ESS IB, all the Case studies

Evaluate the uses of DTT.

Pros:

- Relatively cheap

- Highly persistent so that it continues for months after application to kill insects such as mosquitoes that carry disease

- Used to virtually eliminate malaria dengue fever and filariasis

- Estimated to have saved about 50 million human lives and to have prevented more than a thousand million human illnesses

Cons:

- kills all insects that come in contact with it.

- thinning birds' eggshells; reducing their population numbers

- it is persistent -> fall into the food chain => bioaccumulate and biomagnified

- affect the development of children e.g in Yaqui Valley, Mexico

More detail: https://old.iupac.org/publications/cd/essential_toxicology/IUPACDDTcase.pdf

Evaluate a named historical event that lead to the banning of DTT.

Rachel Carson: Silent Spring - 1962: Shows the impacts of DTT on the environment and human's health.

Leading to the ban of DTT by world agriculture in 2001

Pros:

- reduce/stop biomagnification of DDT

- improvement in child's development

- reduce cancer, asthma, pregnancy loss

- environmental system can recover

Cons:

- Malaria risk increases; more death

- Fewer affective alternative for DDT

- Alternative pesticides are more expensive

Outline the water conservation strategies with reference to a named example.

Singapore water conservation strategies

1. Follow the scheme of conserve, value, enjoy

2. Increases the pricing of water

The Singapore's National Water agency - PUB has helped by:

1. Educate the population about ways of reducing water demand while doing different activities at home, school, workplace...

2. Provide water saving kits for free: help to control the flowing rate of water

3. Develop a water efficiency labelling scheme on the products such as washing machines: more ticks = more water efficient

Describe and evaluate the sustainability of freshwater resource usage with reference to a case study.

• Middle East Water shortage:

o Area contains only 0.5% of the world's freshwater supply and 5% of the world's population.

o Major drought in 2008 in Israel. Forced to stop pumping from sea of Galilee and draw from aquifers instead.

Did not restrict water supply to its neighbor Jordan.

Israel has two desalination plants that supply one third of used water for households.

Potential future conflict over water supplies.

"Discuss, with reference to a case study, the controversial harvesting of a named species."

Salmon farming in British Columbia, Canada

- overfishing in the sea -> not enough salmon to meet the damands

- salmon farms increase; causing pollution

1 . chemicals used in the farm to kill lices are toxic; fishes in the surrounding area have high level of tumours lesions and I-parasite

2 . Food web is affected

3. . When drug loss efficiency -> lices may become stronger-> affect wild salmon population

4. Genetically modified farmed-fishes escape into the wild; interbreed with wildfish -> reduce their ability to survive

5. high density of fishes in the farm; organic wastes enter the ocean and pollute the water.

Solutions

- move the salmon farm to a close-containment system technology

- consumers can choose to buy wild salmon instead of the farmed one; putting pressure on the farm to make changes

Compare and contrast the sustainability of one wild capture fishery and one type of aquaculture.

1) Wild capture = Grand Banks Cod

- Methods such as trawler netting

- Unsustainable because: By-Catch, destroy ocean floors / endangered ecosystems ( e.g cod ) to catch the demersal fishes

- High technology means more fishes can be caught which might exceed the MSY, leading to the depletion to fish population

- Hard to regulate: people/companies will overexploit the resources due to the tragedy of the commons, once something belongs to everyone we tend to overexploit it because we fear that if we don't then other people may do it.

- Result in fish not return to its original stock

- Killing of big fish: No more predators that eat the medium fish ... medium fish eat all of the small fish ... small fish don't eat the phytoplankton ... results in algal blooms and dead zones.

2) Aquaculture such as shrimp farms, Mekong, Vietnam (more sustainable)

- Vietnam's 4th most valuable export

- shrimps can breed in safety away from predators.

- Integrated farming rear the shrimps inside the rice paddies in dry season and grow rice in rainy season

- They use a system of dikes, water gates, and nets, coordinated with the lunar cycle;

They are still an economically viable way to support a family.

