APES Study Guide Chapter 8
1. “If the human population continues to grow rapidly, it will ultimately overwhelm the
environment. That is why human population growth is a major theme in just about any
environmental science textbook.”
- Given this quote, what should be done to address this theme?
- If asked to choose one other major environmental science “theme” that is most critical in
somehow addressing or dealing with human population growth as a challenge, which one would
you select and why? - This is perhaps an unfair question, given “theme-connectivity”. (+we can
briefly review major themes if you would like)
Overconsumption would be a major theme, overconsumption is led by the rapid new technology and agricultural practices. It is the reason for alot of our environmental degradation today and throughout the years.
2. “The human population, the quality of life, and the human carrying capacity of Earth”:
- Please be familiar with the following:
A. Human population and Logistic Growth: dt/dN=rN(1−K/N)
B. The “Packing Problem” approach:50 billion Earth’s carrying capacity in terms of how many humans can physically “fit” on the planet if resources and space were distributed evenly
C. The “Deep Ecology” movement: Advocates for a radical shift in how humans interact with the environment, emphasizing intrinsic value in all living beings.
3. Describe the Prophecy of Thomas Malthus:
An Essay on the Principle of Population, warned that human population growth would outpace food production, leading to widespread famine, disease, and death. If the population grows exponentially, while resources increase arithmetically, creating an inevitable "Malthusian catastrophe". Delay marriage to slow pop.
4. How Many People Can Earth Support? Identify and briefly describe three major factors that
demographers likely consider in attempting to answer this question.
8-10 billion Resources, Environmental impact, Quality of life
5. Please write the basic equation for calculating population change and be able to apply it:
Population change = (births+immigration)-(death+emigration)/ initial population (100)
6. ZPG stands for:
Zero Population Growth
7. What is crude birth rate and what makes this value “crude”?
Number of live births per 1,000 people in a given year- it doesn’t consider other factors such as age and sex
8. What is crude death rate and what makes this value “crude”?
Number of deaths per 1,000 people in a given year- it doesn’t consider other factors such as age and sex
9. Calculate the annual rate of population change for each of the following:
Annual Rate Pop. Change (%)
A. Globally: crude birth rate is 22; crude death rate is 9 =(22−9)/10=1.3%
B. MDCs: crude birth rate is 11; crude death rate is 10 = (11−10)/10=1/10=0.1%
C. LDCs: crude birth rate is 25; crude death rate is 9 =(25−9)/10=16/10=1.6%
D. Africa: crude birth rate is 38; crude death rate is 14 =(38−14)/10=24/10=2.4%
E. Latin America: crude birth rate is 24; crude death rate is 6 = (24−6)/10=18/10=1.8%
F. Oceania: crude birth rate is 18; crude death rate is 7 = (18−7)/10=11/10=1.1%
G. United States: crude birth rate is 15; crude death rate is 9 = (15−9)/10=6/10=0.6%
H. Europe: crude birth rate is 10; crude death rate is 11 = (10−11)/10=−1/10=−0.1%
10. Determine the rate of population change for a country which begins a year with
1 million people and has 1675 births, 450 deaths, 325 immigrants, and 150 emigrants
in a given year:
(1657+325)-(450+15)/ 1,000,000 (100)= 0.14%
11. Globally, over the last 100 years, which have dropped more dramatically, birth rates or death
rates? Provide three significant reasons for this:
Death rates, we have new technology and medical care, increased food production/ nutrition, and increased sanitation
12. In 1963, the global growth rate was 2.2%; in 2000, global growth rate was 1.35%. Currently,
globally growth rate is approximately 0.87__ %.
13. Given a starting population of 7.8 billion people and using the global growth rate of 1.1%, how many people would be added to the planet in a given year? ___85.5 million________.
14. Given a starting population of 330 million in a nation and a growth rate of 1.0%, how many
people will be added to this country in a given year? ____3.3 million________.
15. Identify the five most populous nations: (estimated as of Dec. 2023)
India, china, US, Indonesia, Pakistan
16. How does replacement-level fertility differ from total fertility rate?
Replacement is the average # of children that couples in the population must bear to replace themselves, while TFR is the average number of children born to women of child bearing age.
17. Does TFR tend to be higher in developing or developed countries? Developing countries.
18. Describe two likely reasons or factors which contribute to TFRs being higher in the developing countries:
Lack of education, low income
19. Why is replacement-level fertility not equal to 2.0?
The death rate has to be accounted for as well, as well as child mortality rate, and gender differences.
20. On which continent is TFR the highest?
Africa
21. Describe the demographic transition model? What is this model used for? Be familiar with
the following: the major stages of this model, the changes in population, birth rate, and death rate
which occur, and the major factors which help bring about the changes in these three (pop, B.R, & D.R.).
describe the changes in birth rates, death rates, and population growth as countries industrialize and develop- Preindustrial, Early transition, late transition, industrial, post industrial
Stage 1: High birth and death rates, stable population.
Stage 2: High birth rates, declining death rates, rapid population growth.
Stage 3: Declining birth rates, low death rates, slower population growth.
Stage 4: Low birth and death rates, stable or slow population growth.
Stage 5: Very low birth rates, low death rates, potential population decline.
22. When was the so-called baby boom in the United States? 1946-1964
23. When was the so-called echo boom in the United States? 1982-2000.
24. Be familiar with the major factors affecting birth rates and fertility rates:
Child labor, cost of raising and educating children, pension system; finance old people, urbanization, education and work for women, average age of marriage, contraceptives, culture/religion
25. Describe two potential effects of advances in medicine on the demographic transition:
It can increase birth rates since infant mortality rates decrease, and death rates will increase.
