AP Environmental Science The Dynamic Human Population

The Dynamic Human Population

• Key terms include: population, population dynamics, species, demography, abundance, birth rate, death rate, (including crude birth rate and crude death rate), growth rate, age structure, fertility, general fertility rate, total fertility rate, age-specific birth rate, cause-specific death rate, morbidity, incidence, prevalence, case fatality rate, rate of natural increase, doubling time, infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and GNP per capita
• With the history of the human population, there are four main phases: hunter/gatherer, rise in agriculture, Industrial Revolution, and the Modern Era. The growth of our human population has recently been exponential
• Doubling time for a human population can be calculated assuming exponential growth. Logistic growth involves an inflection point and the concept of carrying capacity
• Age structure diagrams show the proportion of each age group in a population. The typical types include pyramid, column, bulging column, and inverted pyramid
• The demographic transition is a three-stage pattern of chance that occurs in developed countries, and it inevitably results in a decline in population growth
• Maximum lifetime and average life expectancy vary by country and they vary from year to year. Factors influencing these rates include acute disease, chronic disease, economics, and health care availability
• The human population’s effect on Earth is a function of the number of people and each person’s individual impact on the Earth. The key is to improve our standard of living worldwide while slowing population growth. The human carrying capacity on Earth is not known, but there are plenty of theories about when we’ll reach it.
• Zero-population growth may inevitably be achieved if women wait to have their 1^st born child until later, women/men use birth control consistently and correctly, and expand national programs to incentivize and encourage having less children