Chapter 8

Question 1

Explain the reasons for declining mortality in stage 2 of demographic transition

Answer 1

Better nutrition, improved public health, particularly in terms of clean water supply and efficient sewage systems; and medical advances.

Question 2

Why does it take some time before fertility follows the fall in mortality (stage 3)?

Answer 2

It takes time for social norms to adjust to the lower level of mortality before the birth rate begins to decline.

Question 3

Suggest why the birth rate is lower than the death rate in some countries?

Answer 3

This happens in countries where women, in particular, make decisions to have only one child or no children at all, and where there is very high use of reliable contraception.

Question 4

Give two limitations of the model of demographic transition

Answer 4

Critics of the model see it as too Europe-centric. They argue that many LEDCs may not follow the sequence set out in the model. It has also been criticised for its failure to take into account changes due to migration.

Question 5

When did the French govt. Pass the code de la famille?

Answer 5

In 1939

Question 6

State a few recent measures introduced in France to encourage couples to have more children

Answer 6

A pension scheme for mothers
A 30 per cent reduction on all public transport for three-child families
Longer maternity leave
Child-oriented policies, for example, state-supported daycare centres are available for infants starting at the age of three months.

Question 7

How does France’s TFR compare with that in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain?

Answer 7

France is closest to the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.

Question 8

How can development policies lower mortality?

Answer 8

Such policies have lowered the death rate through better public health and sanitation, agricultural development, and improved service infrastructure.

Question 9

Briefly explain the relationship between education and fertility.

Answer 9

Economic growth allows greater spending on health, housing, nutrition and education, which is important in lowering mortality and in turn reducing fertility. Education, especially improvements in female literacy, is the key to lower fertility. With education comes knowledge of birth control, greater social awareness, more opportunity for employment and a wider choice of action generally.

Question 10

Why have some countries taken measures to encourage fertility?

Answer 10

Such countries are concerned about the socioeconomic implications of population ageing, the decrease in the supply of labour, and the long-term prospect of population decline.

Question 11

What are population projections?

Answer 11

Population projections are the prediction of future populations based on the present age-sex structure, and with present rates of fertility, mortality and migration.

Question 12

Why do individual countries and international organisations construct population projections?

Answer 12

Population projections form the basis for a range of government and intergovernmental policies. It is important, for example, for governments to know: how many children will need places in primary schools, secondary schools and universities; how many older people will require public pensions; how much food will need to be grown/imported to feed the population; how many houses need to be built in the future.

Question 13

Why are modern population projections likely to be more accurate than projections made 30 years ago?

Answer 13

The development of computing and the massive increase in computing capacity has allowed increasingly complex permutations to be included in projections. Such technological developments have also allowed frequent updating of projections to reflect changes in trends in fertility, mortality and other relevant factors.

Question 14

What is a resource?

Answer 14

A resource can be defined as any aspect of the environment that can be used to meet human needs.

Question 15

Explain the difference between natural capital and natural income?

Answer 15

Natural capital refers to the source of supply of resources and services that are derived from nature. Natural income is the annual yield from sources of natural capital

Question 16

Define replenishable natural capital

Answer 16

Replenishable natural capital consists of stocks of nonliving resources. Examples are the atmosphere, fertile soils and groundwater. Such resources are dependent on energy from the Sun for renewal.

Question 17

Define non-renewable natural capital

Answer 17

Non-renewable natural capital consists of subsoil assets such as coal, oil copper and diamonds. Such resources are depleted as they are consumed.

Question 18

Define renewable natural capital

Answer 18

Renewable natural capital comprises living species and ecosystems. It is self-producing and self-maintaining and uses solar energy and photosynthesis to produce food and chemical energy.

Question 19

What are recyclable resources?

Answer 19

Recyclable resources can be used over and over, but must first go through a process to prepare them for reuse.

Question 20

Define two ways in which technological development has changed resource use in the UK.

