(16 hours)
8.1 Human population dynamics
8.2 Resource use in society
8.3 Solid domestic waste
8.4 Human population carrying capacity
At the end of Subtopic 8.1 - Human population dynamics, you should be able to:
- Explain why crude birth rate (CBR), crude death rate (CDR), total fertility rate (TFR), doubling time (DT) and natural increase rate (NIR) vary so much between countries.
- Calculate CBR, CDR, TFR, DT and NIR.
- Discuss the nature of changes in the global human population, both past trends and future projections.
- Discuss the impact of cultural, historical, religious, social, political and economic factors on fertility, mortality and population growth rates.
- Discuss the uncertainties associated with projecting human population growth.
- Explain the implications for Earth’s systems of the continued growth of the human population.
- Discuss and evaluate the use of models (age-gender pyramids, the demographic transition model and computer simulations) in the prediction of human population change.
- Analyse and interpret age-gender pyramids and the demographic transition model.
- Analyse the impact of national and international development policies on human demographics.
At the end of Subtopic 8.2 - Resource use in society, you should be able to:
- Explain how natural capital is dynamic in nature and how its value and status changes over time and space according to cultural, social, economic, environmental, technological and political factors.
- Discuss how natural capital provides goods and services.
- Explain how the value of natural capital is dependent on many factors including aesthetic, cultural, economic, environmental, ethical, intrinsic, social, spiritual and technological.
- Describe and explain, using examples what renewable and non-renewable natural capital is.
- Use a case study to show how renewable and non-renewable natural capital has been mismanaged.
- Explain how renewable natural capital can be managed sustainably or unsustainably in relation to natural income.
- Explain how extraction, transport and processing of a renewable natural capital may cause the exploitation of natural capital unsustainable.
At the end of this Subtopic 8.3 - Solid Domestic Waste, you should be able to:
- Describe and explain the changes in the volume and composition of SDW over time.
- Discuss and evaluate the waste disposal options - landfill, incineration, recycling and composting.
- Compare and contrast the various pollution management strategies for SDW.
- Evaluate the various waste disposal options for SDW with reference to the pollution management model.
- Discuss the impact of culture, economics, technology and political attitudes on the choice of SDW management strategies employed by a society.
- Explain the environmental problems posed the increase in abundance and prevalence of non-biodegradable pollution.
At the end of Subtopic 8.4. - Human population carrying capacity, you should be able to:
- Explain the concept of carrying capacity.
- Explain how carrying capacity can be calculated for non-human species.
- Discuss why it is difficult to apply the concept of carrying capacity to human populations.
- Evaluate the use of carrying capacity when applied to humans on a local and global scale.
- Explain how humans can cause the total collapse of environmental life support systems through environmental degradation and excessive consumption of resources.
- Define the ecological footprint (EF).
- Explain how the EF is used to estimate the demands that human populations place on the environment.
- Discuss the link between the EF and sustainability.
- Evaluate the link between the EF and EVS/lifestyle choices.
- Compare and contrast the EF of two countries.
- Discuss how human actions that cause us to exceed carrying capacity and raise the EF, will limit population growth.