Human Population Impacts

Summary

In this environmental science video, Mr. Andersen explores the varying impacts of human population on the environment across different countries. He discusses the IPAT equation, which factors in population, affluence, and technology to measure environmental impact. The video contrasts the low ecological footprint of Burundi with the high footprint of the UAE, illustrating the relationship between economic development and environmental strain. It also touches on how economies, both too large and too small, can adversely affect societies and the planet.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The Earth's environment is impacted differently by various countries due to their distinct levels of industrialization and economic development.
• 🔥 Carbon dioxide emissions are higher in the northern hemisphere, particularly in North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia, where more fossil fuels are burned.
• 🌿 Seasonal changes, such as leaves falling in autumn, can temporarily reduce carbon dioxide levels as they are absorbed by plants during photosynthesis.
• 📈 Industrialization leads to exponential population growth, which in turn impacts the environment, but it's not just the number of people; affluence and consumption patterns also play a significant role.
• 🛠 The IPAT equation is a model that combines population, affluence, and technology to measure environmental impact, emphasizing that not all technology is detrimental.
• 👣 The ecological footprint is a concept that measures how much of the Earth's surface is needed to support a country's industry and lifestyle.
• 🏭 Countries with lower economic development, like Burundi, have a smaller ecological footprint due to less consumption and industry.
• 🏙️ In contrast, countries like the UAE, with higher economic development, have a larger ecological footprint due to greater consumption and industrial activity.
• 📊 The ecological footprint and development index are inversely related; as countries develop, they tend to have a larger ecological footprint and greater impact on the planet.
• 🌱 The Earth's biocapacity, or its ability to support human activity, is a critical threshold that many countries are exceeding, leading to overconsumption of resources.
• 🌐 Worldmapper.org is a useful tool for visualizing how different factors like population, poverty, health spending, and ecological footprint vary across the globe.

Q & A

How does the Earth's support for society relate to the economy?

The Earth supports society, which is driven by the economy. The model suggests that the economy influences how societies interact with and impact the environment.

Do all countries impact the environment in the same way?

No, not all countries impact the environment in the same way. Factors such as industrialization, population size, affluence, and technology use vary greatly between countries.

What does the carbon dioxide map in the video demonstrate?

The carbon dioxide map shows that the northern hemisphere, particularly North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia, produces more carbon dioxide due to higher industrial activities and burning of fossil fuels.

How does the change of seasons affect carbon dioxide levels?

During the summer months, carbon dioxide levels drop as leaves on trees perform photosynthesis, absorbing CO2. Levels rise again in the fall when leaves fall and industrial activities continue.

What is the relationship between industrialization and population growth?

Industrialization leads to exponential growth in population, which in turn impacts the environment. The video suggests that population growth is not the only factor; affluence and technology also play significant roles.

What is the IPAT equation and how does it measure environmental impact?

The IPAT equation is a model that combines population, affluence (consumption per person), and technology to measure the impact on the environment. It helps to understand how these factors contribute to environmental degradation.

What is an ecological footprint and how is it measured?

An ecological footprint measures how much of the Earth's surface is required to support a given population's lifestyle and industry. It's a way to assess the demand humans place on the planet's ecosystems.

How does the video compare the environmental impacts of Burundi and the UAE?

Burundi has a low ecological footprint due to its low population, low affluence, and minimal industrial activity. In contrast, the UAE has a high ecological footprint due to its high population, high affluence, and significant industrial and technological development.

What does the ecological footprint graph in the video illustrate?

The graph shows a correlation between a country's development index and its ecological footprint. Developed countries tend to have higher ecological footprints, indicating a greater impact on the environment.

What is the significance of the 2.1 global hectares per person biocapacity?

The biocapacity of 2.1 global hectares per person represents the Earth's capacity to support human activity. Many countries exceed this, indicating unsustainable use of resources.

How does the video use worldmapper.org to illustrate global issues?

