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TASEnvironmental ScienceQuick questions
Human Dependence and Impact on Ecosystems
Quick questions on Human Population Growth and Ecological Footprint - TCE Environmental Science (Tasmania)
2short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are impact depends on consumption, not just numbers?Show answer
Population size alone does not determine impact. A useful idea is that impact depends on the number of people multiplied by how much each person consumes and the technology used to supply it. A person in a high-income country such as Australia typically consumes far more energy, food, water and manufactured goods than a person in a low-income country, and so has a much larger individual impact. This is why a relatively small, wealthy population can place enormous demands on global ecosystems.
What is the ecological footprint?Show answer
The ecological footprint is a way of putting human demand into a single, comparable measure. It estimates the area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide everything a population consumes and to absorb the waste it generates, especially the carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. It is usually expressed in global hectares per person.
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