DP Environmental Systems and Societies Questionbank

Explain how environmental indicators are used to assess sustainability.

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.

Outline the relationship between carrying capacity and ecological footprint.

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.

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

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

Define the term carrying capacity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Define the term carrying capacity.

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

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

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?

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