Worldmapper.org is used to visually represent global data such as population, poverty, hunger, health spending, and ecological footprint. This helps to understand how different countries are affected by and contribute to global issues.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Impact of Human Population and Economy on the Environment

Mr. Andersen introduces the concept of how human population and economic activities impact the environment differently across the globe. Using a NASA simulation, he illustrates the unequal distribution of carbon dioxide emissions, with higher levels in the northern hemisphere due to industrialized regions like North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia. The video highlights the seasonal changes in CO2 levels influenced by photosynthesis during summer months. The IPAT equation is introduced as a tool to measure environmental impact, considering population, affluence, and technology. The ecological footprint is discussed as a measure of the area of the Earth needed to support human activities. The video contrasts the environmental impacts of Burundi and the UAE, showing how affluence and technology can significantly increase a country's ecological footprint.

05:02

🌱 Understanding the Relationship Between Development, Economy, and Environmental Impact

This segment delves into the relationship between a country's development, economy, and its environmental impact. It explains how as countries develop, their ecological footprint and impact on the planet tend to increase. The video uses the concept of bio capacity to show how many countries exceed the Earth's sustainable support limits. It also discusses the dual effects of an economy that is either too large, leading to overconsumption and habitat destruction, or too small, resulting in societal issues like disease and hunger. The use of worldmapper.org is highlighted to visually represent global data on population, poverty, hunger, health spending, and ecological footprint, emphasizing the interconnectedness of economic development and environmental sustainability.

Keywords

💡Environmental Impact

Environmental impact refers to the effects that human activities have on the environment, including changes to ecosystems, habitats, and natural resources. In the video, the concept is central to understanding how different countries affect the environment differently, with a focus on carbon dioxide emissions as a key indicator. The video uses a NASA simulation to show how carbon dioxide production varies across the globe, highlighting the uneven distribution of environmental impact.

💡Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and climate change. The video discusses the production of carbon dioxide, particularly in industrialized regions like North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia, and how it fluctuates with seasons due to the process of photosynthesis by plants. The script uses carbon dioxide as a measure of environmental impact, emphasizing the need to reduce emissions to mitigate climate change.

💡Industrialization

Industrialization is the process of social and economic development through the development of industry. The video connects industrialization to exponential growth in population and its subsequent environmental impact. It suggests that industrialized countries, with their higher consumption and use of technology, have a greater impact on the environment compared to less industrialized nations.

💡Affluence

Affluence refers to a state of being wealthy or prosperous. In the context of the video, affluence is linked to the consumption patterns of individuals and how they affect the environment. The video contrasts the affluence of the UAE, where high per capita income leads to high consumption and environmental impact, with the lower affluence in Burundi, resulting in less environmental impact.

💡Destructive Technology

Destructive technology in the video refers to technologies that harm the environment, typically through the use of fossil fuels and other practices that contribute to pollution and resource depletion. The script uses this term to discuss how certain technologies exacerbate environmental problems, unlike others that might be more sustainable or beneficial to the environment.

💡IPAT Equation

The IPAT equation is a formula used to estimate the environmental impact of human activities. It stands for Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology. The video explains that this equation combines three key factors to measure environmental impact, helping to illustrate how population size, affluence, and technology use contribute to the stress on the environment.

💡Ecological Footprint

An ecological footprint is a measure of the amount of land and water required to support a person or an activity, given prevailing technology and resource management practices. The video uses the ecological footprint to compare the environmental demands of different countries, showing how some, like the UAE, have a much larger footprint due to higher consumption and industrial activity.

💡Biocapacity

Biocapacity refers to the ability of an ecosystem to produce resources and absorb waste, especially carbon dioxide, given the technology of the present time. The video mentions the biocapacity in the context of the ecological footprint, noting that many countries exceed what the Earth can sustainably support, leading to overconsumption and environmental degradation.

💡Economy

The economy, as discussed in the video, refers to the financial and economic systems of a country. It is highlighted as a factor that can influence both the society and the environment. The video explains that a growing economy can lead to increased resource consumption and habitat destruction, while a stagnant economy can result in social issues like hunger and disease.

