ENV200H1 Lecture Notes - Gross National Income, Infant Mortality, Zero Population Growth
18 Jan 2013
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Aims for stable or mildly fluctuating levels in population and consumption of energy and materials. Aim for birth rates = death rates. We should use goods/services only for our basic needs. Minimize the use of resources to preserve them for future generations. Success is equated with material possessions http://www. storyofstuff. com watch video. Local food movement instead of buying expensive exotic foods. Many renewable resources being used in a nonrenewable way. Human population increasing (majority of people want a better lifestyle) Commons: available to everyone but no single individual has responsibility. Tragedy: short-term individual welfare trumps long term environmental sustainability. As long as it doesn"t bother me, it"s okay. Growth rate= (birth rate + immigration rate) (death rate + emigration rate) Biotic potential: maximum rate at which populations can increase. Ex: age of reproduction, number of offspring you can reproduce, lifespan. Large organisms have the smallest biotic potentials. Very hard to stop bacterial from growing. Largest population that can be sustained indefinitely.
