Chapter 4. Chapter 4: Environmental Economics and Consumption

What factors influence how much human actions impact the environment...

Interactive Study Guide
false
true

Guiding Question 4.3

What factors influence how much human actions impact the environment, and how can we reduce that impact?

Why You Should Care

If calculating one’s footprint is so important to finding sustainable options, then we need to be able to categorize factors to make it easier to explain to other people. The most popular model for this is called IPAT and it breaks those factors into population (P), affluence (A), and technology (T).

Since the equation multiplies the three factors together, it is easy to see that an increase in any factor will increase the I value (impact or footprint). Any decrease would then decrease the impact. This makes our decision about choices much easier because, if we can broadly show that any action decreases at least one factor (keeping the others constant), then it decreases impact and should be sustainable.

Question Test Your Vocabulary

Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:

Term Definition
HtqAbvjklAJItvyTsOW53yXbikw8s217nIC+isPP1wHF1IKzj7ihgpl1BSAd4zXF36G3Dx54Q+jed7f3RRz1dAeyY90= A measure of how many resources are needed to support a human population.
0Ib2qB/Tx3u6VSjDQe9uwMTx8nDd+mwF+IfMv/WlXnLGzn1ppDzPmM4ysZU6Fn9qI/cVTWLVOjv3KxaiNd9Bp4nrADk= A measure of how available or abundant resources or wealth are.
+ruRpESXj54nIprHW8PA5jNehehx7QqIITukxZPchOqEOJoyBqEMVF6+/pnvCAMMrtUUghs1nOh71PCiMVT0YSfCFp8= An equation that identifies three factors that increase human impact directly: population size, affluence, and technology.
yxxZnkz7sBrY3kBAKI4JRn2nBZHZgbfWzfbq0/pMIbW/UkuH8jnlx+QYWpRJI9TZ52I0kPkYvga4aIoQLuFAbMPC9KE= Applied use of science for practical uses.
B/a6+b9fpdF2P8FLo+EFH370uv2NhTfeDdZBy4McPjd3Crf6cQGjGZlpPzgudJK3njhYivg7DFBvx6E+XdAfYkpoWnA= All the humans inhabiting a particular place (city, state, or country).
999
Try again.
Correct.
Incorrect.
Infographic 4.4 The IPAT Equation

Question Sequence

Question Sequence

Using the animated Infographic, please answer the following questions.

Question 4.1

8u5mL8KrjSuF54x7wCdx+vfCeBAbLIwIGW/svfccvmFAuYySE7Y+rp+SM/E2E1lTFtCyqlTDtq8iNtcfoiGgFzgbiEr9l8qBTGTOrN7bHOuiNimbusSAnoDLuwvC7VKBClAvnS2/cmOdxe1yjEbkUb6W95fpumJCsTE3TpnC3Yzx0kmQsk4wCn55FJoKEgcmj0yDml23Ik8g+wsK7x5uxoDF5rgZ2C9bSPn69z30/T8cqA/9MGUuYXfzvCwchYaAQDfYkQj9z1U0SDefwjAeIFxjBSkMxjGGhfzDXWnZ0SGWGIoCUkh6aYF2OrtchAblFUrlpPeEeDn6lFrghiNLTeqCcNX99mOA6MhQD7e1konXEDIk+GgmHGbwg+pUPYP9pPpUOjWLw5dE65ETQcY8M6K23zWr9qnmvIsvdqfAWJVuMLJ2VMGOwRXrie0=
999
Try again.
Correct.
Incorrect.

Question 4.2

7oMrOLTKVy3t0EQO0lQhB7QBEm9z6nhudMjJuSeMxRJ3OwQWETvYIMziwYHyqAeyPMKOYcdSC0Ws05LJ0ek5XqL3b3rEAzxgFh22DnuFtsD6zuODfddCxQ/HVfZxJbo+7VgOMpWCrTuDaf1eRvlUX9UAoTmsqICTUM7vWQotWHmwzhAsf8p45P/h9UTt5xKVQ8I4wVyMgYleH62C4BJhIYISOiAt+X8DvvhT14GFNtosr3ItbIM/ZCs6iuT8kh66TFyWc5MnfVL2Ls6cxx7T8atZKymT7OzM5DQKFP1yyykY2DJ0xU2DJxhX2K0yPe9+n0ddM9PDCLj+HGaV+7aImMBB3OqLzmGM+jQqAPzgSI4NPHbEA3mV4wn3gafXHeGDRIsWlZ8IGXRvAMDyCDu7W3UQxPDPPBzCZ89cVwVfMyAxMX8kT4aUJ8WCSTg=
999
Try again.
Correct.
Incorrect.

Question 4.3

9ZdbozyagkZG/jVHEAUoRYb8mRQ8R3kCBSuukRLLhmJxtBaaodTbs3abjlK9IfEdj1v92lZGMbRuNeU5IIE/v0Q3yyBQDnJHiDD7BZqosAowli2hYakLAxT2yqFu+Uux+WwTdX7oJA+G4v7NEc1zJU7oTc9D/aLV5yFkd5fU2ntcYXxT+Qj3jiygLNZsGf/OGQxc3ELJpGS6KUrOY6J+YsT/Ylzi07sHei6k279St1uzmtWy8lSIIPCJdUDVint7M1gI7wWG5aP1dyOX0ohLsdfHhKg6sr1O5ImdOSd/BmsRQof0j4Y/IxSqWGSOMN3knfoNIDyLBuffXtJQC6+vrYN9hAIxKa4c/bj4injfz0SdG9+ABqtTWJUng39YVkjfwfFvm/xG3rPCLx72AkDPpa/pv/NffI17CaOdKimlKzw7mLYJb0ydkBk2YbWzkmpG
999
Try again.
Correct.
Incorrect.

Question 4.4

XP1OmiC8hz7rLD1toxrgVw9xETLH7R+mCqYAPIFKVE9Qk0QH6d7Yd6Vfv0dt2hlkXDAS67qr+TgIKH2M72M2xLBoehXpXGIIr9rirkDJ5AkzPNxItPqcCSkt4y8aBziN/CaCr+2Z+50g+3brN3So5gDE8Sxzt59gF7h7fxfH93nPNbcoN2YJIHqI2pRkDuqS9IlP1JeP0ozYJwUzP9WLXSqiQcgKi8lmIq2lBGjFuw+3e8CjCKoAnLrP13NnBX/lyTSYRmuHS5LiwXeo
999
Try again.
Correct.
Incorrect.