💡Worldmapper

Worldmapper is a website mentioned in the video that provides a visual representation of global data, allowing users to see how countries compare in various metrics such as population, poverty, and health spending. The video uses Worldmapper as an example of how data can be visualized to understand the relationships between economic development, environmental impact, and social issues.

Highlights

The earth supports society driven by economy, but not all countries impact the environment equally.

Northern hemisphere, especially North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia, produce more carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide levels drop in summer due to photosynthesis by leaves, then rise again in fall.

Industrialization leads to exponential population growth, impacting the environment.

Affluence and consumption levels, not just population numbers, affect environmental impact.

Destructive technology contributes to environmental impact, which can be measured by the IPAT equation.

The ecological footprint measures how much of the earth is needed to support an industry.

Economic growth can lead to resource consumption and habitat destruction, but insufficient economy can cause disease and hunger.

The IPAT equation combines population, affluence, and technology to measure environmental impact.

Burundi has a low ecological footprint due to low population, affluence, and technology.

The UAE has a high ecological footprint due to high population, affluence, and advanced technology.

Countries with higher development indices tend to have larger ecological footprints.

The bio capacity line on the graph represents the earth's sustainable support limit per person.

Many countries exceed the bio capacity, indicating overconsumption of resources.

Worldmapper.org visualizes global data, showing how population, economy, and health impact the environment.

High poverty and hunger correlate with high population and low public health spending.

Income levels inversely relate to ecological footprint, with developed nations having a higher impact.

Greenhouse gas emissions and habitat destruction are linked to economic activity and population density.

The video concludes by summarizing how population, affluence, and technology affect the environment, and the implications of economic size.

Transcripts

Hi. It’s Mr. Andersen and this is environmental science video 15. It is on human population

impacts. A model we have used so far this year is this idea that the earth supports

society which is driven by economy. But do all the countries on our planet impact the

environment in the same way? So this map right now, if we impose it on a NASA simulation,

so this is going to be the amount of carbon dioxide that is produced, you will see that

we are producing way more carbon dioxide in red in the northern hemisphere. In North America

and Western Europe and Southeast Asia, we have higher amounts of carbon dioxide. We

are burning more of those fossil fuels. Not so much in the southern hemisphere. You can

see the wind is moving it around. But watch what happens as we move into June. And then

as we move into July. The carbon dioxide levels are dropping off. Now we still have industry,

it is just that it is summer. The leaves come out. They do photosynthesis and they take

in that carbon dioxide. Watch what happens now as we move into October and the leaves

start to fall. That carbon dioxide comes back again. And so it is not equal impact to the

environment. And so we have learned so far that with industrialization you see exponential

growth in a population. And so the population increases in that is impacting the environment.

But it is not only the number of people, it is the affluence of those people. It is how

much they are consuming and it is also their technology. Now some technology can actually

help the environment. And so I am talking about destructive technology. It is impacting

the environment. One way to measure that is using the IPAT equation. You do not actually

have to calculate it, but it is combining these three things. The population, the affluence

and the destructive technology. And an analogist’s model is the ecological footprint. It measures

how much of the earth do we need to support that industry. Now these are feedback loops,

and so all of these are going to put impacts on the population itself. Another big one,

aside from population is the economy. If the economy grows too much that is going to consume

resources and destroy habitat. But if the economy is not big enough in certain countries

it can lead to disease and hunger. And so the IPAT equation looks like this. It is pretty

easy. On the left side we have the impact. We then have the population. So in other words

the bigger the population is, the larger the impact. If we are looking at affluence that

is going to be consumption per person. So if you have a house and several tvs and many

cars, you are probably going to have more affluence than somebody who lives in a village

in Africa. And then is that consumption actually harming the environment or impacting it? Well

it depends on what technology that is. And so let’s give you an example. So let’s

look at a country, so this is Burundi. It is in the Rift Valley of Africa. And so if

we look at their population there are about 9 million people that live there. So there

is going to be a certain impact. If we look at how much money they make, the average person

makes 910 dollars per year. What does that mean? They do not get much money so there

cannot be much consumption. If we were to look at the major industry it is going to

be agriculture, meat is rare because it is going to be highly expensive. If we look at

transportation, bicycles are really common. And so is there a huge impact in Burundi?