Using an example you have studied explain the reasons why scarcity of water can lead to conflict between human populations.

Mekong river in Southeast Asia.

- Water is a limited resource in the world

- Source of freshwater to 60 million people in China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Conflict

- China and Laos want to build more dams e.g. 11 dams planned on the upper Mekong

- Anthropocentric benefits - HEP & increased reservoirs for water storage & fisheries

- The Mekong provides Vietnam with fresh water to have sustainable aquaculture in rice paddies.

- Laos took the decision to build a Dam called Xayanburi, on the river which is going to affect all downstream countries.

- The conflict between the Mekong countries

- Fluctuations in water level destroys dry season crops and also disable navigation for trade and tourism ship as the water depth decreases.

1. Dams would slow the water flow - flow has decreased by 10% in just 30 years = ecocentric problems

2. Capture of fish increases upstream meaning there would be less resources downstream = anthropocentric problem

3. Upstream Dams eg in Laos and China cause Interruption of migration patterns for species like endangered Giant Mekong Catfish, which can lead to a decline in stocks of the largest freshwater fishery in the world

4. Loss of sediment to supply Delta also occurs through trapping in reservoirs by dams: causes loss of fertility for rice farmers downstream as well as interruption of water flows necessary for paddy farming.

Causes hardship and uncertainty for farmers plus international friction between downstream users like Vietnam and upstream managers like China.

Lake Erie water pollution case study

During 18th and 19th centuries, people dumped everything into the waterway.

Causing pollution.

Up until 20th century that people starts to be aware of the importance of clean water to health

Evaluate soil management strategies in a named commercial farming system and in a named subsistence farming system.

California, United State commercial rice farming: methods imposed mostly by the Soil and Conservation Act of 1935.

- Contour ploughing

- Strip cultivation with an alternation of cultivated and fallow (crop-free) land aligned across the direction of the prevailing wind.

- Temporary cover crops such as fast-growing millet

- Shallow ploughing to eliminate weeds and conserve crop residues on the surface.

- Use of heavy machinery; high input of energy and chemicals; lower energy efficiency

- High productivity; output includes pollution

Borneo, Indonesia Subsistence farming:

- Sustainable form of agroforestry

- Traditional extensive

- Labour-intensive

- Polyculture

- Maintains soil quality by working with nature

- Lower productivity

- higher energy efficiency

- rice is the only output

Soil degradation case study: The Aral sea

In Central asia: Kazakstan and Uzbekistan

The sea has shrunk tremendously since 1960s

Causes:

- Irrigation for cotton farming;

- Salinisation of sea : leaves salt behind

- Chemical pollutions

Soil conservation case study.

The Mucuna bean: used to fix nitrogen and fertilise the soil.

Pros:

- able to fix 150 kg of nitrogen per hectare

- produce up to 35 tonnes of organic matter per hectare

- can yield more crops

- inexpensive

- help to generate local economy; less migration to the city

- save the virgin forest because the land are now capable of producing higher yield

- less labour needed to take care of the crop because the cover-crop keep the weed from growing

- improve water quality, soil health, and water retention

Cons

- need to purchase the seeds

- the beans are mostly inedible for human

- the hair on the seed pods can cause itching when touched.

With a named example, explain the concept of energy insecurity and how it may lead to conflict?

Energy security is the uninteruppted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.

Long-term energy security: mainly deals with investments over time to supply energy in line with economic developments and environmental needs.

Short-term energy security: focuses on the ability of the energy system to react promptly to sudden changes in the supply-demand balance.

Uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led to significant vulnerabilities.

- Russia supplies much of its natural gas supplies to a number of European countries via pipelines through Ukraine

- Political friction between Ukraine and Russia

- Gas supplies to the importing countries become short; in January 2009

- largest natural gas supply crisis in Europe's history.

- With increasingly integrated electricity grids, blackouts can cascade and affect multiple economies simultaneously.