Answer 20

The development of the nuclear power industry in the UK and other countries found a new use for uranium, which significantly increased its value as a resource. The electrification of the railway system, which was once totally steam-driven, was a major change that significantly reduced the demand for coal.

Question 21

Give an example of the way in which changing public perception can impact on resource use?

Answer 21

Attitudes to plastic bags and the packaging of goods, in general, are changing in terms of the resources like oil which are used up and the amount of waste created.

Question 22

What do you understand by the term intrinsic value?

Answer 22

The intrinsic value of the environment or any other entity is the value that the entity has in itself. Intrinsic value is usually contrasted with extrinsic or use-value.

Question 23

When and where was the world’s first national park established?

Answer 23

Yellowstone in the western USA, 1872.

Question 24

Define environmental sustainability?

Answer 24

Environmental sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Question 25

What is the purpose of the ESI?

Answer 25

The ESI benchmarks the ability of nations to protect the environment over the next several decades

Question 26

What is SDW(solid domestic waste)?

Answer 26

SDW is waste produced by households as opposed to other sectors of the economy.

Question 27

Why does the composition of SDW change as countries undergo economic development?

Answer 27

As living standards develop, the nature of SDW changes. The proportion of waste that is organic/biomass declines as waste from higher-value products becomes more important. For example, e-waste is a significant contributor to household waste in MEDCs, but only makes a minor contribution in very poor nations.

Question 28

What is e-waste?

Answer 28

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is discarded electrical or electronic devices and their parts.

Question 29

Why is the e-waste problem becoming a particularly serious issue in developing countries?

Answer 29

The e-waste problem is becoming particularly serious in developing countries due to: lack of legislation and enforcement; lack of controlled take-back systems; informal sector dominance in recycling; lack of awareness by government, institutions and the general public; illegal importation of e-waste from developing countries, often using false documentation.

Question 30

What is the Great Pacific garbage patch?

Answer 30

Two huge accumulations of waste in large areas of the Pacific Ocean brought together by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Gyres are regions of the oceans where water rotates in a large circular pattern.

Question 31

What is landfill?

Answer 31

Landfill is a disposal site where solid waste is buried between layers of dirt in such a way as to reduce contamination of the surrounding land. It involves using a natural depression in the landscape or, more usually, digging a large and deep pit

Question 32

What are the perceived disadvantages of incineration?

Answer 32

Incinerators are expensive to build and operate. Incineration requires a high input of energy, and the tall chimney stacks are viewed by most people as a blot on the landscape. The movement of heavy goods vehicles to and from incinerators is also considerable. The ash produced has to be disposed of in landfill. The environmental and health concerns over incineration are long-standing, with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, chlorine, dioxin and particulates being emitted by the process of incineration. However, considerable technological advances have significantly lowered the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere.

Question 33

What is composting?

Answer 33

Composting is where organic material that has been decomposed is recycled as a fertiliser because of its high nutrient value

Question 34

Define carrying capacity

Answer 34

Carrying capacity is the maximum number of a species, or ‘load’, that can be sustainably supported by a given area.

Question 35

State three reasons why it is difficult to apply the concept of carrying capacity to local human populations?

Answer 35

The resource requirements of local human populations vary significantly because of different lifestyles and levels of development; technological developments can impact considerably on resource requirements and availability; affluent local populations can import resources from other geographical areas.

Question 36

What is product stewardship?

Answer 36

Product stewardship is an approach to environmental protection where the health, safety, environmental, and social impacts of a product are minimized, while also maximizing economic benefits.”

Question 37

How can substitution help to conserve important resources?

Answer 37

Substitution is the use of common and thus less valuable resources in place of rare, more expensive resources.

Question 38

Define ecological footprint

Answer 38

The ecological footprint is a sustainability indicator that expresses the relationship between population and the natural environment. It sums the use of natural resources by a country’s population.

