Environmental Science 12th Edition by William Cunningham,Mary Ann Cunningham

Exercise 11

In general, income and standard of living increase with energy availability. This makes sense because cheap energy makes it possible to heat and air condition our homes, travel easily and frequently, obtain fresh foods out of season, have a wide variety of entertainment, work, and educational opportunities, and use machines to extend our productivity. However, energy use per capita isn't strictly tied to quality of life. Some countries use energy extravagantly without corresponding increases in income or standard of living. Look at the graph on this page and answer the following questions:

What do you think might explain these values