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IB Geography: Core 3 · Global resource consumption and security
Water, food and energy security, sustainability. 3 subtopics, 14 key terms.
In this topic: 3.1 · 3.2 · 3.3
3.1Global trends in consumption
Key terms
- Ecological footprint
- Land and water area needed to supply a population's resources and absorb its waste.
- Global middle class
- People with enough income for discretionary spending; growing fast in Asia.
- Energy mix
- The share of each energy source in total supply.
- Earth Overshoot Day
- The date when humanity's demand exceeds what Earth can renew in a year.
Poverty has fallen and the global middle class has grown, especially in China and India: more demand for meat, cars, energy and water.
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Link consumption to the water–food–energy nexus: a change in one affects the others.
3.2Impacts of changing trends in resource consumption
Key terms
- Water security
- Reliable access to enough safe water for health, livelihoods and the economy.
- Water stress
- Less than about 1,700 m³ of renewable water per person per year (Falkenmark).
- Virtual water
- The water used to produce a good, traded with it.
- Food security
- All people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food (FAO).
- Energy security
- Reliable, affordable access to energy.
- Water–food–energy nexus
- The links between water, food and energy systems.
Water: physical scarcity (dry regions) vs economic scarcity (no investment). Below 1,000 m³ per person per year is scarcity.
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: When asked about “security”, address availability, access and reliability: they are the three pillars.
3.3Resource stewardship
Key terms
- Neo-Malthusian view
- Population growth will outstrip resources, causing crisis.
- Boserupian view
- Population pressure drives innovation that raises output.
- Circular economy
- Keeping products and materials in use through reuse, repair and recycling.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- 17 UN goals adopted in 2015, to be met by 2030.
Malthus (1798): population grows geometrically, food arithmetically, so famine and conflict act as checks.
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Present Malthus and Boserup as perspectives, then judge with evidence: that is evaluation.
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