Outline the mechanism of natural selection in a named species. (bacteria with antibiotic resistance)

Antibiotic vs Bacteria

1. Variation: bacteria mutate to gain genetic variation

2. Selective advantages: some bacteria resist antibiotic due to genetic variation

3. Overproduction: the use of antibiotic kills many weak bacteria

4. Reproductive success: bacteria with genes to resist antibiotics survive and reproduce; others do not.

5. Heritable trait: offsprings of the bacteria will all be resistant.

Outline the mechanism of natural selection in a named species (Peppered moth)

Dark Peppered Moth

1. Variation: some have light bodies and others have dark bodies due to mutation in genes.

2. Selective advantages: having the body that looks like a stick & can adjust color -> hide from predators in dark forest (Camouflaged)

3. Overproduction: birds eat large number of the light-colored moth.

4. Reproductive success: Black moths are eaten less; reproduce more offsprings

5. Heritable trait: pass on their color to the next generation.

Referring to a named example, outline how new species can be formed over time?

Galapagos Finches

1. A storm blow some finches from the Ecuador to the Galapagos islands; isolated them into separate population by the Pacific water body

2. There were genetic variety in the beak size of the birds.

3. The islands have habitat diversity: different food available to the birds.

4. Natural selection occurs at each island; finches that were better adapted to their islands' environment survive and reproduce more.

5. Over thousands of years, each island had its own endemic finch species, adapted to the habitats.

Outline the works of the IUCN ( International Union for the Conservation of Nature)

- largest global environmental network

- 1948, linked to the UN and governments

- 160 countries; GOs and NGOs

- gather biodiversity data to protect it and stop extinction

Publish the Red List to use as a barometer to determine extinction risk and planning measures to avoid extinction.

Species are classified on a scale

Ex: Extinct; no living individuals

Ew: Extinct in the wild

Cr: Critically endangered

En: Endangered

Vu: Vulnerable

NT: Near threatened

LC: Least concerned

Evaluate the role of a named keystone species in a species-based conservation.

- Have critical role in maintaining the structure of the ecosystem it lives in

- conserving keystone species= protecting the integrity of the food web

- keystone species extinct -> food web collapses into simpler state

Sea otters as a keystone species in a kelp forest ecosystem; it preys on sea urchins, clams,...

1. sea otters are hunted to extinction

2. sea urchins population increases

3. kelp forest was eaten until lost

4. all species that depend on the forest e.g. crabs, also extinct

Compare and contrast the activities of GO and NGO in conservation.

GO : UNEP & NGOs: WWF/Greenpeace;

- both organizations are trying to promote conservation of habitats/ecosystems and biodiversity;

- NGOs use the media more to get specific messages across about conservation/preservation;

- NGOs often run campaigns focused on large charismatic species such as whales/seals/pandas;

- NGOs often lobby at UNEP organised conventions to encourage countries to sign treaties/agreements;

- NGOs often protest at the UNEP conventions to highlight single issues they are concerned with;

- NGOs often have publicity stunts that aim to draw attention to the conservation issue;

- NGOs work at a local scale/grassroots level;

- NGOs tend to have local groups to affect community involvement, more actively

including communities;

- NGOs provide education/information on issues;

- UNEP works more slowly and is concerned about government level changes to protect the environment;

- intergovernmental organizations work within the law and often NGOs can be more confrontational;

- international conventions are set up by UNEP to get governments to commit to conservation;

e.g. Rio Earth summit of 1992 and the Agenda 21 that countries signed;

e.g. Johannesburg Sustainability summit of 2002;

Evaluate the success of a given protected area.

