Chapter 1: Environmental

Problems, Their Causes and Sustainability

Introductory definitions

Environment: Everything around us (includes living and

nonliving), with which we interact Environmentalism: the SOCIAL movement

dedicated to protecting the Earth’s life-support systemsMore political and ethical (not based on science)Otherwise known as the “Green Movement”

Humans are part of nature.

Environment: Includes all relationships like food chains, parasitism, mutualism

Humans (and all animals) depend upon the environment for air, water, food, shelter and energy

1-1 What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?

Concept 1-1A Our lives and economies depend on energy from the sun (solar capital) and on natural resources and natural services (natural capital) provided by the earth.

Concept 1-1B Living sustainability means living off the earth’s natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it.

Environmental Science is…

A study of the connections in nature and how humans interact with the environment

It is an interdisciplinary science connecting information and ideas from:Natural sciences: (emphasis on ecology),

biology, chemistry, earth/space, climate, zoology

Social sciences: economics, politics, demography

Humanities: history, ethics, philosophy

Connections in Nature

5 Major connections:How nature worksHow the environment affects usHow we affect the environmentHow to deal with environmental problemsHow to live more sustainably

Major Fields of Study Related to Environmental Science

Page 7

(There are some vocab words to know in this section… See list)

Sustainability is the central theme of this book Natural capital:

1) Natural resources○ Ex: oil, water, wind, soil

2) Natural services○ Ex: nutrient cycling

Natural capital is supported by Solar capital

Must study the degradation of natural capital through human activities

Scientific solutions must be sought

Fig. 1-3, p. 8

Air

Air purification

Climate control

Water

Water purification

Waste treatment

Nonrenewableminerals

iron, sand)

Natural gasOil

Soil

Soil renewal

Nonrenewableenergy

(fossil fuels)

Solarcapital

Land

Food production

Nutrientrecycling

Coal seam

Life(biodiversity)

Populationcontrol

Pestcontrol

Renewableenergy

(sun, wind,water flows)UV protection

(ozone layer)

Natural resourcesNatural services

NATURAL CAPITAL

Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services

Fig. 1-3, p. 8

Nutrient Cycling

Human activities can degrade natural capital

 By using renewable resources faster than can be replenished (ie fish, trees)

And by using nonrenewable resources up

Solutions

Solutions to problems must be scientific + politicalOften trade-offs are required because

solutions may require economic losses

The Goal:

Environmentally sustainable societies protect natural capital and live off its income.

Currently, humans are degrading or over-using about 62% of earths' natural services, but we know how to change that.

1-2 How Can Environmentally Sustainable Societies Grow Economically?

Concept 1-2 Societies can become more environmentally sustainable through economic development dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone without degrading the earth's life support systems.

Economic Gap

There is a wide economic gap between rich and poor countries

Economic growth is measured by a percentage of change in a country's gross domestic product (GDP): the annual market value of all goods and services produced by all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic, operating within a country.

Changes in growth

Changes in economic growth: measured by per capita GDP

Purchasing power parity (PPP) plus GDP are combined for per capita GDP PPP

Compare developed with developing countries

Comparison of Developed and Developing Countries, 2008

Developed: highly industrialized, high per capita GDP PPP; The developed countries (make up 1.2 billion people) are: US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe.

Developing: low income, high population growth, high poverty; ex: Mexico, African countries, Latin America (5.5 billion people)

Some are middle-income (compared to the world, not like middle-class in the US) countries such as China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Thailand, and Mexico.

11% of the world's population lives in one of the 49 countries called "low-income, least developed countries". (See supplement 3, Figure 2 for a map)

97% of the projected increase in the population from 2008-2050 is expected to take place in the developing countries which are not equipped to handle the growth.

More than half of the people on earth live on less than $2 a day. One in 6 live on less than $1 a day - desperately poor.

These are UN categorizations (“developing” or “developed”). Maybe not relevant when looking at data from last 60 years.

Which kind of growth is good? Some economists call for continuing all types of

economic growth, including increased production of foods which help people live longer, healthier lives.

This should cause a resulting increase in wealth which will trickle down to countries and people at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Others call for limiting economic growth to only such growth as will be environmentally sustainable. This would use political and economic systems to discourage harmful and unsustainable growth which degrades natural capital.

Nonrenewable resources Exist in fixed quantity: coal, oil, metal ores,

salts, sand. When these are depleted, a new substitute material must be found.

Some materials can be reused or recycled. Reuse examples - wash and refill glass or metal bottles, etc. Recycle - collect, melt down, reform plastics or metals.

Coal and oil can't be recycled or reused once burned.

Technically coal and oil are renewed, but over millions of years

1-3 How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth? Concept 1-3 As our ecological footprints grow, we are

depleting and degrading more of the earth’s natural capital.

Eco footprint: amount of biologically productive land/water needed to supply people with sufficient resources and the ability of the people to absorb and recycle wastes

Per capita ecological footprint is average for an individual in a particular country/area.

If the ecological footprint exceeds the biological capacity for replenishment of resources, this is called ecological deficit.

