GEO 702 Chapter Notes -Exponential Growth, Improved Sanitation, Overconsumption
11 Oct 2014
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Document Summary
Increases the need for natural resources and natural services. 1: contributes to degrading our life-support system. Human population is characterized by exponential growth (the growth of any quantity at a fixed percentage per unit of time) Limiting factors to exponential growth: availability of resources, environmental threats. Carrying capacity: maximum population of a given species that an area of land or volume of water can sustain indefinitely. Human population has exhibited exponential growth due to 3 factors: development of technologies, development of modern agriculture, drop of death rates due to improved sanitation and health care. While annual exponential rate of growth has been declining, population is still growing exponentially. World"s annual population growth is unevenly distributed across the globe. Population changes as a result of: births, deaths, migration. Total fertility rate (tfr): average # of children born to women in a population during their reproductive years. Life expectancy: average # of years a person in a population can expect to live.
