Chapter 2: Population and Scarcity

Others have argued that development radically lowers human impact, at a rate far greater than the growth of population. It is predicted that as development initially occurs, environmental impact increases, with per capita use of resources rising, pollution increasing, and damage to ecosystems like forests rising, and doing at a rising rate. However after a threshold, regulation, affluence, and economic transition begin to increase and impacts of humans fall dramatically.


upside down U on graph.

A model that predicts a period of deforestation in a region during development, when the forest is a resource or land is cleared for agriculture, followed by a return of forest when the economy changes and population out migrates and/or becomes conservation-oriented. 

The theoretical limit of population (animal, human, or otherwise) that a system can sustain.

The theoretical spatial extent of the earth's surface required to sustain an individual, group, system, organization; an index of environmental impacts.

A form of agriculture that clears and burns forest areas to release nutrients for cropping. Also known as "swidden," this method is highly extensive, typically rotating through areas of forest land for short periods of use, allowing previously used forest land to recover.

A thesis predicting that where agricultural populations grow, demands for food lead to technological innovations resulting in increased food production on teh same amount of available land. 

More people mean more food. In some cases increasing population can lead to improved environmental conditions. Where careful management of farmlands and soils and the right combination of development efforts and social action have led to an improved resource base, even and especially as population has increased. 

a suite of technological innovations, developed in universities and international research centers, which were applied to agriculture between the 1950s and 1980s and increased agricultural yields dramatically, but with a concomitant rise in chemical inputs (fertilizers and pesticides) as well as increased demands for water and machinery. 

A condition in a population where the number of births matches the number of deaths and therefore there is no net increase; an idealized condition for these concerned about overpopulation. 

Birth Rate: a measure of natural growth in a population, typically expressed as the number of births per thousand population per year.


Death Rate: A measure of mortality in a population, typically expressed as the number of deaths per thousand population per year. 

During a period of growth in Europe, some form of economic development and change from agricultural to industrial society drive the population towards a period of high population growth, followed by a period of low or no growth.

a measure of the number of children the average woman in a place has over her reproductive lifespan. In countries with lower fertility rates, women are freer to pursue education.