How does elevation affect population?

How does elevation affect population?

While there is a gradual increase in the minimum population density (for a given elevation) with increasing elevation, the maximum population density decreases very rapidly with increasing elevation in the lowest 300 m and fluctuates widely at higher elevations.

How is elevation and climate related to population density?

Consequently, average population density gradually increases with decreasing elevation below 800 m, with an abrupt increase in average density below 100 m. The number of people at each elevation (taken from Fig. 2a) divided by the occupied land area at each elevation (taken from Fig.

What is population elevation?

Abstract. The global distribution of the human population by elevation is quantified here. As of 1994, an estimated 1.88 × 109 people, or 33.5% of the world’s population, lived within 100 vertical meters of sea level, but only 15.6% of all inhabited land lies below 100 m elevation.

What happens high altitude?

At high altitudes, oxygen molecules are further apart because there is less pressure to “push” them together. This effectively means there are fewer oxygen molecules in the same volume of air as we inhale. In scientific studies, this is often referred to as “hypoxia”.

Why does it get colder at higher altitudes?

As altitude increases, the amount of gas molecules in the air decreases—the air becomes less dense than air nearer to sea level. High-altitude locations are usually much colder than areas closer to sea level. This is due to the low air pressure.

Which region is the least densely populated?

The island of Greenland is the world’s least densely populated place. 148.9 million square kilometers (57.5 million square miles) of land is a huge area….The 50 Least Densely Populated Places in the World.

Rank	Country	Population Density (pop./km²)
1	Greenland (Denmark)	0.0259
2	Svalbard and Jan Mayen (Norway)	0.0434

Is living in high altitude healthy?

Researchers have found that people living at higher altitudes have a lower chance of dying from heart disease and live longer. They may also produce new blood vessels that create new highways for blood flow into the heart.”

Is there less oxygen at higher altitudes?

As altitude increases, the amount of gas molecules in the air decreases—the air becomes less dense than air nearer to sea level. Decreased air pressure means that less oxygen is available for breathing.

How is the distribution of human population related to altitude?

Understanding the distribution of human population with respect to altitude is a first step toward understanding the balance of benefits and hazards. We integrated global data on the geographical distribution of the human population with digital elevation models of the continents.

How does elevation affect the amount of precipitation?

Areas of high elevation, such as mountain ranges, often drain the air of its moisture. As the air rises up the mountain, it cools. As the air cools, it loses its ability to hold water. The water then condenses out of the air and falls as precipitation. The high altitudes of mountains often receive a significant amount of precipitation.

How are people adapting to high altitude environments?

This adaptation means irreversible, long-term physiological responses to high-altitude environments, associated with heritable behavioural and genetic changes. While the rest of the human population would suffer serious health consequences, the indigenous inhabitants of these regions thrive well in the highest parts of the world.

How many people live at a higher elevation than sea level?

An estimated 81.6 million people worldwide are estimated to live at an elevation higher than 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level, of which 21.7 million are in Ethiopia, 12.5 million in China, 11.7 million in Colombia, 7.8 million in Peru and 6.2 million in Bolivia.