Population and the Environment

What Population and the Environment covers

How the physical environment shapes where people live and what they eat, the relationship between population and health, and the models used to describe population change and its limits. One of three Section C options in Component 2.

The 26 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The Physical Environment and PopulationRecall questions on climate, soils and the distribution of resources such as water as influences on population.Open →
• Global Food Production and Agricultural SystemsRecall questions on where food is produced and consumed, net exporting and importing regions, classifying agricultural systems by intensity, output, purpose and technology, yield and labour productivity, and how temperature, precipitation, solar radiation and soil fertility, structure, depth, pH and organic matter affect farming.Open →
• Tropical Wet and Semi-Arid ClimatesRecall questions on the temperature, rainfall, global distribution, farming and population densities of tropical wet (Köppen Af) climates, and on the rainfall, temperatures, distribution, human activities and low population densities of semi-arid (Köppen BS) climates.Open →
• Zonal Soils: Chernozems and LatosolsRecall questions on the A horizon, fertility, distribution and farming of chernozems and their importance for food supply, and on the colour, low fertility and distribution of latosols, shifting cultivation and what permanent cultivation on them requires.Open →
• Soil Erosion and Its ManagementRecall questions on what soil erosion is, the human activities that cause it, and how contour ploughing and terracing hold soil in place.Open →
• Waterlogging, Salinisation and Soil StructureRecall questions on the causes and management of waterlogging, of salinisation through drainage, drip irrigation, fallowing, salt-tolerant crops and gypsum, and of structural deterioration through organic matter, machinery management, controlled traffic farming, subsoiling and timing of cultivation.Open →
• The Dimensions of Food SecurityRecall questions on the definition of food security and on its availability, access, utilisation and stability dimensions.Open →
• Studying Climatic Types and Zonal SoilsRecall questions on why two climatic types and two zonal soils must be studied and on what should be understood about each.Open →
• Glasgow: place and health case studyGlasgow and the 'Glasgow effect' as the place and health case study: the Calton and Lenzie gap, physical and socio-economic causes, health behaviours, minimum unit pricing, the Thistle and regeneration.Open →
• Health, Morbidity and the Epidemiological TransitionRecall questions on the WHO definition of health, mortality and morbidity and how they differ between low- and high-income countries, and on the epidemiological transition, its ages of pestilence and famine, receding pandemics and degenerative diseases, and its economic and social drivers.Open →
• Physical Environment and DiseaseRecall questions on how climate, topography and poorly drained low-lying land affect disease, on air pollutants, their sources and the health conditions linked to them, and on water quality and the diseases it causes.Open →
• Malaria: Distribution, Impacts and ManagementRecall questions on malaria and its transmission vectors, its regional, latitudinal and seasonal distribution, the temperature, altitude, humidity and socio-economic factors affecting it, its health and economic impacts, and its management and mitigation strategies.Open →
• Coronary Heart Disease and Non-Communicable DiseasesRecall questions on non-communicable diseases and coronary heart disease, its global prevalence, the physical environment, socio-economic and lifestyle factors linked to it, its health impacts, and management and population-level mitigation strategies.Open →
• Global Health Initiatives and Disease StudiesRecall questions on the World Health Organization, international agencies, Médecins Sans Frontières, NGOs and the Global Fund and the challenges they face, and on what an in-depth study of a biologically transmitted disease such as malaria and of a non-communicable disease must cover.Open →
• The Demographic Transition ModelRecall questions on the stages of the demographic transition model and their birth rates, death rates and growth, on crude birth and death rates, natural change and infant mortality, and on why models of population change apply differently with income, healthcare, education and economic development.Open →
• Fertility, Population Structure and the Demographic DividendRecall questions on total fertility rate, life expectancy and age-sex composition, expansive, constrictive and stationary pyramids, religion, social norms, gender roles and marriage customs as cultural controls, pro- and anti-natalist policies, the Demographic Dividend and the dependency ratio.Open →
• Migrant Types and Causes of MigrationRecall questions on refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants and why the distinction matters, on natural disasters, climate change, desertification, sea level rise and resource depletion as environmental causes of international migration, and on poverty, unemployment, limited services, conflict and persecution.Open →
• Push and Pull Factors in MigrationRecall questions on push and pull factors, the processes involved in migrating and the demographic effects on source countries.Open →
• The Components of Population ChangeRecall questions on the parts played by birth rates, death rates, immigration and emigration in changing population size.Open →
• Optimum Population and Resource DemandRecall questions on overpopulation, underpopulation and optimum population and why it changes, on how population size and structure affect resource demand and the dependency ratio, and on carrying capacity and what can increase it.Open →
• Ecological Footprint and Population–Resource TheoriesRecall questions on ecological footprint, biocapacity and income, positive and negative feedback in population-resource systems, and on the ideas of Malthus and his positive and preventive checks, the neo-Malthusians, Boserup and Julian Simon, and where they disagree.Open →
• Ozone Depletion and Human HealthRecall questions on why thinner stratospheric ozone admits more ultraviolet radiation and on the path from DNA damage to skin cancer risk.Open →
• Climate Change, Heatwaves and Vector-Borne DiseaseRecall questions on climate change, rising temperatures and more frequent extreme heat, the physiological strain and deaths heatwaves cause, and on expanding vector habitats at higher latitudes and altitudes, diseases spreading to new regions and emergent vector-borne diseases.Open →
• Climate Change, Food Supply and NutritionRecall questions on how climate change affects growing seasons, rainfall patterns, extreme weather, droughts and floods, pests and diseases and the poleward shift of crop zones, and on how lower yields affect food supply, prices, malnutrition risk and nutritional standards.Open →
• Global Population ProjectionsRecall questions on what projections are, the three demographic factors behind them and where growth and decline are expected.Open →
• Japan's population declineJapan's population decline as a country case study, covering its falling births and ageing population, the socio-economic and environmental factors behind them, and how Japan has responded through family policy, immigration and technology.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Population and the Environment further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Population density vs Population distribution