Tesso Nilo national park, Sumatra

1. Size: 82,651 ha

2. Shape: Not preferable

3. Edge effect: big edge areas-> more edge effect

4. Corridors: is working because some animals are found on the remaining corridors.

5. Distance to urban centres: 111km from Pekanbraru

6. Land use surrounding: Palm oil factories/plantations

7. Effective funding: WWF-US and Sall foundation, allow the conservation program to be implemented since 2002.

8. Provide opportunity for scientists to conduct studies on the species of animals found in the remnant (small remaining) forests

9. WWF: try to halt Poaching (stop illegal logging),

- Monitoring illegal logging and flow of raw material supply for pulp and paper, sawmill, and plywood industries

- Enforce laws on forest crimes

- Setting training sessions for the community, facilitating a working program

- Community support: replanting the rainforest with local volunteers

Effectiveness of conserving biodiversity:

60,000ha has been lost to palm oil plantation-> the conservation has failed really badly.

Discuss the case histories of three different species: one that has become extinct due to human activity, another that is critically endangered, and a third species whose conservation status has been improved by intervention.

Extinct Species: Dodo : large flightless bird endemic to the island of Mauritius, extinct by 1681

- ground-nesting bird

- in 1505, Portuguese sailors ate dodo as a source of fresh meat

- new species (rats, monkeys) introduced that ate dodo

- humans killed the birds for sport

- destruction of habitat by human population

- became an icon due to its apparent stupidity

- Dodo helped to germinate seeds of the Dodo trees.

Endangered species: Rafflesia - tropical parasitic plant in the forests of South-East Asia

- single sexed

- pollination must be carried out when the plant in bloom

- vulnerable because they need specific conditions to survive

- deforestation and logging destroy their habitat

- now there are Rafflesia sanctuaries

Recovered Species: Australian saltwater crocodile

- 18 out of 23 were once endangered

- listed as protected species in Australia in 1971

- overexploited for skin (leather), meat and body parts through illegal hunting, poaching and smuggling

- restored through ranching and closed-cycle farming

Evaluate the role of national and international organizations in reducing the emissions of ozone-depleting substances.

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), forges international agreements, studies the effectiveness of these agreements, and the difficulties implementing and enforcing them.

Brought together 46 countries in 1987 to sign the initial Montreal Protocol on the Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

The Montreal Protocol (1987), which is an international agreement on reduction of emission of ozone-depleting substances.

- The signatories agreed to freeze production of many CFCs and halons and strongly reduce consumption and production of these substances by 2000.

- Most countries followed the rules but China and India continued to produce and use huge amounts of CFCs.

- But they have since both agreed to phase out the use of CFCs.

This protocol is very significant for a number of reasons:

1. Best example of international cooperation on an environmental issue by altering human activities.

2. Experts from many different fields coming together to research a problem and find solutions.

3. The first to recognise that different countries could phase-out ODS chemicals at different times depending on their economic status.

Evaluate pollution management strategies for reducing photochemical smog.

Problems of photochemical smogs:

-1 billion people are exposed to outdoor air pollution per year.

- 1 million premature deaths due to air pollution.

- Causes losses in a countries production.

- 90% of air pollution in LEDCs comes from old motor vehicles which are poorly maintained.

Management strategies: The Clean Air Act 1970 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) USA

- Federal legislation to control air pollutions

- Taxation on highly pollutants-emitting products

- Use technology to help : catalytic converter

- Set standard

- Lawsuits against violators, e.g. fined...

- Promote the uses of public transports or use alternative e.g electric cars to reduce the emission of primary pollutants

Even though the goals set to achieve in the timeline of the Clean Air Acts were not achieved in time, the movement was still a success as it served as a model for future legislation, by moving environmental concern to a national agenda.

Evaluate pollution management strategies, with a named location, for reducing photochemical smog. (Mexico city)

In Mexico city, the average visibility has decreased from 100 km to 1.5 km from the 1940s to the 2000s.

- The levels of nitrogen dioxide regularly exceed international standards by 2-3 times

- The level of ozone are twice as high as the maximum allowed limit for one hour a year.

The intense sunlight in Mexico city turns main pollutants into photochemical smog, which in turn, prevents the sun from heating the atmosphere just enough to penetrate the inversion layer blanketing the city.

