IB 105 - AnnouncementsAugust 28, 2006

If you missed lectures last week:

1. Pick up a copy of the syllabus

2. Take the pre-test

envbio@life.uiuc.edu

www.life.uiuc.edu/ib/105

Introduction to Environmental Sciences

Lecture Objectives:

1. Define the field of Environmental Science

2. Be introduced to local, regional and global environmental issues

3. Trace the history of Environmental Sciences in the United States

28 August, 2006

What is environmental science?

Environmental Science – An interdisciplinary area of study that includes applied and theoretical aspects of human impact on the world

Environment – everything that affects an organism in its lifetime

Ecology – the study of the interrelationship between organisms and their environment

Env. Science

Ecology

Why should I care?

Do you want:

the air you breathe to be clean?

the water you drink to be unpolluted?

the food you eat to be healthy?

not to be exposed to toxic wastes?

Interdisciplinary

Human impact on the natural world

Why study Environmental Science?

Environment affects human quality of life

Humans cause problems for the natural world

At what scale are environmental issues important?

LocalRegionalGlobal

Each scale has its own issues.

Who is responsible at each scale?

Local Environmental Issues

How much and where to build

Local leaf-burning bans

• Often blend into regional or global issues

Examples include:

Local access to sanitary freshwater

Regional Environmental Issues

The Wilderness North

Wilderness – areas with minimal human influence

Much of the land is government owned

How much are beautiful scenery and cool wildlife worth?

Rich in natural resources such as timber, oil and natural gas

U.S. Senate kills Bush plan for Alaska drillingFriday, April 19, 2002 By Tom Doggett, Reuters

WASHINGTON — In a big defeat for the Bush administration's national energy plan, the U.S. Senate on Thursday killed a White House proposal to let oil companies drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

President George W. Bush, a former Texas oilman, made drilling in ANWR the centerpiece of his proposed U.S. energy policy. The White House plan also encourages more U.S. production of natural gas, coal, and nuclear power. "At a time when oil and gas prices are rising, the Senate today missed an opportunity to lead America to greater energy independence,”

Conflict: Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas exploration will have severe impacts to wildlife.

Alternate resolution? increasing federally-mandated fuel efficiency ratings for SUVs - sport utility vehicles.

The Agricultural Middle

Once was wilderness, now farms and cities

Large parcels of land are privately owned

Agriculture contributes to air pollution, soil erosion and water pollution

Feminized Frogs Study Finds Common Pesticide isBlamed for MutationsBy Randolph E. Schmid The Associated Press April 15, 2002

Male frogs exposed to even very low doses of a common weed killer can develop multiple sex organs — sometimes both male and female — researchers in California have discovered.

"I was very much surprised," at the impact of atrazine on developing frogs, said Tyrone B. Hayes of the University of California at Berkeley. Atrazine is the most commonly used weed killer in North America, he said, and can be found in rainwater, snow runoff and ground water.

The Environmental Protection Agency permits up to three parts per billion of atrazine in drinking water. But Hayes' team found it affected frogs at doses as small as 0.1 part per billion.

As many as 20 percent of frogs exposed during their early development produced multiple sex organs or had both male and female organs.

The Dry West

Federally owned land, leased for ranching

Access to freshwater a major issue

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…

The Forested West

Governments and large commercial timber industries own much of the land

Should these ancient trees be cut?

Should these animals be threatened?

The OregonianRuling on spotted owl may hinder logging.Sunday, August 08, 2004 JOE ROJAS-BURKE

An appeals panel orders federal land managers to use a stricter standard for protecting critical habitat. In a ruling likely to further tie up logging in Northwest forests, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said federal fish and wildlife officials must apply a stricter standard to protect critical habitat for the northern spotted owl and other threatened or endangered species.