On the environment, no. It is going to be relatively low. But if we look at another

county, so this is the UAE or the United Arab Emirates. Their population is 9 million as

well. If we start to look at their consumption however, the average person there make 50

times what somebody in Burundi makes. What does that mean? There is a lot more consumption

per person. If we look at their technology, this is Dubai, you can see there is way more

technology. Way more burning of fossil fuels. There is going to be a greater impact on the

environment. If we look at Burundi, this is the capitol of Burundi, you can see there

is not a lot of industry and so that means it is going to have a really small footprint.

It does not consume much of the earth’s area. If we look at something like UAE there

is way more industry. And so if we were to put values to this, the ecological footprint

of Burundi is going to be less than 1 global hectare per person. It is going to be relatively

small. If we look at what it is in the UAE it is going to be about 12 times that. That

means it is going to have a larger ecological footprint. It is going to consume more of

the earth’s resources. So this graph is kind of interesting. On the bottom we have

the ecological footprint. And on the right side we have a development index. And so these

are going to be the developing countries and these are going to be the developed countries.

So the US is going to have high development index. It is highly developed and it is also

going to have a very large ecological footprint. And so where do you think the UAE is going

to be? It is going to be way out here. So it is going to have a high footprint and it

is going to be highly developed. It has more impact on our planet. It has a larger economy.

If we were to say where is Burundi going to be? It is going to be way down here. It is

a developing nation. And so you can see the general trend is as countries develop they

will move up and then they will move across. And that means they are going to start to

have more of an impact on the planet. Now this line is interesting. This line right

here are 2.1 global hectares per person is the bio capacity. It is what our earth can

support. And so you can see that a lot of countries are actually exceeding that. And

so going back to our model again, it is the society and the economy. And so as the population

gets larger we are going to have population effects on the environment. But the economy

can effect it as well. If the economy is too large then we have too much of an impact.

But if it is too small that can impact the society itself. To illustrate how the population

and the economy can impact the environment and therefore the population, we are going

to use worldmapper.org. It is a great website. And so let me show you what you can do. So

this is a map of the world with all of the countries. What you can do is you can change

the size to represent another characteristic. So this is what the earth would look like

if the countries represented the actually population. So you can see that some place

like Canada shrinks. But China and India and Pakistan are going to get much larger. And

that is because they have a really high population. If we were to look at poverty watch what happens.

Well America shrinks to almost nothing. Same with Western Europe. But we can see high poverty

in India. Some poverty in China. And we have high poverty in Africa. And so this is going

to impact the people. And so if we look at hunger for example, we are going to have high

undernourishment in Africa. And we are going to have high undernourishment in India. It

has that double hit of a high population and high poverty. We could also look at health.

And so this is health public spending. And you can see it is going to be much greater

in America and in Japan and in Western Europe. Well, how does that impact disease for example?

This is going to be the HIV prevalence. You can see it is going to be low in areas like

Japan. But incredibly high where we are not spending much money on public health. So incredibly

high in certain areas of Africa. It is 2 and sometimes 3 out of 10 adults are going to

have HIV. If we look at income we see that inverse relationship where we are going to

see the developed nations having a higher income. Especially like Western Europe and

the United States. How does that impact ecological footprint? It is going to be almost a direct

relationship there. The greater the economy is, it is putting more impacts on the earth.

We could look at resource use. This is going to be greenhouse gases. It is going to follow

that economy as well. We could also look at things like habitat destruction. The whole

world in connected so changes like increases in greenhouse gases can cause high extinction

rates. And those are going to be in areas where we have a lot of species. So this is

Ecuador right here in South America. And so we have some many species at risk because

there are lots of species there. And so did you learn the following? How the population

and affluence and destructive technology can affect the environment? These impacts could

be measured though the IPAT equation or the ecological footprint. Remember if the economy

is too big we can have resource use and habitat destruction. But if the economy is too small

you get disease, hunger and I hope that was helpful.