Management

- reduce the use of private vehicles: the government has implemented a one-day-stop program which distributed randomly to encourage car owners to use public transports. (74% now travel with public transport)

- enforce engine maintenance standard

- change of fuels: improved gasoline quality=more efficient

- reducing lead and sulfur in fuels

- compulsory implementation of catalytic converters

But due to the national debt and poverty of so many of its population, a number of more costly policies to solve the problem can't be implemented.

Describe and evaluate pollution management strategies for acid deposition. (8)

Can be divided into preventative or curative;

-> preventative includes reducing fossil fuel emissions;

- e.g. by encouraging alternative energy sources such as solar;

- public transport schemes;

- reduction in energy demand for electricity by increasing energy efficiency;

- these address the cause of the problem so are arguably more effective;

- but are expensive and unpopular e.g. leading to job losses in the coal industry;

- may be currently impractical e.g. alternative energy supplies cannot replace the amount of energy we currently get from fossil fuels;

->curative involves responding to the effects of the problem;

- e.g. spraying forests/liming lakes;

- clean up measures at points of emission e.g. desulfurisation in coal fired power stations;

- these measures may be cheaper in the short- term but do not address the cause of the problem and are therefore not a long-term solution;

Describe the energy source mix of Japan.

- Most of the crude oil is imported from Saudi Arabia (34%) and UAE (25%)

- Major environmental impacts of using this energy: Burning this fuel increases the concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which could lead to global warming.

- Japan now relies on these energy sources because the previous main source of the country's own energy supply, the nuclear power, was found to be unreliable due to the frequent severe earthquake events e.g. in 2011.

- Possible change of energy mix: further decreases in the use of oil and increases the use of renewable energy such as hydroelectric and wind, but especially solar.

Evaluate the energy managing strategy of a given society.

Energy use in Sweden is largely based on renewable energy.

Swedish carbon emissions are low compared with other countries (which consumed less fuels).

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the average Swede releases 4.25 tonnes of CO₂ per year into the atmosphere, compared with the EU average of 6.91 tonnes.

- Aims to run entirely on renewable energy by 2040

- 57% of Sweden's power came from renewables such as hydropower and wind sources, with the remainder coming from nuclear power.

- Harnessing power from the wind produces no toxic pollution or global warming emissions.

- But wind power generation could also habitat loss

- Hydropower does not pollute the water or the air. But may obstruct fish migration and affect their populations.

- Operating a hydroelectric power plant may change the water temperature and the river's flow.

- Nuclear reactors do not produce air pollution or carbon dioxide while operating. However, the mining and refining uranium ore and making reactor fuel all require large amounts of energy.

An inequitable availability and uneven distributions of energy sources may lead to conflict.

The Ukraine-Russia gas dispute in January 2009 caused the largest natural gas supply crisis in Europe's history.

With increasingly integrated electricity grids, blackouts can cascade and affect multiple economies simultaneously.

- Russia exports much of its natural gas supplies to a number of European countries via pipelines, some of which pass through Ukraine.

- When Russia cut off the gas supply to Ukraine, importing countries down the supply line were affected.

International efforts and conferences to address mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change;

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),

National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs)

The world's nations met for the 23rd annual "conference of the parties"(COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which aims to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system", ie halt global warming.

The landmark Paris agreement at COP21 in 2015 delivered the first truly global deal to tackle climate change, but national action needs to be significantly toughened to meet to goal of keeping global temperature rise to well below 2C, and 1.5C if possible.

There are deep and longstanding tensions over the issue of "loss and damage", the idea that developing nations should be compensated for destruction resulting from climate change which they did little or nothing to cause.

Widespread and cheap insurance against extreme weather is a compromise being heavily pushed by western nations, for example the G7's InsuResilience initiative aimed at helping 400 million of the world's poorest people. But it is unclear how insurance could solve, slow, and inevitable problems like overwhelming sea-level rise on low-level coasts.

Rich nations had already pledged to provide $100bn a year by 2020 to help poorer nations restrict their emissions as they grow and adapt to climate change.