26. The rapid growth of the world’s population over the last 100 years is primarily the result of
Decline in death rates
27. Provide three fundamental reasons which briefly explain how decline in death rate
has come about:
New agricultural practices, new medicine tech, better sanitation
28. Name the two most useful indicators of overall health of people in a country or region:
life expectancy and infant mortality rate
29. Of the factors/indicators in life expectancy and infant mortality rate, which one is considered the single most important?
infant mortality rate
30.
A. Describe why population age structure diagrams are important in making population
growth estimates. To account for the majority of ages and how it can affect the future, for example if there are less young people the TFR will go down since there are less reproductive people
B. Identify the three age categories- Pre Reproductive (0-14), reproductive (15-44), post reproductive (45+)
C. The four general types of age structure diagrams:
31. Comparison of key demographic indicators in a:
-highly developed: low birth and death rates, high life expectancy, and low infant mortality rates
-less developed country: birth rates high, death rates decline slowly. Life expectancy is lower, and infant mortality rates are higher
32. Please present an argument in support of:
A. Slowing population growth: Will slow down environment degradation, allow better quality of life for others.
B. Not slowing population growth:Will allow older people to be supported and cared for
33. Briefly summarize Garrett Hardin’s perspective on human population growth and carrying
capacity.
human population growth could exceed Earth's carrying capacity, leading to environmental degradation
35. Case studies in brief:
A. Thailand: be familiar with the factors which contributed to the success of Thailand’s population growth rate reduction: (3.2% to 1.6% from 1971 to 1986, then down to 1.0% by year 2000.) government family planning programs, which promoted contraception, increased access to education (particularly for women), and improved healthcare, which helped reduce infant mortality
B. India: 1.35 bill, Many live in poverty, has the 4th largest economy, many people don’t use contraception, and many people have kids till a son is born
C. China: 1.39 bill, massive starvation foreseen, 1978 implemented one child rule- gov supplied anti birth options, many girls were aborted and males were dominant.
36. United Nations Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, Egypt, 1994: Population
Plan (goals/policies/actions/recommendations): The First international meeting regarding this
particular topic / challenge / question:
addressing global population challenges through a human-centered approach. Key goals included improving access to reproductive health, promoting gender equality, and encouraging sustainable development. The conference recommended empowering women through education, healthcare, and family planning, shifting from population control to rights-based, voluntary policies
Ideas by Section: 8.1, 8.2:
1. Reaching that next Billion: ~1800 1920 1960 1974 1987 1999 2011 ~ Nov. 2022
2. Three Major Factors Accounting for the Rapid Rise of the Human Population (from yesterday’s Class)
3. Three Important Demographic Trends: one regarding Growth Rate, and two trends pertaining to “the Distribution of People”
4. The three Most Populous Countries:
5. The Other Countries currently in the Top 10: Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico
6. Cultural Carrying Capacity: GH (T o t Commons author) = an early author on this concept in the 1960s
7. The Thomas Malthus “Hypothesis” (he was not alone): The “prophecy of Malthus”, in short = ?
8. Population Change: You are fine re: the equation used to determine Pop. Change [(B + I) – (D + E)]; demographers tend NOT to use “total numbers” for the Bs and Ds for a given country or region (unless it is really small), and instead use data from representative cross-sections; Crude Birth Rate (CBR) and Crude Death Rate (CDR) are two examples; Please know how each of these (CBR & CDR) is “defined”, and WHY each uses the basic term “crude” (please go beyond the thought: it is because they are averages and therefore are not exact – both typically true, but let’s add to that truth)
9. How is TFR defined? How has global TFR changed from the mid- 1950s to ~2023? Currently, global TFR = ~2.3 -vs.- ~1.6 in the U.S. (CDC data)
10. Replacement-Level Fertility (~2.1): Please be comfortable with a brief description, although it may be crystal clear (note: historically, RLF was presented by demographers as = 2.0)
11. The U.S. Boom of Babies: 1946-1964, and the subsequent (and mild) Echo Boomers (late 70s ~ 1995)
12. Major Factors influencing TFR in a given country: ~8 reasons mentioned in this reading section (8.2)
13. Major Factors influencing Death Rates:
14. Environmental Refugees:
15. Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy which promotes the inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, plus the restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas. (If you might be wondering why this would be placed in our “Human Population” chapter, we could touch on that briefly . . . . )
8.3 & 8.4 Big Ideas: Age Structure Diagrams and the Demographic Transition Model
1. Age Structure Diagrams (ASD): the “4 types*”, and what these representations involve & communicate: (*Exp. Rapidly, Expanding Slowly, Stable, Declining)
2. Pre- & Post, as well as Reproductive, age categories:
3. “The Broad Base and Built-in Momentum”: challenges and opportunities
4. The “Declining” ASD: challenges and opportunities
5. The Demographic Transition Model (hypothesis): Stage 1 PRE-Industrial (it is so PRE- that it does not appear directly prior to the Industrial Stage be familiar with the predicted changes in Birth Rate, Death Rate, and overall population as a country moves through the four (or five when the second stage is split in two segment: early & late); which value is the first to decline? When (what stage) and why / how does this decline happen? (i.e., what major factors are involved in bringing about the decline?) Which value is the second to decline? When (what stage) and why / how does this decline happen? (i.e., what major factors are involved in bringing about this decline?)