Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

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

2. “An Exponential Age” Exponential Growth- Quantity increases at a constant rate per unit of time. Between 1950 and 2004, the world’s population increased from 2.5 billion to 6.4 billion. Almost ½ of the world population survive on less than $3.00 (U.S.) a day.

3. More Exponential Growth • Because of low income, many must degrade the environment to survive. • It is estimated that the earth’s species are becoming extinct at an exponential rate of 0.1% to 1% every year.

4. 1-1 Sustainability -The Key Environmental Issues • Population growth • Resource use and waste • Poverty • Loss of biological diversity • Global climate change Solutions have been suggested for all of these, but it will take a few decades.

5. Environment, Ecology and Environmental Science • Environment- Anything that affects a living organism • Ecology- Biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environments

6. What It’s All About • Environmental Science: • Physical Sciences • Social Sciences • Describes how the earth works and how we interact with it • Combines natural world with the cultural world

7. Environmentalism • Social movement to protect earth’s life support systems • Members Include- ecologists, conservationists, preservationists, restorationists and environmentalists.

8. The Sun and the Earth • Solar Energy (Solar Capital)- • Renewable • Converted to chemical energy • Natural Resources (Natural Capital)- • Air, water, soil, rangeland, forest, wildlife, etc. • These resources and ecological services sustain and support life

9. Sustainable Society • Meets the basic needs of all people while not affecting the future generations’ ability to do so. • Living Sustainable- • Living off income replenished by soils, plants, air, and water. No depletion of earth’s natural capital.

10. How We Are Unsustainable • Environmentalists and scientists claim that we are depleting and degrading the earth’s natural capital. • The rate at which we degrade this capital is constantly accelerating.

11. 1-2 Population Growth

12. Population Growth, Economic Growth, Globalization • The world’s population grows at the exponential rate of 1.25% every year. • 219,000 people were added to the population every day in 2004. 80 million throughout the year. • In Rwanda, women bear an average of 6.1 children.

13. Economic Growth vs. Economic Development • Economic Growth: increase in the capacity of a country to provide people with goods and services. • Measured by GDP (gross domestic product) • Standard of living is measured by a change in per capita GDP

14. Economic Development • The improvement of living standards by economic growth. • Determines whether a country is developed or not. Based on degree of industrialization and per capita GDP • Developed nations have 1.2 billion people • Undeveloped have about 5.2 billion people

15. Developed vs. Undeveloped • The majority of undeveloped and low income nations are in Asia and Africa.

16. Globalization • The process of social, economic, and environmental global changes that lead to an increasingly interconnected world. • Globalization is accelerated by information and communication technology, human mobility, international trade and investment.

17. 1-3 Resources- Things We Need • Resource- Anything obtained from the environment to meet our needs and wants. • Water, food, shelter etc. • Resources are classified on the human timescale- • Perpetual, renewable, or nonrenewable.

18. Available Resources • Some resources are readily available • Ex. Solar energy, fresh surface water etc. • Others are not and take effort and technology to obtain • Ex. Petroleum, iron, groundwater etc.

19. Perpetual and Renewable Resources • Perpetual Resources- resources that are renewed continuously on the human timescale, such as the sun. • Renewable Resource- resources that are refreshed fairly rapidly (hours to several decades) through natural processes, such as forests and freshwater.

20. Sustainable Yield • The Highest rate at which a renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply. • Environmental Degradation- occurs when the sustainable yield is exceeded, thus diminishing the supply. Causes a loss of biodiversity. • Examples: Groundwater depletion, forest removal.

21. Case Study - Tragedy of the Commons • What is it? • The overuse of “common property” or “free access resources”. There is no owner of these resources, and there is little or no charge to access them. • Ex. Clean air, publicly owned lands etc.

22. Tragedy? • Garret Hardin, a biologist named the overuse of these free-access resources “Tragedy of the Commons” • It is common thought that, “if I don’t use this resource, someone else will”, or “this little bit of pollution won’t matter”. • This leads to everyone’s feelings of obligation to use public resources.

23. How Do We Stop It • Regulating access to resources • Using these resources at rates much lower than estimated sustainable yield, to ensure that we do not exceed it • Convert public to private ownership, therefore investments will be protected. • However, it is impossible to convert ocean resources to private property, and financial opportunities aren’t as available.

24. Our Own Ecological Footprint • Per capita ecological footprint- Amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply each person or population with the renewable resources they consume or use. • It is each person’s environmental impact. • Humanity’s footprint exceeds the earth’s capacity to renew resources by about 15%.

25. Hypocrites • The environmental footprint of those living in developed nations (such as ours) is much larger than those in developing countries. • For the rest of the world to reach the consumption levels of the U.S., it would take FOUR planet earths.