Referring to Singapore, evaluate mitigation and adaptation strategies to deal with impacts of climate change

(cost=- &benefit=+)

1.Building up public transport

- Start-up losses as the system take some time to gain ridership.

- The concession is given to the disabled/elderly-> increases fare for others (by 3.2%)

- Can be inconvenient for certain lifestyle

- Doesn't take you door to door

- Overcrowding during peak hour-> make riding experience less pleasant

+Comfortable and convenient(Air-conditioned buses)

+Extensive- has routes around Singapore

+Cheap-ranging from $0.67 to $1.7

2. Heavy taxation on cars - COE

- harder for people to get to their jobs

- Cars are scrapped after 10 years = decreases the demand for cars but wastes resources.

- People use cab services instead of public transport.

+Increases the prices of cars = less demand for cars -> Less cars on the road (less people can afford it)

+ More public transportation is used

+ Decreases the distance traveled by cars.

+ More people walking or riding bikes rather than using cars

3. ERP (electronic road pricing)

-Implementation cost

-Technological failure

+ Minimises traffic volume

+ Optimises usage of the road network

+ Provides a fair price for motorists.

+ No more monthly/daily licenses.

+ No human error.

4. Electricity from solid waste

- Expensive.

- It could release the steam. Eg: Tuas Incineration Plant $890 Million

- Low electricity generate, Eg: Semakau Landfill until 2035.

+The waste remain is incinerated and using the steam to generate electricity.

+ Reduce 90% of waste volume. Over the long-term, this has helped Singapore to reduce her need for future landfills.

5. Signed the Kyoto Protocol in 2006 & Paris agreement in 2015

- Tough policy to learn and implement

- Alternative technology has not advanced far enough

- Decrease in GDP and great loss of jobs in developed countries.

The first commitment was unsuccessful in reducing GHG emissions.

+Committed to monitor CO2 emissions

+ Provides the foundation for innovation

+ Thinking of the welfare of future children

+ Consequences for companies who pollute

Mitigation strategies for carbon dioxide removal (CDR techniques)

- protecting and enhancing carbon sinks through a management, for example, through the UN collaborative program on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (UN-REDD)

- using biomass as a fuel source

- using carbon capture and storage (CCS)

- enhancing carbon dioxide absorption by the oceans through either fertilizing oceans with compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus and iron to encourage the biological pump, or increasing upwellings to release nutrients to the surface.

Analyse the impact that national and international development policies can have on human population dynamics and growth. China's one-child policy

- currently has the largest population in the world, standing at about 1.3 billion.

- the third largest country in the world, but only about 10% of its area is good for arable farming.

Key features of the Policy:

- In 1980, the "One Child Policy" was introduced.

- mainly focused on urban areas as this is where the greatest proportion of the young are resident.

- rewards and benefits to couples that agreed to have only one child.

- Additional health care subsidies were granted to one-child families, as well as priority healthcare, priority in housing allocation, priority in educational provision and extra food rations.

- strictly enforced: punishments for people who did not follow the policy including fines, loss of jobs, removal of education and health rights for children and for women caught to be pregnant with a second child forced abortion and sterilization.

- The government was also promoting the use of contraception and encouraging people to get married later.

Successes of the Policy:

- The total fertility rate has dropped from nearly 6 to about 1.7.

- Population growth rate has fallen from a peak of 2.61% in the late 1960's to about 0.65% in 2012

- Up to 250 million births have been prevented since 1979.

- The availability of contraception has increased. This means that the birth rate will continue to decrease

Failures of the Policy

- Violate human rights: not only over freedom of choice but forced abortions and sterilizations.

- Female infanticide has taken place, where the boys have been favored.

- Shortage of workers in some areas.

- The policy has been open to corruption. For example, many people have paid bribes to have extra children.

Analyse the impact that national and international development policies can have on human population dynamics and growth. Singapore pro-natal policy.

- One of the lowest total fertility rate in the world, 1.1, below the replacement rate of 2.1

- 36% of Singapore population is made up of foreign nationals.

