Chapter 7 Review
Key ideas:
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The human population is growing exponentially
In 1798, Thomas Malthus said the human population was growing exponentially, while the food
supply was growing linearly
The 4 phases of the demographic transition are phase 1 with slow population growth, phase 2
with rapid population growth, phase 3 with stable population growth and phase 4 with declining
population growth
Some factors that can help to slow down population growth are education and affluence among
females, family planning, and working women.
Population size is a critical factor in the impact humans have on Earth
Industrialized countries have a much greater resource use than non-industrialized countries
Countries with greater affluence, or wealth, have a much larger environmental income than
poorer countries.
Question to consider:
1. What determines the carrying capacity of a habitat?
2. How might humans differ from other organisms in terms of carrying capacity?
3. Will humans exceed Earth’s carrying capacity? What evidence can you use to justify your
argument?
4. What are the main factors that influence human population growth?
5. How does are structure influence the population growth rate?
6. How do a country’s total fertility rate and net migration rate determine population growth?
7. What is the theory of demographic transition?
8. How do education and demographic transitions relate to each other?
9. In what ways are phase I and phase III in a demographic transition similar?
10. What is the IPAT equation? What does it describe?
11. How do local and global environmental impacts differ? Where do we tend to see one vs. the
other?
12. How does a country’s degree of development influence its environmental impact?
13. What is the difference between economic development and sustainable development?
14. What factors make sustainable development difficult to achieve?