Animation - World Hunger

How is hunger related to the carrying capacity of the environment?

Every population occurs in an environment. Based on the resources in the environment each population has a carrying capacity. The carrying capacity is the number of individuals the environment will support. The amount of available food and other resources and the presence or absence of other species are the primary determinants of the carrying capacity. Humans have the ability to greatly change their own carrying capacity. The rapid growth of human populations has been matched by technological improvements in food production. However many agricultural areas have been degraded and the carrying capacity has decreased in those local areas. Where the population exceeds the carrying capacity there is often widespread hunger and associated problems.

View the animation below, then complete the quiz to test your knowledge of the concept.

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