Chapter 1

Science and the Environment

Easter Island once had a prosperous culture

Easter Island

• Polynesians arrived in 1200 A.D.• They harvested trees for shelter, boats, and to

make room for agriculture– Also to move the statues

• By 1650 all trees were gone– Soil eroded– Workers rebelled against ruling class– Population fell from 10 – 20 thousand to only a

few thousand by 1700

Europeans arrive

• Dutch sailors landed on Easter Sunday, 1722

• Europeans introduced disease • Peruvians took slaves• By 1877, 111 Rapa Nui had survived

Recovery

• Annexed by Chile in late 1800’s• By mid 1900’s became tourist

destination• Effort to restore soil

Lessons

• Original inhabitants:– did not care for environment– Allowed population to increase beyond

capacity of natural resources to provide food

– Allowed wide quality of life gap between social classes

The state of the planet

• The world faces four unhealthy global trends(1) Increasing population growth and its

detrimental effects on human well-being

(2) A decline of vital ecosystem services

(3) The negative impacts of global climate change

(4) A loss of biodiversity

Increasing populations

• Today, there are more than 7 billion persons – The population grew by 2 billion in the last 25

years – By 2050, there could be 9.1 billion people– They will have to be fed, clothed, housed, and

have jobs • Most population increases will be in developing

countries – 985 million experience extreme poverty

($1 a day)

The world population

Global economic production

• Has doubled since 1986– Average gross domestic product (GDP) in

low-income countries has improved

• But real income in most developing countries is falling – Because of the large inequalities in wealth

between them and developed countries

The decline of ecosystems

• Ecosystems support human life and economies with goods and services

• These vital resources are not being managed well – Humans are depleting groundwater, degrading soils,

overfishing, and depleting forests

• The world economy depends on renewable resources – For fresh water, food, fuel, wood, leather, furs, etc.

• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing are responsible for 50% of all jobs worldwide

Ecosystems provide services

• They support human life and economic well-being– Waste breakdown, climate regulation, erosion

control, pest management, maintenance of nutrient cycles

• These goods and services are “ecosystem capital”

• Goods and services are provided as long as the ecosystems producing them are protected

Global climate change

• Global climate change is a serious problem – Due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases – Carbon dioxide is a by-product of burning fossil fuels

• Carbon dioxide is a natural component of the atmosphere – It is required by plants for photosynthesis – It helps prevent drastic cooling at night

• The greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide absorbs infrared (heat) energy radiated from Earth’s surface, which warms the lower atmosphere

Global temperature and carbon dioxide

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

• Established by the United Nations in 1988 • It reports its assessment of climate change every 5

years • The Fourth Assessment Report (FAR) (2007)

– Input from thousands of scientific experts and hundreds of authors

– This assessment produced convincing evidence that human-induced climate change is already severely impacting global climate and sea level

– Concluded that future changes could be catastrophic if emissions of greenhouse gases are not controlled

The Kyoto Protocol

• 166 nations met in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 – Most industrialized nations agreed to reduce

emissions

• Ratified in 2005, it is in force in most industrialized nations (lower ghg emissions to below 1990 levels)– The United States, the biggest emitter, withdrew in

2001

• Kyoto is only a first step – Levels of greenhouse gases will continue to rise– Short-term economic impacts conflict with the long-

term consequences of climate change

Environmental science

• Environmental science: the study of how the world works– Examines cause-and-effect relationships

underlying issues and problems that rise from our use of the natural world

• Encompasses many disciplines– History, engineering, geology, physics, medicine,

biology, sociology

• It is the most multidisciplinary of all sciences

The early environmental movement

• Has its roots in the late 19th century– Unique, wild aspects of the U.S. were disappearing

• In 1890, the frontier was closed• Conservation groups were formed

– National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club

• President Theodore Roosevelt placed 230 million acres under public protection

• A national environmental consciousness was stirring

Farming and drought produced the Dust Bowl

The Great Depression and World War II

• During the Great Depression, conservation provided environmental protection and jobs– The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built trails,

planted trees, and improved national parks and forests

• The years after World War II brought technological optimism– Wartime technology was used in peace time

applications– Environmental problems became obvious– Polluted air, fouled rivers and beaches, species

declines

The modern environmental movement

• Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring (1962)– She described consequences of pesticide

pollution

• The modern environmental movement demanded – Curtailment of pollution– Cleanup of polluted areas– Protection of pristine areas

