Population and the Environment definitions

Ped

An individual soil particle

Environmental context

The aspects of physical geography that affect the size, distribution and growth rate of an area’s population

Population distribution

The pattern of how population is spread over an area (of where people live) considered at all scales from local to global, in an area of or country

Population density

The number of people living in a certain area (usually measured in people per km2)

Environmental context

Aspects of physical geography that affect the size, distribution and growth rate of an area’s population (includes, climates, soils and resources availability inc. water supply)

Population numbers

The total amount of people living in an area

Population change

How population increases or decreases over time

Development processes

How human societies advance over time due to technological change

Hunter-gatherers

Human groups that collect food by hunting, fishing and foraging rather than by agriculture

Life expectancy

The average length of time a person may expect to live at birth in a particular place

Death rate

The number of people who die per 1000 people

Topography

Shape of the land

Role of development processes

The human ability to acquire and make use of natural resources

Development processes

How humans societies advance overtime due to technological change

Urbanisation

A process by which there is an increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities

Under-population

When there are not enough people living in an area or country to utilise the resources efficiently

Population ecology (aka population growth dynamics)

How humans interact with their environment to change in number over space and time

Optimum population

A perfect balance between population and resource use that allows for the highest standard of living

Overpopulation

When there are too many people are too few resources to ensure a high standard of living

Dependency ratio

A measure of the promotion of dependents aged 0-14 and over the age of 65, compared with the total population aged 15-64

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size of a biological species that a specific environment can sustain with the resources it has available

Exponential growth

Where the population grows at the rate proportional to the size of the population as that population size continues to increase

Ecological footprint

A measure of area of productive land needed to produce the resources that a population demands

Biosphere

The global ecological system where all of Earth’s life exists

Carbon footprint

The impact human activities have on the environment measured in tonnes of CO2 emissions equivalent per year

Ecological footprint

A calculation of how much land and how many resources each person on the planet requires to live (or: A measure of the demand placed by humans on the Earth natural ecosystems)

Health

State of complete physical, mental and social well-being (WHO) not merely the absence of disease

Mortality

Death - measured by death rate, infant mortality and attack rate

Wellbeing

State of being comfortable, healthy or happy

Undernourishment

A dietary intake below the minimum daily energy requirement

Input

The addition of matter and/or energy into a system (in human geography this is likely to be in the form of resources)

Output

The movement of matter and or energy out of a system (In human geography, the output is likely to be a product)

Feedbacks

When outputs are redirected back towards inputs, either reducing or amplifying the initial change

Productivity

The amount of output (or yield) in proportion to the amount of input

Subsistence farming

Food is produced to feed family or community and only excess sold or traded (it is often extensive) (e.g. Slash and burn shifting cultivation in the Amazon Basin or Nomadic pastoralism amongst the Fulani in West Africa)

Commercial farming

Where crops are grown or livestock are reared to sell for profit (often intensive) (e.g. Cattle ranching in South America)

Agribusiness

Large-scale, commercial and capital-intensive farming

Horticulture

Crop farming dealing with garden crops; generally fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants

Agricultural productivity

The key measure of the economic performance of agriculture

Total Factor Productivity

The ratio of agricultural inputs to agricultural outputs

Permafrost

A subsurface layer of soil that remains below freezing point throughout the year

Ice cap

layers of ice permanently covering an area

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

A band of low pressure around the Earth which generally lies near to the equator. It moves north and south during the year according to the position of the Sun overhead

Soil Horizons

Soil layers that are distinguishable from one another, with different characteristics and functions

Upper limit (of soil)

The boundary between the soil and the air (or water) where plants live or where plant material that is beginning to be decomposed can be found

Lower boundary

Where soil is separated by the weathered rock underneath

Zonal soil

A major soil group of well-developed soils with a wide geographical region and that are in dynamic equilibrium with the climate, vegetation and their parent matter

Latitudes

Relation to the equator

Soil erosion

The wearing away of topsoil (the top layer of soil)

Rill erosion

The water erosion of soil causing the formation of small streams (rills) Or larger ravines (gullies) in farmland

Water-logging

The state of soil when all the pore spaces below the water table are full of water

Gleying

A process of soil formation that takes place when conditions are waterlogged, or anaerobic.

