Population and Resources Practice Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering population dynamics, environmental impact equations (IPAT), demographic transition stages, and population policy approaches.

IPAT Equation

A formula created by Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren ($I = P \times A \times T$) that decomposes total environmental impact ($I$) into the product of Population ($P$), Affluence ($A$), and Technology ($T$).

Technology Factor (T)

In the IPAT equation, the environmental impact per unit of consumption ($T = I \div (P \times A)$). It measures how dirty or clean a process is rather than the quantity of technological devices.

Affluence Factor (A)

In the IPAT equation, the level of consumption or income per person, reflecting resource throughput and material demand.

Demographic Transition Model

A framework illustrating how human populations shift over time from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates through pre-industrial, transitional, industrial, and post-industrial stages.

Demographic Trap

A self-reinforcing cycle where a country remains stuck in Stage 2 of the demographic transition (high CBR, low CDR), caused by poverty, environmental degradation, and a heavy economic dependence on child labor.

Population Momentum

Continued population growth occurring for decades after fertility falls to or below replacement level, driven by an inherited youthful age structure with a large cohort in reproductive age.

Population Pyramid Types

Structural visualisations of age-sex distributions categorized into Classic expansive (early Stage 2), High momentum (fertility falling), and Constrictive (aging populations with narrow bases).

Rule of 70

A formula used to calculate the doubling time of a population in years by dividing 70 by the annual percentage growth rate ($\text{Doubling Time} = 70 \div \text{Growth Rate \%}$).

Pro-natalist Policies

Government policies designed to encourage births and increase population size through incentives such as baby bonuses, tax deductions, and parental leave, or through restrictions on birth control.

Singapore Baby Bonus Scheme

A pro-natalist policy provided by Singapore's Ministry of Social and Family Development that offers financial cash gifts and Child Development Account subsidies to incentivize higher family birth rates.

Later, Longer, Fewer

An indirect population control strategy focused on raising marriage age, lengthening birth spacing, and reducing total fertility through female education, employment, and voluntary family planning.

Male-Female Sex Ratio Disparity

An imbalance in the ratio of males to females in a population or at birth, often exacerbated by cultural preferences or coercive population policies like China's former one-child policy.

The Kerala Experience

A socio-economic model demonstrating that low total fertility ($1.9$) and low infant mortality ($11$) can be achieved at low per capita income levels ($495$) through high female literacy ($88\%$) and public healthcare without coercion.

Cohen's Carrying Capacity Levers

A three-part framework by J. Cohen (1996) proposing ways to manage Earth's limits: 'Make the pie bigger' (technological efficiency), 'Put fewer forks on the table' (family planning), and 'Teach better table manners' (reducing demand and improving social justice).