Chapter 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability Janice Padula Clinton Community...
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Transcript of Chapter 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability Janice Padula Clinton Community...
Chapter 1
Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
Janice PadulaClinton Community College
What is Environmental Science?
def. Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary study of how the earth works, how we are affected by and influencing our environments changes, how we deal with the results of change, and what are overall responsibilities are to incorporate science to help solve the environmental problems we face.
Seven Basic Issues
We will be studying:
1. Population Growth
2. Economic Growth & Development
3. Resource Use
4. Extinction & Biodiversity
5. Global Climate Changes
6. Pollution
7. Poverty
World Vital Events Per Time Unit: 2008
Time Births Deaths Increase
Year 133,398,951 55,503,922 77,895,029
Month 11,116,579 4,625,327 6,491,252
Day 364,478 151,650 212,828
Hour 15,187 6,319 8,868
Minute 253 105 148
Second 4.2 1.8 2.5
Economic Growth & Development
def. Economic growth is the increase in ability to provide people with goods & services.
def. Economic development is the improvement of living standards by economic growth.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
def. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total market value in dollars of goods & services produced within that country or territory per year.
GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + exports - imports
Gross National Product (GNP)
def. Gross National Product (GNP) = Gross National Income (GNI) is the total market value in dollars of goods & services produced both inside and outside of the country + the net income of citizens earnings abroad per year.
Resources
def. Resources are anything living or non-living that people required to serve their needs or desires.
• Perpetual resources - inexhaustible• Renewable resources - can regenerate• Non-renewable resources - can’t replenish• Common-property resources (free access
resources) – free to all & can be destroyed
Sustainable Yield
def. Sustainable yield is the highest rate at which a renewable resource can be used and kept sustained.
ex. The use of a resource is at a dynamic equilibrium or balance.
Environmental Degradation
def. The destruction or depletion of a renewable resource past the point of being sustained.
ex. The rate of use is far greater than the rate of replacement (out of balance).
Extinction & Biodiversity
• Extinction is the cessation of existence of a species thus reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point).
• Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth.
WikipediaThe Dodo, shown here in a 1651 illustration by Jan Savery, is an often-cited example of modern extinction.
Extinction
Global Climate Change
• Discussion 1 - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/science/earth/22conv.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
• The Roadmap - http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_13/application/pdf/cp_bali_action.pdf
• An Inconvenient Truth
Pollution
def. Undesirable change in chemical, biological, or physical characteristics of a wide variety of resources such as water, air, and food that can adversely affect our health and reproduction as well as that of other species on earth.
Major Environmental Problems
• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Waste Production
• Biodiversity Depletion
• Food Supply Problems
Fig 1-9 on page 10
Pollution
Point Source = single identifiable source that releases pollutants into the environment
ex. Identifying pollution in Cumberland Bay as pitch from Georgia Pacific
Non-point Source = large dispersed areas that release pollutants into the environment
ex. Damage to trees in the Adirondacks
Pollution Prevention
Pollution prevention allows input controls
• Prevents pollutants from forming or being released into the environment
• Prevents wide scale pollution or improves it’s sustainability
Pollution Clean-up
Pollution clean-up provides output controls
• Abatement plan – a plan to improve the quality of a site or area by implementing a variety of procedures or processes
• Removes or reduces the overall level of pollution
Poverty
def. Poverty is the inability to meet the basic needs for food, adequate water, clothing and shelter.– One out of every 5 children suffer from
malnutrition– 13,700 children daily die prematurely from
starvation and infectious diseases– Half the worlds population is struggling to
survive on less than $3US/day– Rich countries could eliminate poverty within 10
years if they shared their wealth