Mottling

Where re-oxygenising of soil causes red-orange patches to appear within the blue-grey soil

Afforestation

The establishment of mature forest in areas where there was no tree cover previously

Waterlogging

When all the soil pore spaces below the water table are full of water.

Surface-fed waterlogging

When precipitation, irrigation water or river flood water (inputs) exceeds the combination of evaporation and percolation (outputs)

Groundwater-fed waterlogging

The rate of rising groundwater is not equal to the rate of evapotranspiration

Salinisation

A buildup of salts in soil, eventually to toxic levels for plants (3,000-6,000 ppm of salt is problematic for most plants)

Gleying

A sticky, grey clay layer formed under the surface of some waterlogged soils

Pores spaces

Spaces in between soil particles the nutrient, air and water to pass through the soil

Evapotranspiration

The transfer of water from the land surface to the atmosphere via evaporation and transpiration

Hard-pans

A rock-hard layer of soil material close to the surface that limits the depth that plant roots Can extend their roots and prevents internal drainage of the soil

Drip-irrigation

The controlled delivery of water droplets directly to the roots of plants through a system of pipes and valves

Osmotic potential

The potential of water to move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration

Structural deterioration

Pore spaces are lost as the structure of the soil is squeezed or collapses

Soil structure

The arrangement of soil particles into groupings (peds/aggregates)

Peds/Aggregates

Groupings of soil particles

Infant morality

The number of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in an area over a given period of time

Case mortality

The proportion of people who die from a specific disease over time

Attack rate

The total number of new cases of a disease divided by the total population (new cases/ per population)

Crude death rate

The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a specific area over a given period of time

Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE)

How long a person can be expected to live in good health without significant disease or injury

Morbidity

The rate of disease in a population

High Income Country (HIC)

Countries that had a GNI Per capita of $13,205 or more in 2021 according to the World Bank

Lower Income Country (LIC)

A country with a GNI per capita of $1,045 or less in 2021 according to World Bank data

Epidemiological transition

The changing patterns of population age distribution, mortality, fertility, life expectancy and causes of death. Infectious diseases are replaced by chronic diseases as the main causes of morbidity and mortality, due to improved public health and sanitation

Food security

Humans ability to access a diet of sufficient quality and quality to meet their daily health needs and lead an active life, considering physical availability, physical and economic access, food quality and the nature of the food storage and preparation

Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)

A measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill health, disability or early death

Food security (UN)

When all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life

Fertility rate

The average number of children a woman will give birth to in her lifetime

Interdependence

The mutually beneficial relationship in which people or places rely on each other

Population structure

The age-distribution and sex-composition of a population, usually shown at a national scale as a population pyramid

Dependent

A person within a population who is not economically active e.g. age 0-14 and 65+

Demographic dividend

The benefits a country receives when it’s working population outgrows its dependents

Economically active (population structure)

The working population - ages 15-64

Population growth rate

(Birth rate - death rate / 1000) × 100

Dependency ratio calculation

([Young dependents + elderly dependents] / economically active population)x 100

Asylum seeker

A person who has applied for refugee status and is waiting for a decision as to whether or not they qualify

International migration

The movement of people across a specified boundary in order to establish a new residence

Asylum seeker

People who have fled their country on the grounds of fear of death or persecution

Economic migrant

Voluntary migrant seeking employment in another country

Refugee (1)

(1) Successful asylum seeker

Refugee

A migrant fleeing civil war or natural disaster

Pro-natalist policy

A policy that encourages births and aims to raise the population size

Intensive farming

Farming with a high amount of either labour or capital inputs in relation to the area being formed

Extensive farming

Farming undertaken over a large area in relation to relatively few inputs per unit of area

Labour

Dominant inputs are workers and their use of handheld tools

Capital

Dominant inputs are agricultural chemicals (fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides) and processing machinery to gain high yields per hectare

Arable farming

Where the focus of production is crops for human consumption, including cereal or root crops

Pastoral farming

Where livestock is the focus of production for their meat, milk or fleece