Some Sources Are Renewable Resource

Directly available for useNot directly available for use

Perpetual resourceSolar energy

Some Sources Are Renewable Renewable resource

E.g., forests, grasslands, fresh air, fertile soilcan be replenished fairly quickly (hours up to

hundred years)

Sustainable yieldhighest rate @ which renew resources can be

used indef w/out reducing available supply Environmental degradation

when availability supply begins to shrink

Some Resources Are Not Renewable Nonrenewable resources exist in a fixed quantity; can be renewed in

million to billion yrs (maybe) Energy resourcesMetallic mineral resourcesNonmetallic mineral resources –salt,sand

Reuse-ability for us to use resource over and over in same form (ex: glass bottle)

Recycle-ability for us to collect and process waste material into new materials (ex: alum cans – alum foil)

Our Ecological Footprints Are Growing

Ecological footprint concept Biological capacityEcological footprint

Natural Capital Use and Degradation

WWF estimated humanity's ecological footprint exceeded earth's biological capacity by about 25% in 2003, and 88% for the wealthiest countries. US had the overall largest footprint.

UAE has largest per capita footprint, with the US coming in second. If everyone used resources the way we do in the US, the planet could only support 1.3 billion humans. (Currently the population is above 7 billion and rising. Uh oh. )

If we are living beyond the planets ecological capacity, why do you think the human population is still growing exponentially? How is that possible?

Cultural Changes Have Increased Our Ecological Footprints

Until 12,000 years ago: hunters and gatherers

Three major cultural eventsAgricultural revolutionIndustrial-medical revolutionInformation-globalization revolution

China - By 2020, will have leading economy in terms of GDP PPP. Pop will be 1.5 bil by 2033.

1-4 What Is Pollution and What Can We Do about It?

Concept 1-4 Preventing pollution is more effective and less costly than cleaning up pollution.

Pollution is anything in the environment that is harmful to the health, survival or activities of humans or other organisms. Can be natural - volcanic eruptions, etc. Or caused by humans - burning coal, discharging chemicals into rivers, oceans, etc.

Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources Sources of pollution

Point○ E.g., smokestack

Nonpoint○ E.g., pesticides blown into the air

Main type of pollutantsBiodegradableNondegradable

Point-Source Air Pollution

Biodegradable?

Biodegradable pollutants - can break down naturally over time.

Nondegradable are harmful for long periods of time. Lead, mercury, arsenic, plastics - nondegradable.

Fertilizers, sewage, newspaper - biodegradable.

Effects of pollution

Disrupt or degrade life support systems for humans and others.

Damage wildlife, human health and property.

Create nuisances - smell, taste, sight.

We Can Clean Up Pollution or Prevent It Pollution cleanup (output pollution

control)

Pollution prevention (input pollution control)

Cleanup/control?

Pollution cleanup or output pollution control - how can we take care of pollution already being made?

Pollution prevention or input pollution control - how can we change the process to cause less pollution?

Both methods are needed.

Problems with cleanup only (rather than output control)

Only temporary bandage unless population and use stop increasing.

Cleanup often removes pollutants in one place by putting them in another place, directly or indirectly (burn, bury, dump - all cause more problems).

Once dispersed, pollutants are hard and expensive to clean up.

1-5 Why Do We Have Environmental Problems? (1)

Concept 1-5A Major causes of environmental problems are population growth, wasteful and unsustainable resource use, poverty, exclusion of environmental costs of resource use from the market prices of goods and services, and attempts to manage nature with insufficient knowledge.

Concept 1-5B People with different environmental worldviews often disagree about the seriousness of environmental problems and what we should do about them.

Experts Have Identified Five Basic Causes of Environmental Problems

Population growth

Wasteful and unsustainable resource use

Poverty

Failure to include the harmful environmental costs of goods and services in their market prices

Insufficient knowledge of how nature works

Causes of Environmental Problems

Poverty Has Harmful Environmental and Health Effects

Population growth affected

Malnutrition

Premature death

Limited access to adequate sanitation facilities and clean water

Some Harmful Results of Poverty

Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial Environmental Effects

Harmful environmental impact due toHigh levels of consumptionUnnecessary waste of resources

Affluence can provide funding for:Developing technologies to reduce pollution,

environmental degradation, resource waste

Affluence is more harmful to the environment than poverty! Why? attitude causes affluent populations to over-consume and waste resources.

In the US, air and water quality have improved since 1970, and some endangered species are coming back from the brink of extinction.

Prices Do Not Include the Value of Natural Capital

Companies do not pay the environmental cost of resource use

Goods and services do not include the harmful environmental costs

Companies receive tax breaks and subsidies

Economy may be stimulated but there may be a degradation of natural capital

Different Views about Environmental Problems and Their Solutions

Planetary management: nature exists to meet our needs and we are separate from it.

Stewardship: we should manage the earth for our benefit, but we have an ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible managers.

Environmental wisdom: We are a part of and totally dependent on nature, which exists for all species.

Environmental worldviews: the set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what you think your role in the world should be

Environmental ethics: our beliefs about what is right and wrong and how we treat the environment.

We Can Learn to Make Informed Environmental Decisions

Scientific research

Identify problem and multiple solutions

Consider human values

Steps Involved in Making an Environmental Decision

We Can Work Together to Solve Environmental Problems

Social capitalEncourages

○ Openness and communication○ Cooperation○ Hope

Discourages○ Close-mindedness○ Polarization○ Confrontation and fear

1-6 What Are Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability?

Concept 1- 6 Nature has sustained itself for billions of years by using solar energy, biodiversity, population control, and nutrient cycling—lessons from nature that we can apply to our lifestyles and economies.

It seems we have 50-100 years to make crucial changes.

Studying Nature Reveals 4 Scientific Principles of Sustainability

Solutions For

Environmental or

Sustainability

Revolution