Key features of the policy:

- increased maternity leave by 50% to 12 weeks and will cover the cost of maternity leave for the first 4 babies.

- increased child-benefits paid to families e.g paying the family up to $1000 per month for 6 years

- sponsored dating organization to encourage people to get married earlier and start having children.

Successes of the policy:

- Population is projected to rise to 5.4 million by 2025

- increased immigration levels due to increased talent levels

- The proportion of permanent citizens increased from 74% to 82% from 2000 to 2009

- A slight rise in total fertility rate to around 1.8-1.9 was experienced in the initial years following the new policy.

Failures of the policy:

- Purely monetary policy (mainly money) is unlikely to work, given that the main factor is changing social mindsets.

- the increased in fertility was short-lived, and the fertility and birth continued the general downward trend, despite the additional incentives in 2001 and 2004

- some companies are not entirely accepting since small workforce means missing employee

- the government attempts to change these mindsets are seen as overly controlling and decision limiting, which worsen the situation.

Explain factors influence human population dynamic.

Cultural, historical, religious, social, political and economic factors.

- Some agriculture cultures see that having more children help with working the land. While other cultures where women are employed and education have low birth rates. Status symbol of having a large family or the need to obtain a male heir. Marriage at a young age.

- Religious believes include family planning. Most religions are pro-natalists. e.g. Muslim women have an average of 2.9 children, significantly above the next-highest group (Christians at 2.6) and the average of all non-Muslims (2.2).

- Social: Education to promote safe sex -> Italy, Germany, and Switzerland had fewer than 4 teen births per thousand babies born. In societies where women gain a better education, there is a greater desire to put work over starting a family. Family sizes in LICs are higher because children are viewed as 'insurance' to look after them in old age.

- Historical: In the post-war period, western countries saw a 'boom' in population, as couples reunited at the end of the Second World War began having families.

- Political: Governments may be pro-natalist or anti-natalists, China's one child policy and Singapore is pro-natalist

- Economic: Availability of clean water, sanitation, adequate housing, reliable food supply, diseases, healthcare, occupation...limit the number of children wanted. Low birth rates in HIC or urban areas: The cost of children is high, the education is expensive. In the US, it is estimated a child can cost approx $230,000 by the time they leave college.

Outline an example of how a renewable natural capital has been mismanaged.

Mismanagement of renewable natural capital = Fresh Water dams on the Mekong River

Advantages: Laotian Dam will create a 60-kilometre long reservoir

- generate 1260 megawatts of power

- earn between $3 billion and $4 billion a year

- The village of Pak Lan in Laos will have roads and electricity, as well as reservoir teeming with fish.

Disadvantages:

- dams in China and in the upper Mekong will block about half of the river's sediment, which could be disastrous for the delta;

-Damming the Mekong River could harm millions who rely on migratory fish, such as the fishermen in this floating village in Kandal, Cambodia;

- It will shake sustainability of the fish flow;

- Water level shifting destroyed dry season crops such as chillies, vegetables and others.

-Species will be affected along the river (the Pink River Dolphin). There are at least 139 fish species that would be blocked from swimming past the Xyanburi dam.

Outline an example of how a non-renewable natural capital has been mismanaged.

Mismanagement of Oil Fossil Fuels / Deepwater Horizon Disaster

• Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater offshore drilling rig

• Largest oil spill in US history

• In April 2010, an explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

• 2 days later, the rig sank with oil pouring out into the sea at a rate of up to 62000 barrels a day at its peak

• Threatened wildlife along the US coasts as well as livelihoods dependent on tourism and fishing

• 160 km of coastline was affected

• Extent of environmental impact is severe and will last a long time

• Cost to BP, who operated the rig, may reach $20b

• Dispersants were used to break up the oil slick but BP was ordered by the US government to limit their use, as they could cause even more damage to marine life in the Gulf of Mexico

• By the time the well was capped (July 2010), about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil had been released into the sea

Outline the dynamic of natural capital, Uranium.

