IPAT (environmental Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology) is deeply embedded into the mind of pretty much any student who’s ever taken an Environmental Studies course. Previously, I pointed ...

The IPAT formula, they said, can help us realize that our cumulative impact on the planet is not just in population numbers, but also in the increasing amount of natural resources each person uses.

The IPAT equation (environmental Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology) has another weakness that is derived, yet different, from its presentation as a simple multiplication of three terms. To ...