Environment & Resources (GEOG 2210) - Notes

GEOG 2210 - Notes (W22)

, Population Scarcity WEEK ONE
WORLD SCIENTISTS WARNING CLIMATE EMERGENCY
'

OF A

Policymakers and the need metrics other than Energy efficiency reduction in fossil fuel reduce
Usage
-




public
-




, ,




of short-lived pollutants protect
global surface temperatures to measure climate
change emissions ,
and restore


Troubling signs include increases inhuman and Earth 's ecosystems eat plant-based foods reduce food
-




. ,




ruminant livestock populations , per capita meat waste reduce
. overexploitation due to economic
growth ,




fossil population must be stabilized and eventually reduced
production global GDP global tree cover loss
, , ,
world

fuel consumption # of air
passengers and CO2 emissions
, ,




RETURN OF THE POPULATION BOMBERS
Immense
Population size is
causing climate
change to some degree changes to social economic and other behaviours
'
-




, ,




but is not the
primary metric is
required to slow climate change
Populationismisoftenusedasthe argument since it Must move towards sustainability in order to secure an
• '




makes sense and puts the burden of inhabitable
solving climate planet
other
change on people
INTRODUCTION
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the total of all Global North powerful
goods designates the richest and most
• .
- -




and services produced within the boundaries Ofa country .
industrialized countries and places ( primarily in the north)

Includes those produced within a country by foreign Overpopulation provides biological explanation for social and
-



or a

domestic producers .
Measures wealth productivity and , , political problems and shifts blame away from political -




purchasing power . economic systems and institutions and onto individuals and

individual behaviour

OVERVIEW

Poor blamed because they are believed to be unable Human population growth drives environmental degradation
'


are
'




or
unwilling to invest in sustainable practices due to
according to the following principles human population
:




2. lack of income / very false assumption) increases exponentially while food production increases

arithmetically ; human populations outpace environmental capacity
to produce food ; social and
ecological crisis can be explained by

growing populations
CRITIQUE

Spurious correlation occurs when Zvariablesappearto Red
Herring something that misleads or distracts from
' '
- -




berelatedbutare.no/-causa1lyconnected.0ftenthereis relevant or important information or
questions
23rd variable that explains the appearance Ofa relationship .
.


Factors outside of overpopulation and scarcity include political :




Food speculation is based on the
following factors economy markets capitalism finance power inequality
-

:
, , , , , ,



markets ,
financial transactions / actors ,
derivatives extractivism industry waste , affluence / wealth ,
, , lifestyle ,




trading , economy / economic forces and ,
the
global economy consumption patterns ,
consumerism , built-in obsolescence ,

HOW GROWTH IN CONSUMPTION DRIVES CLIMATE CHANGE Colonialism , imperialism etc ,
.




stable
shrinking populations may still be rapidly Responsibility of emissions are currently the countries
.



or on
'




their contribution to GHG emissions that produce the emissions and not on the countries that
increasing
consume the products from said emissions