Environmental Science. What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?
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Transcript of Environmental Science. What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?
Environmental Science
What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?
What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?
SUSTAINABILITY
The ability of earth’s natural and human cultural systems to survive and adapt to changing
environmental conditions indefinitely
An environmentally sustainable society meets current and future basic resource needs of people in a just and equitable way without compromising
the environment for future generations
Key Principles of Sustainability
PRESERVING NATURAL CAPITAL • Natural resources• Renewable (renews in hrs – decades)• Nonrenewable (fixed quantities)
• Natural services• Functions of nature
RELIANCE ON SOLAR CAPITAL• Perpetual energy from the sun• Creates renewable energy
• Wind, hydropower, biomass
Environmental Sustainability and Economic Growth
The economy and the environment are closely linked• The environment contains all resources used in
the economy• The economy supports the development (and
preservation) of resources Environmentally sustainable economic growth
and development• Increasing productivity of goods and services
while improving the quality of life without degrading the earth’s natural capital
Key Natural Resources and Services
Fig. 1-3, p. 8
Environmental Sustainability – living off the earth’s natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital
Fig. 1-1, p. 1
Hunting and gathering
Agricultural revolution
Industrial revolution
Black Death—the Plague
Industrial revolution
Fig. 1-1, p. 5
World populationExponential Growth
Fig. 1-5, p. 10
Percentage of World's:
Population
Populationgrowth
Wealth andincome
Resourceuse
Pollutionand waste
18%
77 years
0.1%
85% 15%
88%
12%
75%
25%
Life expectancy
82%
1.5%
66 years
How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?
How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?
We are depleting and degrading more and more of the earth’s natural capital.
Sustainable yield • Applies to renewable resources• Highest use while maintaining supply
Environmental degradation• Use more than the sustainable yield• Exceed natural replacement rate
Fig. 1-6, p. 12
Since the beginning of agriculture, human activities have accelerated natural soil erosion -1 cm can take hundreds of years to form
Measuring Environmental Impact
Ecological footprint• Amount of biologically productive land and water
needed to supply renewable resources and adsorb the waste and pollution produced
• Ecological deficit• When ecological footprint exceeds biological
capacity• Currently exceeding earth’s biological capacity by
over 25%• Expected to reach 100% by 2050
Per capita ecological footprint
Fig. 1-8, p. 13
Stepped Art
Projected footprint
Ecological footprint
Earth’s ecological capacity
Total Ecological Footprint (million hectares) and share of Global Ecological Capacity (%)
Per Capita Ecological Footprint (hectares per person)
Why do we have Environmental Problems?
Fig. 1-9, p. 15Environmental problems are growing exponentially
Pollution is an obvious environmental problem
What is pollution?• Any chemical or physical change in the
environment – harmful to living organisms• Natural – volcano• Human induced - industry
• Point sources – single, identifiable• Smokestack, oil spill, car exhaust
• Nonpoint sources – dispersed, difficult to identify
• Fertilizer runoff, acid rain
Unwanted effects of pollution?
Solutions to Pollution
Five basic causes of the environmental problems.
Fig. 1-10, p. 16
Stepped Art
Causes of Environmental Problems
Trying to manage nature without knowing enoughabout it
Excludingenvironmental costs from market prices
PovertyUnsustainableresource use
Populationgrowth
By the end of the century – resource consumption by the growing population will be responsible for loss of 1/3 to ½ of all known species
Harmful Effects of Poverty
Fig. 1-12, p. 16
Fig. 1-11, p. 16
Number of people(% of world's population)
0.84 billion (13%)
1 billion (15%)
1.1 billion (16%)
1.1 billion (16%)
2 billion (30%)
2 billion (30%)
2.6 billion (39%)
Enough foodfor good health
Adequatehousing
Adequatehealth care
Clean drinkingwater
Electricity
Enough fuel forheating and cooking
Adequatesanitation facilities
Lack ofaccess to
Environmental Effects of “Affluence”
Harmful effects• Obtain resources from anywhere in the world• Don’t count environmental cost of resource use • High consumption and waste of resources• False advertising – more makes you happy• “Affluenza”: The addiction to overconsumption of
material goods
Beneficial effects• Concern for environmental quality• Provide money for environmental causes• Reduced population growth
Moving Towards an Environmentally Sustainable Society
Fig. 1-14, p. 20
Increasing resource use
Sustainability EmphasisCurrent Emphasis
Pollution prevention
Waste prevention
Protecting habitat
Environmental restoration
Less resource waste
Population stabilization
Protecting natural capital
Waste disposal(bury or burn)
Pollution cleanup
Protecting species
Environmentaldegradation
Depleting and degrading natural capital
Population growth
Fig. 1-13, p. 20
Population Control
Reliance onSolar Energy
Biodiversity
Nutrient Cycling
What Are the Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability?
AP - Chapter 1 test - Free Response
Developed countries are the largest consumers and wasters of resources (overconsumption) while poorer
developing countries under consume. This imbalance of resource utilization has led to a growing
condition known as affluenza.
1. Define affluenza in terms of sustainability. Where does the problem exist and what are some of the
causes?2. How can affluenza be implicated in having both negative and positive effects on the environment?