Question 39

Define global hectares

Answer 39

A global hectare (gha) is the equivalent of 1 hectare of biologically productive space with world average productivity

Question 40

The units for ef are

Answer 40

global hectares

Question 41

Give the six components that make up the ecological footprint.

Answer 41

Built-up land; fishing ground; forest; grazing land; cropland; carbon footprint.

Question 42

What does the term demographic transition mean?

Answer 42

Demographic transition is the historical shift of birth and death rates from high to low levels in a population.

Question 43

Examine the differences between demographic transition in MEDCs in the 19th and early 20th centuries and trends in LEDCs today.

Answer 43

There are a number of important differences in the way that LEDCs have undergone population change compared with the experiences of most MEDCs before them. In LEDCs, birth rates in stages 1 and 2 were generally higher. About 12 African countries currently have birth rates of 45/1000 or over. Twenty years ago, many more African countries were in this situation. The death rate in LEDCs fell much more steeply, and for different reasons. For example, the rapid introduction of western medicine, particularly in the form of inoculation against major diseases, has had a huge impact on lowering mortality. However, AIDS has caused the death rate to rise significantly in some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some LEDCs had much larger base populations, and thus the impact of high growth in stage 2 and the early part ofstage 3 has been far greater. No countries that are now classed as MEDCs had populations anywhere near the size of India and China when they entered stage 2 of demographic transition. For those LEDCs in stage 3, the fall in fertility has also been steeper. This has been due mainly to the relatively widespread availability of modern contraception with high levels of reliability. Also, the relationship between population change and economic development has been much more tenuous in LEDCs.

Question 44

What general services are provided by natural capital?

Answer 44

The four general services provided by natural capital are provisioning services (products from ecosystems); regulating services (benefits from ecosystem processes); cultural services (non-material benefits from ecosystems); and supporting services (services that allow other services to operate)

Question 45

Discuss the problems related to the protection of natural capital

Answer 45

Problems related to the protection of natural capital include the inability of economics to appropriately model and price both market and non-market environmental resources; lack of willingness to pay; lack of knowledge about minimum levels or time spans required for resources to replenish or renew; usefulness or necessity; and inequalities between developed and developing nations.

Question 46

What are the main components of SDW?

Answer 46

The solid waste from households includes the following classes of material: paper, cardboard packaging, glass, metal (mainly cans and foil), plastics, organic waste and e-waste.

Question 47

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of incineration as a strategy for dealing with SDW?

Answer 47

Incineration requires a very limited land area compared with landfill and can be operated in virtually all weather conditions. The process reduces the volume of refuse very significantly. Incineration takes up much less land than landfill. It also has a good resource recovery rate. Over 400 kilowatt-hours of energy can be produced by incinerating 1 tonne of waste. On the debit side, incinerators are expensive to build and operate. Incineration requires a high input of energy, and the tall chimney stacks are viewed by most people as a blot on the landscape. The movement of heavy goods vehicles to and from incinerators is considerable. The ash produced has to be disposed of in landfill. The environmental and health concerns over incineration are long-standing, with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, chlorine, dioxin and particulates being emitted by the process of incineration. However, considerable technological advances have significantly lowered the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere. Thus the environmental impact of incineration varies considerably around the world depending on the age of incinerators. Incineration is often not feasible in LEDCs because of the high initial construction costs and also because wastes do not have a high enough calorie content to sustain the incineration process - more costly fuel must be added.

Question 48

Advantages of composting

Answer 48

Reduces amount of waste in landfills
Low cost
Composting can be done at the commercial and industrial levels, but also on a household level
​Creates fertile soils
Decrease the use of synthetic fertilizers (which has it’s own environmental issues it causes)
Improves soil porosity and water retention

Question 49

Disadvantages of composting

Answer 49

If not done correctly can attract pests
Only for organic matter
Windrows require relatively large areas, and odor control is a common problem.
Residential composting bins can get very dirty, and be hard to clean
Amount of effort involved. All the materials must be carried to the compost pile,