Paper 2: resource consumption and security

Poverty in relation to the amount of money necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter

Poverty in relation to the economic status of other members of the society: people are poor if they fall below the given standard of living in a given societal context

Half the median income of the population

The world bank defines extreme poverty as living on less that $1.90 per day

An economist who believed that population would increase at a faster rate than its means of subsistence unless constrained by war/famine/disease/etc inevitably resulting in disaster.

A Danish economist whose theory was that population increase results in changes in agriculture → necessity is the mother of invention

When human population comes close to exceeding food supply, there will be new innovations to find a way of creating food more intensely

The school of thought that disagrees with Malthus’s pessimism and align’s with Boserup’s opinion that humans will always find solutions to food shortages.

• Somebody escapes extreme poverty every 1.2 seconds

• Absolute poverty rates have fallen faster in the most recent 30 years than ever before

• In 1800, 85% of the population were in extreme poverty. In 1970 it was 50%. In 2015 it was only 12%!

• Total number of people has massively increased since 1990 even though fraction of poor people has decreased

• Lack of infrastructure, services and transportation

• Resource strain due to population growth

• More consumers creating more demand

• Growing global middle class

• Capitalism and consumer culture

• TNCs

• Economic growth policy

Water used in the manufacturing of clothes, food, and other products

• The places with the most water are Russia, Scandinavia, Canada, Northern South America and central Africa (>10,000 cubic metres per person per year)

• Western Europe has 4000-10,000

• Much of Northern Africa and Australia has less than 4000

• Obesity rates in the USA are 2.5x today what they were in 1980

• Over 10% of US healthcare expenditure is obesity-related

The changes in diet/caloric intake transitioning away from traditional local and seasonal produce to a more varied diet including meat, dairy and fast food.

2.5%, and 2/3 of this is locked in glaciers

• Agriculture especially flood irrigation

• Production of energy (including extraction, cooling in thermal processes, powering turbines)

• Embedded water in production of food, garments, other products

• Human consumption (drinking, sanitation, drainage)

• Metering systems and advanced sensors to reduce the amount of water that is lost by leaks

• Desalination of seawater

• Drip irrigation

• Changes in rainfall distribution

• Glacier and snow melt

• Changes to soil moisture and river/ groundwater flows

Surface water including groundwater, lakes and rivers

Rainfall stored in the topsoil

• Safety concerns around potential accidents (ie a repeat of Fukushima) have shut down nuclear power plants in Japan

• There are also issues with the storage of plutonium waste

• However in many countries such as France nuclear power is preferred because of its low GHG emissions and concerns about energy security

• China has built the world’s first Thorium reactor completed in 2021

• In 2008 the UK promised an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 (legally bound)

• Largest offshore wind capacity in the world

• Advanced marine energy

• New electric vehicles are being manufactured

A connection or series of connections liking things; like a network (for example water, food and energy security are linked)

• Crops rely on irrigation

• HEP and tidal energy rely directly on water

• Coal and nuclear reactors require water to cool them down

India (Hindu Kush Himalayan Region), and South Africa

1. Provisioning (of freshwater and minerals)

2. Regulating (climate, water and precipitation)

3. Supporting (soil formation and recharging groundwater)

4. Cultural importance (tradition, knowledge/practice of conservation, agro-biodiversity)

Growing human population with dietary preferences changing towards meat, more groundwater is required for increased food production

Agricultural production must increase by 70%, energy production by 40% and water 57% in South Asia by 2050 to meet the demands of the growing population

• Higher CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere favor weeds over agricultural crops

• Temperatures above crops’ thresholds for growth can cause them to die

• Rainfall, soil moisture, temperature and radiation are changing

• Increased prices of some goods and changing infrastructure

• Higher precipitation in the East of the country and less in the far West

• Overall decrease in rainfall with longer dry periods between rainfall events

• Increased likelihoods of floods and droughts

• Rising evapotranspiration rates can reduce available green water

• Changing winds, rainfall and cloud cover

• HEP is vulnerable to a dry-climate future

• Less water available for cooling power plants

• Hotter temps will increase demand for AC which leads to a spiral

• Changing from flood to sprinkler irrigation

• Cattle are put in already-arid areas

• Attempting to increase chemical use

• Growing more crops with yields that could potentially increase such as rice, groundnuts and sugarcane

• Remove (eliminate demand)

• Reduce (use less)

• Re-source (change materials/sources)

• Reuse

• Recycle

• Recover (recapture some value)

• Return (dispose of in an environmentally-benign way)

Some companies (especially tech companies) deliberately design their products to be difficult or costly to repair so that people will continue buying the product or updated versions of the product

Resource stewardship focuses on the sustainable use of renewable resources so that future generations can benefit from them: through conservation, preservation, and government policies.

Economies based on ancient knowledge from interactions with the local land, social and economic equity, and respect for the environment maintaining habitat, land use and animal husbandry.

When there is an open source (shared) resource such as the high seas, people will exploit it past its carrying capacity causing in the resource deteriorating

An economy which preserves natural capacity, optimises resource use and reduces loss through managing finite stores and renewable flows. It restores and regenerates resources.

1. Preserve/enhance natural capacity by controlling finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows

2. Optimize resource yield by circulating products, materials and components

3. Eliminate negative externalities ie. pollution, climate change

France and Italy have outlawed supermarkets throwing away unsold food. Instead it must be composted, donated or turned into animal feed.

The EU has committed to halving food waste by 2030 according to the SDGs.

The 2003 Waste Electrical+Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive led to collection schemes whereby WEEE such as fridges can be returned to manufacturers for proper disposal at no extra cost.

Suzhou New District, China, hosts 4000 manufacturers, many of which have become interdependent. Circuit board manufacturers recover copper from other companies instead of using virgin mined copper.