What impact does increasing consumption have on the environment?
The environmental impacts of increasing resource consumption, including pollution, deforestation and the effects of energy use (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to the impact of increasing consumption. Covers how rising demand for resources damages the environment through pollution, deforestation, habitat loss and climate change, and why the impacts of energy use are especially serious.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to explain how increasing resource consumption damages the environment. As the world uses more energy, materials, food and water, the result is pollution, deforestation, habitat loss and climate change. You should be able to link rising demand to specific environmental impacts, and to explain why the impacts of energy use in particular are so serious. This sets up the case for the sustainable management studied next.
The impacts of energy use
Deforestation
Its effects are wide-ranging.
- Habitat and biodiversity loss - countless species lose their homes as the forest is cleared.
- Soil erosion - without the protective tree cover, rain washes away the soil, which can then silt up rivers.
- Climate change - trees that absorbed carbon dioxide are removed and often burned, releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
- Disrupted water cycle - less interception and transpiration change local rainfall.
Pollution and waste
Rising consumption also means more waste and pollution.
- Air pollution from vehicles, factories and power stations harms health and causes smog.
- Water pollution from industry, farming (fertilisers) and sewage damages rivers, lakes and seas.
- Land pollution from growing amounts of rubbish, including plastic, fills landfill and litters the oceans.
- Resource depletion - finite non-renewable resources are used up faster, so they will run out sooner.
Worked example: linking consumption to impact
Common mistakes
Examples in context
Example 1. Rainforest cleared for what we buy. Vast areas of tropical rainforest are cleared to grow palm oil for food and cosmetics, soya and cattle for beef, and to log timber, all driven by demand in wealthier markets. The forest's species lose their homes, the bare soil erodes, and the burned trees release carbon dioxide. This shows directly how the things people consume can drive deforestation thousands of miles away.
Example 2. Acid rain crossing borders. Sulphur dioxide from power stations in one country can be carried by wind and fall as acid rain in another, damaging forests and lakes far from the source. This shows that the impacts of energy consumption are not only local and not only about climate, and using a transboundary example like acid rain demonstrates a fuller understanding of the environmental cost.
Try this
Q1. Name one gas released by burning fossil fuels that causes acid rain. [1 mark]
- Cue. Sulphur dioxide (or nitrogen oxides).
Q2. Give two environmental effects of deforestation. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two: habitat and biodiversity loss, soil erosion, more carbon dioxide and climate change, disrupted water cycle.
Q3. Why are the impacts of energy consumption especially serious? [2 marks]
- Cue. Energy demand is huge and most energy still comes from burning fossil fuels, which drive climate change and pollution.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA Unit 2 (style)6 marksExplain the environmental impacts of increasing energy consumption.Show worked answer →
Six marks for explained environmental impacts of energy use.
Burning fossil fuels to meet rising energy demand releases carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, which strengthens the greenhouse effect and drives climate change.
It also releases sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which cause acid rain that damages forests, lakes and buildings.
Extracting energy resources damages the environment too: mining and drilling scar the land, and oil spills pollute the sea and kill wildlife.
Air pollution from energy use also harms human health and reduces air quality in cities.
Markers reward several impacts, especially the link between fossil fuels, carbon dioxide and climate change, plus acid rain or extraction damage.
CCEA Unit 2 (style)6 marksExplain how increasing consumption leads to deforestation and its effects.Show worked answer →
Six marks for the link from consumption to deforestation to effects.
Rising demand for timber, paper, palm oil, beef and farmland, and for minerals and space, drives the clearing of forests, especially tropical rainforest.
Effects on the environment: loss of habitats and biodiversity as species lose their homes, soil erosion once the protective tree cover is gone, and disruption of the water cycle.
Effects on climate: trees that absorbed carbon dioxide are removed and often burned, so more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere, adding to climate change.
Markers reward the causes of deforestation linked to consumption, plus several effects covering habitat loss, soil erosion and climate change.
Related dot points
- Rising resource consumption, the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, and the meaning of the ecological footprint (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to resource consumption. Covers why the world is using more resources, the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, what an ecological footprint is, and why footprints differ so much between richer and poorer countries.
- The meaning of sustainability and the strategies used to manage resources and the environment sustainably (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to sustainable management. Covers what sustainability means, renewable energy and recycling, sustainable forestry and farming, and individual, local and global actions, and how to evaluate which strategies work best.
- The natural and human causes of climate change, its global and local effects, and the strategies used to manage it (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to climate change. Covers the natural and human causes, the enhanced greenhouse effect, the global and local effects on people and the environment, and the mitigation and adaptation strategies used to respond.
- The challenges of rapid urban growth in poorer countries, especially squatter settlements, and the strategies used to improve them (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to the challenges of cities in poorer countries. Covers why these cities grow so fast, the problems of squatter settlements and services, and the self-help, site-and-service and upgrading strategies used to improve them.
- The physical, historical, economic and political factors that cause uneven development between countries (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to the causes of uneven development. Covers the physical, historical, economic and political reasons some countries are far less developed than others, and how these factors can trap a country in poverty.
Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCSE Geography specification — CCEA (2017)
- CCEA GCSE Geography (2017) Unit 2 past papers and mark schemes — CCEA (2024)