Chapter 1

1. Chapter 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

2. What is Environmental Science? • The goals of environmental science are to learn: • how nature works. • how the environment effects us. • how we effect the environment. • how we can live more sustainably without degrading our life-support system.

3. Key Concepts • Growth and Sustainability • Resources and Resource Use • Pollution • Causes of Environmental Problems

4. Core Case Study: Living in an Exponential Age • Human population growth: J-shaped curve Figure 1-1

5. Fig. 1-2 p. 4 Population Growth • ExponentialGrowth • Doubling Time/Rule of 70

6. LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY … the study of how the earth works, how we interact with the earth and how to deal with environmental problems. Figure 1-2

7. Sustainability: The Integrative Theme • Sustainability, is the ability of earth’s various systems to survive and adapt to environmental conditions indefinitely. • The steps to sustainability must be supported by sound science. Figure 1-3

8. Environmentally Sustainable Societies • … meets basic needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without degrading the natural capital that supplies these resources. Figure 1-4

9. POPULATION GROWTH, ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT • Economic growth provides people with more goods and services. • Measured in gross domestic product (GDP) and purchasing power parity (PPP). • Economic development uses economic growth to improve living standards. • The world’s countries economic status (developed vs. developing) are based on their degree of industrialization and GDP-PPP.

10. Global Outlook • Comparison of developed and developing countries. Figures 1-5 and 1-6

11. Economic Development • Developed Countries • (US, Canada, Japan, Australia, NZ, Europe) • Developing Countries • Positive Aspects • (Life expectancy doubled, food production outpaces population growth, SDW increase, more goods/less materials, pollution decline in developed countries) • Negative Aspects • (Life expectancy and pollution control lag in developing countries, unsustainable natural resource use, population competing with wildlife habitats, self-inflict climate changes)

12. Globalization ECONOMIC- Global economy has grown from $6.6 billion in 1950 to $47 trillion in 2002. (Trade) Information and Communication (Internet) Environmental Effects (Transport of species/disease)

13. Aspects of Economic Growth • * Provides goods and services for people • * Is encouraged by population • * Is encouraged by increased consumption

14. RESOURCES • Perpetual: On a human time scale are continuous. • Renewable:On a human time scale can be replenished rapidly (e.g. hours to several decades). • Nonrenewable: On a human time scale are in fixed supply.

15. Resources • Perpetual • Renewable • Non-renewable Fig. 1-6 p. 9

16. Renewable Resources • Sustainable Yield • Environmental Degradation • (exceeding sustainable yield) • Tragedy of the Commons

17. Nonrenewable Resources • Exist as fixed quantity • Becomes economically depleted. • Recycling and reusing extends supply • Recycling processes waste material into new material. • Reuse is using a resource over again in the same form. Figure 1-8

18. Economic Depletion Fig. 1-7 p. 10 Non-Renewable Resources • Energy Resources • Metallic Resources • Non-MetallicResources • Reuse • Recycle

19. Our Ecological Footprint • Humanity’s ecological footprint has exceeded earths ecological capacity. Figure 1-7

20. Pollution • What is pollution? • What are the two types of pollution? Sources • Point • Nonpoint

21. POLLUTION • Found at high enough levels in the environment to cause harm to organisms. Figure 1-9

22. Effects of Pollution • Pollutants can have three types of unwanted effects: • 1) Can disrupt/degrade life support systems • 2) Can damage health and property • 3) Can create nuisances such as noise and unpleasant smells, tastes, and sights.

23. Dealing With Pollution • Prevention (Input Control) • Cleanup (Output Control)

24. Solutions: Prevention vs. Cleanup • Problems with relying on cleanup: • Temporary bandage without improvements in control technology. • Often removes a pollutant from one part of the environment to cause problems in another. • Pollutants at harmful levels can cost too much to reduce them to acceptable levels.

25. Major Environmental Problems Air Pollution Examples: urban air pollution, acid deposition, outdoor pollutants, indoor pollutants, noise

26. Major Environmental Problems Waste Production Examples: Solid waste, hazardous waste

27. Major Environmental Problems Water Pollution Examples: Sediment, nutrient overload, toxic chemicals, infectious agents, oxygen depletion, pesticides, oil spills, excess heat

28. Major Environmental Problems Biodiversity Depletion Examples: habitat destruction, habitat degradation, extinction

29. Major Environmental Problems Food Supply Problems Examples: Overgrazing, farmland loss and degradation, wetland loss and degradation, overfishing, coastal pollution, soil erosion, soil waterlogging, water shortages, poor nutrition

30. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS: CAUSES AND CONNECTIONS • The major causes of environmental problems are: • Population growth • Wasteful resource use • Poverty • Poor environmental accounting • Ecological ignorance

31. Connections between Environmental Problems and Their Causes Figure 1-14

32. Is Our Present Course Sustainable? Does Sustainable Development clash with Economic Development? Who should we believe?

33. Environmental Worldviews • Planetary Management • We’re in charge, • There’s always more, • All economic growth is good, • Success depends on understanding, controlling, and managing the earth for our benefit. • Environmental Wisdom • Nature’s in charge, • Some things are limited, • Technology and economic growth can be bad, • Success depends on learning how the earth adapts and integrating how nature acts in to how we act.

34. Poverty and Environmental Problems • 1 of 3 children under 5, suffer from severe malnutrition. Figure 1-12 and 1-13

35. Natural capital degradation • The exponential increasing flow of material resources through the world’s economic systems depletes, degrades and pollutes the environment. Figure 1-11

36. Resource Consumption and Environmental Problems • Underconsumption • Overconsumption • Affluenza: unsustainable addiction to overconsumption and materialism.