26. Nonrenewable Resources • Exist in a fixed quantity or stock in the earth’s crust. They can only be renewed after millions or billions of years. • Energy resources, metallic mineral resources and nonmetallic mineral resources. • Economic Depletion- When the cost of extracting a resource exceeds its economic value.

27. Recycling • Some nonrenewable mineral resources can be recycled. • Waste products are collected, processed, and made into new materials. • Uses much less energy, water, and other resources while not degrading the environment • Reuse is simply using the material again in the same manner.

28. 1-4 Pollution • Pollution- The presence of substances at high enough levels in the air, water, soil, or food to threaten the health and survival of living organisms. • Pollution can occur through natural processes (volcanoes) or human or anthropogenic actions (burning coal). • Most comes from urban or industrialized areas

29. Where It Comes From • *Industrialized Agriculture* • Burning Coal • Driving Cars • Growing Crops • Travel through wind or flowing water

30. Point vs. Nonpoint Sources • Point Source- The source is single and identifiable  • Ex. Smoke stacks, exhaust • Nonpoint Source- Pollutants are dispersed and hard to identify  • Ex. Pesticides on golf courses, cropland

31. What Pollutants Do • 3 unwanted effects: • Disrupt or degrade life-support systems • Damage wildlife, human health, and property • They can be unwanted noises and smells, tastes and sights.

32. Helping Out a Little • The two approaches of dealing with pollution: • Pollution prevention (input pollution control) and pollution cleanup (output pollution control) • Pollution cleanup has 3 problems: • It is only temporary, often removes one pollutant while introducing another, usually costs too much to implement a program

33. 1-5 Environmental and Resource Problems • There are “the big five” causes of environmental problems • Rapid Population Growth • Excessive and wasteful resource use • Poverty • Failure to include environmental costs in market value of products • Lack of understanding how the earth works

34. Poverty Causing Environmental Problems? • Poor people do not have access to basic necessities. • Poverty causes depletion and degradation of forests, soil, grassland and wildlife. • Poverty also increases population. More children translates to economic security.

35. Health Risks of Poverty • There are four main health risks: • Malnutrition- A lack of nutrients such as protein • Increased susceptibility to normally nonfatal disease • Lack of access to clean drinking water • Severe respiratory disease and premature death from inhaling air pollutants.

36. Putting It into Perspective • It is estimated that 7 million people die prematurely every year because of these causes. • 2/3 of those who die are children under the age of 5.

37. Rich People are the Problem? • Affluenza- The unsustainable addiction to overconsumption and materialism such as top consumers in the United States. • Globalization and global marketing add to this problem. • 2.8 billion people live on $2 a day.

38. Rich People aren’t the Problem • Some environmentalists think that affluence lets environmental awareness, and was responsible for movements of the 1970’s. • The U.S. has cleaner water and a more abundant food supply than in the 1970’s. • The total forested area is larger than it was in 1900.

39. Environmental Impact • A population’s environmental impact depends on: • Number of people • Average resource use per person • Beneficial or harmful effects of technology in use. • I = P + A + T • Impact = Population + Affluence + Tech.

40. United States- Big People, Big Problem • The average citizen consumes 100 times as much as those in the world’s poorest countries. • In poor countries, parents would have to have 70 to 200 children to equal our consumption. • Some technologies add to pollution (cars etc.) while other aid the cleanup (solar cells)

41. 1-6 Sustainable? Where Are We Going? • Scientists disagree on how serious our environmental situation is. • Technological Optimists- Claim that technological innovations will save the environment, and not to worry. • Environmental Pessimists- Overstate the seriousness of environmental problems, claim that it is almost hopeless.

42. Criticizing Our Lifestyles • Environmental Worldview- How you think the world works, and what your role in it is, and what you feel is wrong with the environment (known as environmental ethics) • Planetary Management Worldview- The belief that as humans (the top species), we are in charge of maintaining the planet, but we should also pursue economic expansion.

43. A Different Beat • Stewardship Worldview- Belief that we are earth’s most powerful species, and we have the responsibility to care for nature. • Environmental Wisdom Worldview- Humans are the most powerful, but resources belong to all species. Humans are not in charge of the earth. We must live more sustainable.

44. What Is the Most Important Thing? • Disease • Climate Change • Malnutrition • Smoking • Biodiversity Loss All cause premature death, especially in the poorest countries.

45. What We Can Do To Stop It • Environmentally sustainable economic development- Uses monetary incentives to encourage environmental protection. Economic penalties given to discourage environmental degradation.

46. Bibiography • “The Contamination of the Air” • http://www.cyberolimpiadas.com.sv/proyectos2004/gamma • Environmental Protection Agency • www.epa.gov/air/airpollutants.html • Population Ecology • http://faculty.uca.edu/~johnc/population_ecology.htm • World Overpopulation • http://www.overpopulation.org/ • Global Overconsumption • http://www.worldrevolution.org/article/1088