Population and World Resources
1. A person’s ecological footprint can be defined as: the amount of productive land and water needed to produce the resources that we use and absorb and the waste that we generate.
2. Scientists found that the current world population is using 20% more biosphere than the earth can provide on a long term basis
Factors affecting resource use
3. Why is it hard to measure the amount of population that an environment can handle? Complex web of interactions between the different species/ we live in very many different environments with many different resources
4. What types of resources do we humans take advantage of?
-Water -Land (farming/infrastructure)
-Forests -Fish stocks
-Minerals -Fossil Fuels
5. What new forms of advancement have benefited us with reducing our use of our non-renewable resources?
- wind power -solar energy
6. What plays a major role in determining how much a society uses their resources?
The Economy/economic development of the society in which we live
7. Who uses the most resources and produces the most waste? Developed countries
8. One person in a developed country is said to have the same EF as _30_ to _50_ people in a less developed country.
9. What occurred to the world’s population in the 20th Century?
It nearly quadrupled from 1.5 billion to 6 billion
10. __1__ in 5 people on earth live in a developed country. The rest live in less or least developed countries.
11. What is one major cause for a populations decrease? War
12. At the moment 1 in 3 people do not have access to their minimum food requirements and 1 in 6 do not have access to clean drinking water. This is not usually due to overpopulated areas but rather……..a cycle of poverty, poverty makes it harder to care for the land that sustains them.
13. What is Globalization?
Less developed countries can earn money by selling their goods, however due to a lack of negotiation powers prices are often quite low and they are exploited.
Can the environment be affected it resources are exploited.
14. Name two valuable resources for the economy that come out of the Caspian Sea? What has hurt these resources?
Fossil Fuels and caviar from Sturgeon fish---pollution and over fishing
The road to sustainability
15. How can the earth better support its human population regardless of where they are living?
-Stabilizing population (educate those in developing countries, with education= choices = birth rates tend to fall)
-use our resources in a more sustainable way
Sustainable resource use
16. How can we ‘modify’ our global EF? Give one example shown in the film.
-turn knowledge into action—modify our consumption, use our resources more efficiently (Adapt your water consumption to suit your natural environment)
-efficient use of water in farming
17. The major key to sustainability is breaking the cycle of poverty that makes it harder for people to take care for themselves and their environment.
This begins with essential services such as education and health and extends with such things as training and sustainable land and water management, materials for farming and $$ to help people start their own business. These resources and $$ can come from Foreign aid and local development as long as the $$ is spent wisely for people to receive the benefits.
18. What is now replacing the traditional wood stove in some developing countries (Costa Rica)? How does this help our environment? Solar ovens, reducing deforestation
19. List 2 reasons why we need to drastically reduce our use of fossil fuels?
Global warming gasses into the atmosphere, they are non-renewable
20. Where do we want to end up?