  Population density: number of people per unit area. Population distribution: spatial pattern showing where people live.

• Morbidity vs Mortality

  Morbidity: incidence or prevalence of ill health. Mortality: frequency of deaths within a population.

• Food security vs Food sovereignty

  Food security: reliable access to sufficient nutritious food. Food sovereignty: right of people to control their own food systems.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Identify one physical environmental element that influences human population characteristics and change.

   Model answer

   Climate (or soils, or resource distributions including water supply).

2. 2

   How does climate act as a key influence on population characteristics?

   Model answer

   Climate affects agricultural potential, habitability, and settlement patterns, thereby influencing where populations grow or decline.

3. 3

   Why are soils considered a key element of the physical environment affecting population?

   Model answer

   Soil quality determines agricultural productivity, which in turn supports or limits population size and distribution.

4. 4

   Explain how resource distributions, including water supply, influence population characteristics.

   Model answer

   The availability and location of resources such as water determine where people can settle, sustain livelihoods, and support population growth.

5. 5

   Explain the role of reliable water supply in determining population distribution.

   Model answer

   Reliable water supply is essential for human habitation, drinking, sanitation, and economic activities such as agriculture and industry, so populations concentrate where water is available.

6. 6

   What is meant by population distribution?

   Model answer

   The spatial arrangement of people across an area or the world.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Population and the Environment revision questions

What does Population and the Environment cover in AQA A-Level Geography?

26 subtopics: the physical environment and population, global food production and agricultural systems, tropical wet and semi-arid climates, zonal soils: chernozems and latosols, soil erosion and its management, waterlogging, salinisation and soil structure, the dimensions of food security, studying climatic types and zonal soils, glasgow: place and health case study, health, morbidity and the epidemiological transition, physical environment and disease, malaria: distribution, impacts and management, coronary heart disease and non-communicable diseases, global health initiatives and disease studies, the demographic transition model, fertility, population structure and the demographic dividend, migrant types and causes of migration, push and pull factors in migration, the components of population change, optimum population and resource demand, ecological footprint and population–resource theories, ozone depletion and human health, climate change, heatwaves and vector-borne disease, climate change, food supply and nutrition, global population projections and japan's population decline. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Population and the Environment organised?

By the AQA 7037 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.