Uranium is in demand as a raw material for nuclear power by fission.

Nuclear power provides about 11% of the world's electricity, and 21% of electricity in OECD countries.

It is this process, in effect "burning" uranium, which occurs in a nuclear reactor. The heat is used to make steam to produce electricity. The chain reaction is carefully controlled using neutron-absorbing materials. The heat generated by the fuel and is used to create steam to turn turbines and generate electrical power.

Uranium is also used by the military to power nuclear submarines and in nuclear weapons.

It is a dense metal that can be used as ballast for ships and counterweights for aircraft.

Therefore, it is also used in production of ammunition and armour

.

In nature it is a toxic metal.

Outline the dynamic of natural capital, Lithium.

Before it wasn't used as much as they didn't know what to use it for.

Demand increases due to its use in batteries, aircraft manufacture to power electrical and medicine engines.

Increasing use of consumer electronic devices and growing adoption of sustainable clean energy in the automotive sector is expected to drive the market in the coming years.

The global lithium-ion battery market is expected to reach USD $77.42 billion by 2024, at a compound annual growth rate of 11.6 percent from 2016 to 2024.

Outline the dynamic of natural capital, cork.

- impermeable buoyant material which is harvested from the phellem layer of bark tissue for commercial use

- Composed of suberin- a hydrophobic substance

- Cork would often go into the wine if it was too old and thus ruin the drink

Cork has been replaced with plastic and metal. So its value has decreased, and some of the landowners would have to replace their oak woodlands with other more conventional crops.

- If the demand for cork is not maintained there's a risk the cork oak landscapes of the western Mediterranean will face increased poverty, more forest fires, loss of biodiversity, and faster desertification, within a decade.

- Cork oak forests have high biodiversity / but due to decreasing demand for Cork, oak forests are cut down and land is used for other purposes.

What has it gone from → down to Portuguese cork industry has a record-breaking year 2017, sales reached €970 million, a record year

Predicted to go up due to its popularity in Fashion and interior design.

Compare and contrast the differences in the EF of two countries. Canana vs Peru

- Data for food consumption are often given in grain equivalents, so that a population with a meat‑rich diet would tend to consume a higher grain equivalent than a population that feeds directly on grain.

- Be aware that in MEDCs, about twice as much energy in the diet is provided by animal products than in LEDCs.

- Grain production will be higher with intensive farming strategies.

- Populations more dependent on fossil fuels will have higher CO2 emissions.

- Fixation of CO2 is clearly dependent on climatic region and vegetation type.

- MEDCs have much greater rates of resource consumption. This is partly because MEDCs have higher incomes-> more wasteful-> the demands for energy resources is high.

- MEDCs have more waste and pollution.

- The economy of LEDCs forces them to recycle many resources, however, they are developing and their ecological footprint is increasing.

Canada (5.4 ha/person) - low productivity from trees as located in high latitudes, large distances to cover by car, wealthy population, heating needed in cold winters and electricity in winter for dark evenings.

Peru (0.9ha/person) - fast growing trees (high NPP), largely vegetarian diet, low car ownership, warm all year round, poor population.

Singapore's Semakau island, SDW management.

Singapore's waste increased from 1200 tonnes to 7200 tonnes a day from 1970s to today.

Recycle -> Incinerate -> Semakau landfill, the first of its kind offshore landfill.

Developed in 1995.

7km perimeter rock bund was constructed to enclosed the sea space. The bund was lined with impermeable membrane and a layer of marine clay to prevent leaching of leachate.

- the bund is divided into smaller dumping cells to fill up with ash.

Technocentric : Converts SDW into new landscape; increases biodiversity

- Licenced waste collection companies collect waste everyday, devide the recyclable ones and the incineratable ones.

- Transport the incinerated waste to the "waste to energy" incineration plants in Tuas, Senoko, and Tuas South

- Ash from the incineration plants, industrail ash and sludge, construction and demolition debris, are transported to Semakau landfill

- Other facilities were built on the island ot ensure self-sustainability of the island

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