organization
Depletion of Forests
One of the most direct causes of deforestation is population pressure
Land is considered degraded if the chemical, physiological, or biological characteristics of the land have altered and fertility compromised
Socioeconomic development and urbanization are closely associated with deforestation
Energy
Energy is the capacity to do work
The demand for energy is growing
People have a wide variety of energy needs
Consumption of energy resources such as oil and coal produces several undesirable chemical byproducts.
The mean level of emissions in the industrializing countries is slightly less than twice that of the industrialized
Theories of Population and Environment
The ecological principles and empirical observations indicate that population size, socioeconomic development, and environmental quality are highly and complexly interrelated.
There are several theories that attempt to specify how population and development affect environmental quality
Indirect Effect Theories
In Ester Boserup's view, an increase in population growth rates and density does not inevitably lead to disaster
Instead, these changes trigger technological changes.
Boserup reformulated the Malthusian argument by proposing technological change as an intervening variable according to the thesis
Population growth induces technological change
The latter effects the environment to
Increase productivity, and, thus
Feed the growing population
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Another indirect theory proposes that a country's degree of socioeconomic independence determines the impact of its population on the environment
Direct Effect Theories
Neo- Malthusian vs. anti-Malthusian
One theory views environmental degradation as an inverse function of technological efficiency
A related explanation proposes that the process of urban growth produces environmental degradation
Barry Commoner argued that affluence causes pollution
EI = (Population Size) x (Level of Affluence) x (Level of Technology)
Measuring Environmental Conditions and Impacts
The test of the value of theories such as those just reviewed often depends on our ability to measure the variables they specify
Environmental research typically focuses on either
A geographic area or territory or
The individuals who inhabit a particular territory
Individual-Level Measures
The procedures involved in measuring the effect of environment on an individual come from the discipline of risk assessment
Risk assessment consists of 4 steps
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The Geography Environment
A close relationship exists between economy and environment.
Five leading features characterize the kind of high-quality environment that reflects this sort of effective investment
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Programs and Strategies: The Rise of Environmentalism
All policies, including those directed at influencing the relationship between populations and environment, reflect societal values
Some proponents challenge social inequality, viewing its as an obstacle to the empowerment of disadvantaged individuals and groups that will allow them to preserve and create healthy environments
The trend toward mass production and consumption removed people from the resource and manufacturing bases of the things they used
Organizations have sprung up all over the world to further the cause of environmentalism
Sustainable Development
The Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland first introduced the concept of sustainable development
Although this aspect of the Brundtland Report was viewed as very innovative
In the years that have passed since Rio, a set of priority items has been placed on the environmental agenda
Embracing the Lessons of Chipko
The Chipko movement began in what was then the northern Indian State or Uttar Pradesh
The introduction of a monetary economy in the region induced out-migration of young men in search of jobs, whereas women stayed behind and engaged in subsistence agriculture
The Chipko cause was carried out by a loose confederation of hundreds of locally organized and autonomous bodies
Environmental Policies and Politics
The Political Context
Environmental resources are scarce commodities
The emergence of a highly inequitable distribution of ecological resources in favor of the rich and powerful has clear political implications
Access to any type of scarce resource is subject to the changing distribution of power among groups
The U.S. political system is designed to protect the freedom of the individual at the cost of the community if necessary, even when the latter's interests are more pressing
Even when it can be clearly demonstrated that high population-growth rates and runaway consumerism lead to environmental degradation, it's extremely difficult to translate these findings into policies