HUMAN POPULATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on human populations and environmental health.

Population growth rate

A measure of how quickly a population increases, taking into account births, deaths, immigration, and emigration.

Agricultural Revolution

The prehistoric shift from hunter–gatherer to farming societies, enabling more food production and larger populations.

Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid industrialization that improved sanitation and health care, lowered death rates, and spurred population growth.

Crude birth rate

The number of births per 1,000 individuals in a population per year.

Crude death rate

The number of deaths per 1,000 individuals in a population per year.

Total fertility rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime.

Desired fertility

The ideal number of children that a person or couple would like to have.

Demography

The statistical study of population characteristics and changes.

Demographic factors

Population characteristics (e.g., birth rate) that influence changes in population size and composition.

Pronatalist pressures

Factors that increase the desire to have children (cultural, economic, lack of contraception, etc.).

Replacement fertility

The fertility rate at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next (roughly 2.0–2.1 children per woman in many countries).

Population momentum

The tendency for a population to continue growing after fertility rates drop to replacement level due to a large cohort of people of reproductive age.

Age structure

The distribution of a population by age and sex across age groups.

Demographic transition

A model describing the shift from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as economic conditions improve.

Preindustrial (Stage 1)

High birth and death rates; slow or stationary population growth.

Industrializing (Stage 2)

Death rates fall while births remain high; rapid population growth.

Mature industrial (Stage 3)

Birth rates fall but remain above death rates; population growth slows.

Postindustrial (Stage 4)

Birth rates approach death rates; population growth stabilizes or declines.

Carrying capacity

The long-term population size an area can support given resource availability and waste processing; varies with consumption.

Ecological footprint

The land and water area needed to supply the resources for and assimilate the wastes of a person or population.

Overpopulation

When a population exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment, given resource use and waste.

Urbanization

The migration of people to cities and the growth of urban areas.

Megacity

An urban area with at least 10 million residents.

Urban heat island effect

Warming of urban areas relative to surrounding rural areas due to pavement, buildings, and energy use.

Green space

Natural or landscaped areas in cities that provide health and environmental benefits.

Green city

A city designed to improve environmental quality and social equity while reducing overall environmental impact.

LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; a certification for sustainable buildings.

Smart growth

Development strategies that minimize sprawl by focusing growth within existing areas and increasing density.

Urban sprawl

Low-density, automobile-dependent development outside urban centers.

Exurb

A commuter town beyond the suburbs, where residents travel to the city for work.

Environmental justice

The principle that all communities should have equal access to a clean environment and participate in decision-making.

Zoonotic disease

Diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Waterborne disease

Infectious diseases transmitted through contaminated water.

Vector-borne disease

Diseases transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks, or fleas.

Guinea worm disease (GWD)

An environmentally mediated infectious disease transmitted via contaminated water; eradication efforts target water sources and behavior change.

Epidemiologist

A scientist who studies the causes and patterns of disease in populations.

Public health

The science and practice of protecting and improving the health of populations through prevention and policy.

Environmental health

The branch of public health focusing on environmental factors that affect health.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

UN goals linking health, environment, and development; SDG 3, Good Health and Well-Being, relates to reducing environmental health hazards.