The ruling late last week could force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to withdraw approval for some timber sales within the 6.9 million acres of federal forest designated as critical habitat for the spotted owl. More broadly, it could raise the bar for approval of logging and many other actions on any critical habitat by requiring federal agencies to consider the potential to impede recovery, not just survival of species

Pacific YewTaxus brevifolia

Little was known about Pacific yew prior to the discovery of taxol and, for the most part, the tree had been regarded as a non-commercial weed species. Taxol was initially extracted from the bark of the Pacific yew Taxus brevifolia in the 1960's. Since that time its use as an anti-cancer drug has become well established. Taxol is now also being used in a wide variety non-cancer related medical applications. The Pacific yew and taxol is a compelling example of the unknown values in forests.

http://www.uihealthcare.com

The Great Lakes and Industrial Northeast

Urban sprawl is a major environmental issue

Great lakes have been severely impacted

Many large cities

Zebra mussels starving out Great Lakesnative fishesWednesday, June 20, 2001By Environmental News Network

Whitefish in the northern part of Lake Michiganseeking some of their favorite food - tiny crustaceansknown as Diporeia - might go hungry, say scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Whitefish are not the only fish being starved. Fish such as sculpin, smelt, and chub, which are prey for trout and salmon, are also being affected. These smaller fish feed heavily on Diporeia and their feeding patterns, numbers, and distributions are changing because of the loss of the small shrimp-like crustaceans.

U.S. State Department(http://www.state.gov/g/oes/ocns/inv/cs/2304.htm)

The zebra mussel’s penchant for suctioning to hard surfaces has caused technical problems for the American power industry. Water intake pipes are often encrusted with thousands of zebra mussels which increase sedimentation and corrosion of the pipes, as well as restricting or even stopping water flow. Maintenance of pipes clogged with zebra mussels costs the power industry up to $60 million per year and temporary shutdowns due to insufficient water flow can cost over $5,000 per hour. The total cost to the United States of the zebra mussel invasion is estimated at $3.1 billion over the next ten years.

The Diverse South

Has many of the problems of the other regions

Coastlines and marine resources are impacted by increased development

Poverty leads to the increased industrial development at the expense of other values

CNN'Dead zone' spreads across Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, August 4, 2004 Posted: 7:26 PM EDTThe "dead zone" reappears each summer suffocating sealife.

HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- A huge "dead zone" of water so devoid of oxygen that sea life cannot live in it has spread across 5,800 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico this summer in what has become an annual occurrence caused by pollution. The extensive area of uninhabitable water may be contributing indirectly to an unusual spate of shark bites along the Texas coast, experts said. A scientist at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium said Tuesday measurements showed the dead zone extended from the mouth of the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana 250 miles west to near the Texas border and was closer to shore than usual because winds and currents. In the last 30 years, the dead zone has become an annual summer phenomenon, fed by rising use of nitrate-based fertilizers by farmers in the Mississippi watershed, Rabalais said.

Global Environmental Issues

Pollution does not respect political boundaries!!

BBCSunday, 27 August 2006

Third of China 'hit by acid rain'

One third of China is suffering from acid rain caused by rapid industrial growth, an official report quoted by the state media says.

Pollution levels have risen and air quality has deteriorated, the report found. This comes despite a pledge by the authorities to clean up the air.

Water 'wake-up call' given by UNBy Imogen Foulkes BBC correspondentThursday, 26 August, 2004, 11:46 GMT The UN says the world faces a silent emergency because of the continued lack of clean water and sanitation.

A new report reveals that more than 40% of the world's population does not have even the most basic sanitation. More than one billion people have no access to clean water sources, the document adds.

If things continue as they are, half a billion people will still have no sanitation nine years from now. And while the world is on target to meet the clean drinking water goals, population growth will probably outstrip the improvements. This would leave 800 million people drinking unsafe water in 2015. Some 4,000 children die daily from illnesses caused by unclean water

Example Exam Question

In the southwestern United States, a primary environmental issue throughout most of the region is:

1) Extensive deforestation

2) Too many cornfields

4) Urban sprawl

3) Too little water

History of Environmentalism in the US

Naturalist Philosophers (mid 1800s)

•Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in 1836, “behind nature, throughout nature, spirit is present”

•Nature has intrinsic aesthetic and spiritual values

•Henry David Thoreau published his classic, Walden, in 1854, in which he recounts his life in the woods

"Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to

the web, he does to himself."

Chief Seattle, 1854.

