ENV 1101 Lecture : Chapter 6.docx

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Environmental Studies
• Course: ENV 1101
• Professor: Sonia Wesche

Document Summary

Assess the scope and historical patterns of human population growth: The current global population of 6. 7 billion people add about 80 million people per year (2. 6 every second) The world"s population growth rate peaked at 2. 1% in the 1960"s and now stands at 1. 2%. Growth rates vary among regions of the world. Attitudes toward the population problem have changed over time. The malthusian perspective holds that population is a problem to the extent that it depletes resources, intensifies pollution, stresses social system, or degrades ecosystems, such that the natural environment or our quality of life declines. Evaluate how human population, affluence, and technology affect the environment: The ipat model summarizes the environmental impact (i) results from interactions among population size (p), affluence (a), and technology (t) Rising population and rising affluence (leading to greater consumption) each increase environmental impact. Technological advances have frequently exacerbated environmental degradation, but they also can help mitigate our impact.