DP Environmental Systems and Societies Questionbank

Using data from Figure 5(a) in the resource booklet, calculate the natural increase rate for Brazil in 2015.

Identify one reason why the natural increase rate, calculated in part (a), is different from the actual growth rate of the population, which was 0.63% in 2015.

From the shape of the age-gender pyramid in the resource booklet, Figure 5(b), suggest how the population in Brazil is likely to change in the next 30 years.

With reference to Figures 2, 3(a) and 3(b), identify two reasons why Madagascar is considered to be at Stage 2 of the demographic transition model.

With reference to Figures 3(a) and 3(b) describe the trends in Iceland’s population dynamic

Calculate the range between the highest and lowest projected population size for 2100.

Identify two factors that could explain the variation in the projected population growth for the world.

Outline one economic implication of the highest projection for world population being realised.

Outline one environmental implication of the highest projection for world population being realised.

Outline one advantage of modelling future human population sizes.

Outline one disadvantage of modelling future human population sizes.

Estimate the number of people in the 15 to 19 age group in the population pyramid in Figure 3.

Outline why the shape of the population pyramid in Figure 3 indicates a high future population growth for Zambia.

Fertility and crude birth rate can both be used as indicators of human population growth.

Explain the strengths and weaknesses of using each of these as indicators of growth in human populations.

Development policies may address a range of different aspects of development that influence human population growth either directly, or through education, healthcare and economic growth.

Evaluate the direct and indirect influences of such development policies on factors affecting human population curves.

Evaluate the role of national and international development policies in reducing human population growth.

With reference to named countries, discuss the effectiveness and impacts of two different strategies for stabilizing their human population.

Including reference to their relative efficiency, discuss whether terrestrial or aquatic food production systems show the greatest potential for feeding a growing human population. Support your conclusion with valid reasons or evidence.

The rate of world population growth is expected to slow so that by 2050 it will have stabilized at 10 billion. Explain three development policies that would enable the population to stabilize.

Outline how demographic tools can be used to study a human population.

Identify the most densely populated country in Figure 3(a).

With reference to Figure 3(b), outline two reasons for differences between the age-gender pyramids for Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

Technocentrists may support the belief that technological development has always been able to overcome limits to human population growth.

To what extent do the patterns of growth and development in human populations, as demonstrated in the Demographic Transition Model, support this claim?

Outline two possible reasons for the projected change in total fertility rate in Sub-Saharan Africa in the period 2045–2050.

Identify two reasons for the projected increase in total fertility rate in Europe by the period 2045–2050.

To what extent are the concepts of net productivity and natural income useful in managing the sustainable harvesting of named resources from natural ecosystems?

With reference to Figure 7(b), calculate the percentage reduction in the price of beaver pelt between 1940 and 2015.

Identify one reason why the value of beaver pelts has changed over time.

To what extent does Algonquin Provincial Park provide a model of sustainable management of a protected area?

Outline four different ways in which the value of named resources have changed over time.

With reference to Figure 5(a) describe how Uranium prices have changed over time.

Outline two reasons why the value of resources like Uranium can change over time.

With reference to Lake Shergar, explain what is meant by natural income.

Using evidence from Figures 4(a) and 4(b), explain why the people of Inle Lake have lived sustainably until recently.

With reference to (b)(i), state what will be the natural income of this water resource available for domestic supply.

Distinguish between the terms renewable and sustainable.

Using examples of resources from a tropical rainforest, distinguish between goods and services.

Explain how the concepts of natural capital and natural income are useful models in managing the sustainable exploitation of a resource.

State the type of natural capital of which ivory is an example.

Discuss the implications of environmental value systems in the protection of tropical biomes.

Outline the reasons why natural capital has a dynamic nature.

Discuss the role of humans in the destabilization of ecological systems.

Outline two ecosystem services in a named biome.

Explain the causes, and the possible consequences, of the loss of a named critically endangered species.

Discuss the potential for designing a protected forest area that allows for the harvesting of natural resources while at the same time conserving its biodiversity.

Outline how the concept of sustainability can be applied to managing natural capital.

Solid domestic waste may contain non-biodegradable material and toxins that have the potential to reduce the fertility of soils.

Explain how strategies for the management of this waste may help to preserve soil fertility.

The provision of food resources and assimilation of wastes are two key factors of the environment that determine its carrying capacity for a given species.

To what extent does the human production of food and waste each influence the carrying capacity for human populations?

Explain how organic waste may be an effective fertilizer in terrestrial systems but a source of pollution in aquatic systems.

Evaluate one possible pollution management strategy for solid domestic waste.

State the trend shown in the percentage of waste recycled between 2001 and 2010.

Identify two countries that have not followed this general trend.

Identify one reason why some countries may have not followed this trend.

Evaluate the use of incineration as an alternative to recycling for the management of solid waste.

State one type of solid domestic waste management strategy.

Outline one advantage and one disadvantage of the strategy named in 1(a)(i).

From the data, calculate the proportion of paper and of food waste as a percentage of the total.

Enter these two values in the table above.

Complete the following bar chart by using the data calculated in (b)(i). Label the chart correctly.

The management of a resource can impact the production of solid domestic waste.

To what extent have the three levels of the pollution management model been successfully applied to the management of solid domestic waste?

With reference to Figure 2, state the country that has the highest level of recycling/composting.

Outline two possible reasons for greater use of landfills in the United States compared with the European countries shown in Figure 2.

Outline two strategies for reducing the environmental impact of landfill sites.

Identify two problems associated with one of the waste disposal choices of Germany.

With reference to Figure 11(a), suggest what conclusions can be drawn regarding the sustainability of the Brazilian population over the period shown.

The provision of food resources and assimilation of wastes are two key factors of the environment that determine its carrying capacity for a given species.

To what extent does the human production of food and waste each influence the carrying capacity for human populations?

Outline why the ecological footprint for the total population of Madagascar has increased during the period shown in Figure 7.

To what extent might Iceland be viewed as a role model for sustainability by other countries?

Outline one environmental implication of the highest projection for world population being realised.

Evaluate the impact of economic development on the ecological footprint of a human population.

Distinguish between a human carrying capacity and an ecological footprint of a population.

Explain how developments in technology may increase or decrease the ecological footprint of a human population.

The long term effects of global warming may influence the carrying capacity for human populations.

Discuss whether global warming is likely to increase or decrease carrying capacity for human populations around the world. Support your conclusion with valid reasons or evidence.

Define the term carrying capacity.

Outline why it is difficult to measure carrying capacity for a human population.

Define the term carrying capacity.

Identify three reasons why carrying capacity can be difficult to estimate.

Discuss the consequences of changing global per capita meat consumption on the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.

Identify four factors that make the estimation of carrying capacity more problematic for human populations than for most other species.

Explain why the ecological footprint of two populations consuming the same quantity of food and energy may be different.

Outline the relationship between carrying capacity and ecological footprint.

To meet the minimum criteria for sustainability, a country needs to raise its human welfare above the threshold of high human development and have an ecological footprint below the Earth’s biocapacity.

Evaluate two strategies a country can implement to achieve the minimum criteria for sustainability.

Explain how environmental indicators are used to assess sustainability.