Lecture Notes on Population, Resources, and Climate

Flashcards about Population Growth, Resources, and Climate Change

Population growth rate

The percentage by which a population grows or declines during a given year.

Migration

The act of moving from one place to another.

Immigration

The action of moving permanently to another country.

Emigration

The action of permanently leaving the country you are living in.

Natural population change

The birth rate minus the death rate.

Birth rate

Number of births per 1000 people in a given year.

Death rate

Number of deaths per 1000 people in a given year.

Fertility rate

Refers to the total number of children a woman has.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population an environment can maintain based on the available space and resources.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

Foods that have had their DNA modified to improve characteristics.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

Measures a country's natural population change (birth rate and death rate).

Overpopulation

When a country or region has an excessively large number of people and exceeds the carrying capacity.

Brain drain

When educated citizens leave overpopulated countries for better opportunities elsewhere.

The Great Acceleration

The dramatic surge in human activity (consumption and production) that corresponded with population increase starting in the 1950s.

Renewable resources

A resource that will replenish itself over time.

Non-renewable resources

A resource that does not replenish itself and, once used, must be recycled.

Positive (natural) checks

Natural forces that correct the imbalance between food supply and population (e.g., floods, famine).

Preventative checks

Measures to control population growth (e.g., family planning, contraceptives).

Push factors

Reasons someone might want to leave a country such as; war, policies, lack of work, etc.

Pull factors

Reasons someone might want to go to a country such as; work opportunities, political freedoms, safe conditions, peace, etc

Renewable resources

Resources that can be replenished.

Non-renewable resources

Resources that once used, cannot be replaced.

Biotic resources

Are derived from living organisms such as lumber, crops, livestock and fish.

Abiotic resources

Are composed of non-living materials. Examples include minerals (i.e. aluminum, gold, copper), water, wind and sunlight.

Energy mix

Refers to the sources used to produce energy in a geographical area

Land degradation

The deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils.

Erosion

Is the removal of nutrient-rich topsoil by wind or water action.

Chemical deterioration

Is the loss of nutrients as a result of human intervention.

Physical deterioration

Is the degradation of land caused by compaction, waterlogging, or subsidence (sinking of the ground because of underground material movement)

Desertification

Is the degradation of land through human activities such as agriculture that reduce soil productivity to the point where land resembles a desert.

Urban sprawl

When expanding towns and cities take over more land that had been used as farmland as well as wildlife habitat.

Food security

The loss of arable land creates a concern of food security, raising the possibility of chronic hunger for a large segment of the world’s population

Chronic hunger

As undernourishment that lasts at least one year where people are unable to consume enough food to maintain a healthy weight and continue necessary physical activity.

Water use/security

Is defined by the United Nations as the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water

Climate change

Describes the current rise in the average temperature of Earth’s air and oceans

Dams

A barrier constructed to hold back water and raise its level, forming a reservoir used to generate electricity or as a water supply, often for irrigation

Aquifers

A body of porous rock or sediment saturated with groundwater which can readily transmit water to wells and springs

Conventional energy sources

The primary sources of energy that have been used increasingly in the last 200 years and include coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, and hydroelectricity

Alternative energy sources

Sources of energy other than conventional sources, but often involve more environmentally friendly or green sources. Examples of alternative energy sources include solar energy, biofuels, geothermal energy, wind power, and tidal power.

Anthropogenic climate change

The long-term alteration of Earth's climate caused by human activities, primarily the emission of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes

Carbon dioxide

A key greenhouse gas released mainly through human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Are human-made chemicals once widely used in products like refrigerators and aerosol sprays. They are harmful because they damage the ozone layer

Montreal Protocol

An international agreement signed in 1987 to phase out the use of ozone- depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

The hole in the ozone layer

The thinning of the ozone in Earth’s stratosphere, especially over Antarctica, caused mainly by human-made chemicals like CFCs.

The greenhouse effect

Occurs when greenhouse gases let the sun’s light shine onto Earth’s surface, but they trap the heat that reflects back up into the atmosphere.

Global warming

The long-term increase in Earth's average temperature due to the buildup of greenhouse gases from human activities like burning fossil fuels.

Climate conference

A global meeting where countries come together to discuss and negotiate actions to address climate change.

Kyoto Accord

An international agreement adopted in 1997 that committed developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions

Paris Agreement

A global climate accord adopted in 2015 where nearly all countries agreed to limit global warming to well below 2°C, aiming for 1.5°C.

Carbon pricing

Refers to initiatives designed to incentivize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions

Cap-and-trade system

Governments set a maximum level (cap) for greenhouse gas emissions. Companies must ensure that their emissions stay below this maximum.

Carbon tax

On each tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. The amount should be high enough to encourage people to conserve and reduce production, thereby reducing emissions.

Conservation status

The level of risk a plant or animal species faces of becoming extinct