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Consumption and the Environment

Consumption and the Environment. 6.3. Consumption. All animals affect the environment in which they live Humans are just like other animals They use more resources and create more waste than any other species The process of using resources and creating waste is known as consumption.

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Consumption and the Environment

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  1. Consumption and the Environment 6.3

  2. Consumption • All animals affect the environment in which they live • Humans are just like other animals • They use more resources and create more waste than any other species • The process of using resources and creating waste is known as consumption

  3. Human Consumption • One reason humans consume so many resources is that their pop is so large • A larger pop will require more resources and create more waste • How much a person consumes is as important as how many people are consuming

  4. Consumption Trends • People have used more resources in the last 50 years than in all of human existence • People today use 5x as much plastic, 3x as much water, and 6x as much paper than 50 years ago • They burn 4x the amount of fossil fuels • Mostly due to pop growth and increasing levels of consumption

  5. Overconsumption • Some level of consumption is necessary for survival (clothes, food, shelter) • Consumption is an important part of the economy (contributes to jobs) • Resource use today is so high that some people call it overconsumption • Usually found in industrialized nations

  6. Overconsumption in the U.S. • The U.S. is home to just 4.6% of the world’s population • Americans eat 16% of the world’s grain and 21% of beef • They use 32% of the world’s paper and buy 16% of all shoes • They drive 1/3 of all motor vehicles made • Generate ¾ of the world’s toxic waste

  7. Links to Overconsumption • A child born in the U.S. will consume 35x more resources than a child born in India • Experts believe industrialized nations are over populated • They may not seem to have too many people, but high rates of consumption mean the population cannot be sustained by local resources

  8. Impacts • High levels of consumption are using up resources around the world • Forests are disappearing (wood and paper) • Reduced supplies of water (over pop) • Animal and plant species becoming extinct

  9. Impacts we can’t see • Effects are happening in distant oceans and forests but affect people in nations • Cell phone example: • Companies use a mineral called Coltan • Found in eastern Congo of Africa • Mining has begun (extracting minerals from the Earth) • Mining has upset the gorilla habitats and caused many to die

  10. Renewable Resources • Not all resources are finite, like minerals or fossil fuels • Some are renewable or replaceable, if they are not used too quickly or all at once • Fish and forests are examples • Current levels of consumption make this harder to do • Also causes species to become extinct

  11. Effects • High consumption produces a lot of waste • This waste affects the quality of air, land and water • Driving cars produces pollution that affects air quality • Contributes to major changes in Earth’s climate

  12. Vocabulary • Consumption • Fossil Fuel • Renewable

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