“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Ancient Indian Proverb

Pragmatic Resource Conservation (Mid to late 1800s, early 1900s)

Man and Nature by George Perkins Marshpublished 1864

• Marsh traveled widely and saw environmental damage elsewhere in the world

•His book warned of the ecological consequences of the “conquest” of the frontier—resources are not endless

•Natural forest reserves established in the US in 1873 to protect dwindling timer supplies

•Preservation of nature for future consumption

Pragmatic Resource Conservation

•In 1905, then president Theodore Roosevelt appointed Gifford Pinchot as chief of the Forest Service

•Pinchot argued for forest protection “not because they are beautiful or because they shelter wild creatures of the wilderness, but only to provide homes and jobs for people”

•“…for the greatest good, for the greatest number for the longest time”

Moral and aesthetic nature preservation

•Yellowstone National Park established in 1872 (National Park Service not established until 1916)

•Preservation of nature for nature’s sake

(Mid to late 1800s, early 1900s)

•John Muir, early environmental activist strenuously opposed Pinchot’s policies

John Muir

•Lobbied to create national park system (Formed in 1916, 2 years after his death)

•Fought for the establishment of Yosemite and King’s Canyon National Parks

•“The world, we are told, was made for man. A presumption that is totally unsupported by the facts…”

•Formed Sierra Club in 1892 (http://www.sierraclub.org/)

Interest in environmental issues lagged behind more immediate issues during the early part of the 1900s

By the mid 1900s, there was growing concern about heath and ecological damage caused by pollution

Aldo Leopold

•Founded the field of game management

•His most famous publication A Sand County Almanac was published in 1949, a year after his death

•Chapter called “The Land Ethic” set the foundation for “modern” conservation

•Warned about the consequences of pesticide use (DDT)

Rachael Carson

•Published Silent Spring in 1962

•Book marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement

April 22th, 1970 – First Earth Day20 million people in 2,000 communities marched to demand improved environmental quality

Environmentalism in the 1970s:

Establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency

Clean Air Act

Endangered Species Act

Clean Water Act

Safe Drinking Water Act

Environmentalism in the 1980s:

•Backlash against the environmental movement

•Increased resource use on public lands

•Federal funding for energy conservation and renewable resources cut

•Relaxed federal air and water quality standards

Late 1980s – “Wise-use” movement

Ron Arnold major proponent, wrote “The Wise-use Agenda”

•Replace National Park Service with privately operated parks

•Remove restrictions on wetland development

•Cut all remaining old growth forests and replace with tree farms

•Open all national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, to off-road vehicles, commercial development, mining, and drilling for oil

At the same time (1980s), visible environmental problems pushed environmental issues to the forefront

Exxon Valdez oil spill

Hypodermic needles and other toxic waste washing up on beaches in NY and NJ

At the same time (1980s), visible environmental problems pushed environmental issues to the forefront

1983 EPA and National Academy of Sciences Report warns of environmental problems associated with global warming

Thinning ozone layer over Antarctica

Global environmental citizenship - 1990s

1997 Kyoto ProtocolNations pledged to reduce emissions US signed but did not ratify the protocol

1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro172 Governments participatedFocus on Climate Change and Biological Diversity

Global environmental citizenship1990s to present

•Clinton administration protected more land as national monuments in lower 48 states than did any other administration

•Increase awareness by the general public regarding issues of biodiversity, invasive species, global change, etc.

•UN names 2003 as the International Year of Freshwater

2000-present: Current Administration often comes under attack from Environmental Groups

•Favors increased use of resources on Federal lands (e.g., “Healthy Forest” initiative)

•Revisions to the Clean Air Act that allow increased pollution

•VP Cheney: Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.

What do you think?

The environment should be protected:

For the most effective future use of natural resources by people

For nature’s sake

Not at all, or only when it does not come at an expense to humans

Points to know:

1. Name 5 disciplines that environmental science encompasses.

2. Know the major environmental concerns of the 6 major regions of North America.

3. How do environmental issues become a global concern?

4. For each person, classify their environmental view as “nature”, “conservation” or “consumption”:

Ron Arnold Ralph Waldo Emerson John Muir

Rachael Carson Aldo Leopold Gifford Pinchot

Dick Cheney George Perkins Marsh Henry David Thoreau

5. Know the environmental issues (generally, and at least 2 specifically) that occurred in:

1970’s 1980’s 1990’s 2000-present