• It began as a grassroots initiative

Environmentalism

• Wildlife advocates became active in the environmental movement– Environmental Defense Fund, Natural

Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, Union of Concerned Scientists

The Environmental Movement

• Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970

• Congress passed laws for pollution control and wildlife protection (Clean Air Act)

• Society has spent billions of dollars in pollution control

• The air and water are much cleaner than in the 1960s– Without the environmental movement, our air

and water would be a toxic brew

Sustainability

• A system is sustainable if it can continue indefinitely without depleting material or energy resources

• First applied to sustainable yields in forestry and fisheries

Sustainable societies

• A sustainable society is in balance with the natural world– Continues for generations– Does not deplete its resource base– Does not produce more pollution than nature

can absorb

Sustainable development

Sustainable development: development or progress that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs• Development: improvement of human

well-being

Stewardship

• Stewards care for something they do not own– The natural world or human culture– They will pass it on to the next generation

• Environmental stewardship– Recognizes that land ownership is temporary

• Stewardship deals with how to achieve sustainability– Actions to take and values and ethical

considerations

Who are the stewards?

• People who try to stop environmental destruction and pollution

• Rachel Carson, who wrote Silent Spring (1962)

• Dr. Wangari Maathai of Kenya, who founded the Green Belt Movement – The first Kenyan woman to earn a Ph.D.– Beaten and jailed for protesting government

corruption

Dr. Maathai: 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner

Stewardship involves everyday people

• They recycle, buy less-polluting cars, turn off lights in empty rooms, use less energy, don’t engage in conspicuous consumption

• They stay informed

Moving toward a sustainable future

• Globalization: the accelerating interconnectedness of human activities, ideas, and cultures

What are the pros and cons of globalization?

Review Question-1

A graph of human population growth to the present resembles

a. an S-shaped curve.b. a J-shaped curve.c. a diagonal line from bottom left to top right.d. a diagonal line from top left to bottom right.

Review Question-1 Answer

A graph of human population growth to the present resembles

a. an S-shaped curve.b. a J-shaped curve.c. a diagonal line from bottom left to top right.d. a diagonal line from top left to bottom right.

Review Question-2

A sustainable society

a. continues as always and assumes that things will work out for the best.

b. returns to a more primitive style of living.c. curtails all further development.d. meets the needs and aspirations of the

present without compromising those of the future

Review Question-2 Answer

A sustainable society

a. continues as always and assumes that things will work out for the best.

b. returns to a more primitive style of living.c. curtails all further development.d. meets the needs and aspirations of the

present without compromising those of the future.

Review Question-3

The former civilization of Easter Island collapsed because of

a. overwork from carving and transporting massive stone statues.

b. overpopulation and overexploitation of resources.

c. violent storms that swamped the island.d. contagious diseases carried by European

explorers.

Review Question-3 Answer

The former civilization of Easter Island collapsed because of

a. overwork from carving and transporting massive stone statues.

b. overpopulation and overexploitation of resources.

c. violent storms that swamped the island.d. contagious diseases carried by European

explorers.

Review Question-4

In her book _______, Rachel Carson presented a scenario of a future with dire consequences if pollution of the environment with DDT and other pesticides continued.

a. Silent Springb. The Millennium Reportc. Modern Environmentalismd. An Inconvenient Truth

Review Question-4 Answer

In her book _______, Rachel Carson presented a scenario of a future with dire consequences if pollution of the environment with DDT and other pesticides continued.

a. Silent Springb. The Millennium Reportc. Modern Environmentalismd. An Inconvenient Truth

Interpreting Graphs and Data-1According to Fig. 1-4, what relationship have global temperature

and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere had over the past 100 years?

a. As global temperatures rise, carbon dioxide levels tend to rise.

b. As global temperatures rise, carbon dioxide levels tend to fall.

c. There is no observable relationship between global temperatures and carbon dioxide levels.

Interpreting Graphs and Data-1 Answer

According to Fig. 1-4, what relationship have global temperature and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere had over the past 100 years?

a. As global temperatures rise, carbon dioxide levels tend

to rise.b. As global temperatures rise,

carbon dioxide levels tend to fall.

c. There is no observable relationship between global temperatures and carbon dioxide levels.

Thinking Environmentally-2

The accelerating interconnectedness of human activities, ideas, and cultures is called

a. sustainability.b. simplification.c. global warming.d. globalization.

Thinking Environmentally-2 Answer

The accelerating interconnectedness of human activities, ideas, and cultures is called

a. sustainability.b. simplification.c. global warming.d. globalization.