Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Causes and Sustainability

1. Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Causes and Sustainability

2. Key Concepts • What is Environmental Science? • Growth and Sustainability • Resources and Resource Use • Pollution • What are the root Causes of Environmental Problems

3. *Environment: • Everything that surrounds and affects an organism • The natural world as well as the things produced

4. I. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: Interdisciplinary Science that… 1.) Help us understand how the earth works 2.) Learn how we are affecting the earth’s life support systems 3.) Propose and evaluate solutions to the environmental problems we face.

5. MAJOR GROUPS CONCERNED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (see page 3 in textbook) 1.) ECOLOGIST 2.) ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST 3.) CONSERVATION BIOLOGIST 4.) ENVIRONMENTALIST 5.) PRESERVATIONIST 6.) CONSERVATIONIST 7.) RESTORAIONIST

6. Consensus Science • Suggests that issues such as global climate change, deforestation, and species loss SHOULD be taken as a serious problem.

7. II. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS A. Three categories: 1) NATURAL RESOURCE DEPLETION 2) POLLUTION 3) EXTINCTION

8. 1. RESOURCE DEPLETION • DEPLETION: • A large part of these resources has been used. - Natural resources: (sunlight, air ,water, soil, plants, minerals, animals, fossil fuels, etc) • Two categories: RENEWABLEandNON-RENEWABLE

9. RENEWABLE – resources that can be continually replaced NON-RENEWABLE – resources that cannot be replaced

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11. ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY Satisfies the basic needs for… food, water, air, and shelter • Resources that can be used in the indefinite future without being depleted • Does not prevent future generations from meeting these needs

12. 2. POLLUTION -A poisoning, intentional or not, of our air, water, or soil.

13. Pollution Sources • Point Sources- where pollutants come from single identifiable sources. Ex: exhaust pipe of an automobile. • Nonpoint sources- come from dispersed sources often hard to identify. Ex: runoff of fertilizer from farmlands, golf courses, and lawns.

14. 3. EXTINCTION Condition where a species completely disappears from the earth *Most species are becoming extinct due to habitat loss Do Do Bird Passenger Pigeon Mammoth Giant Ground Sloth

15. Biodiversity Depletion • Habitat destruction • Habitat degradation • Extinction • Air Pollution • Global climate change • Stratospheric ozone depletion • Urban air pollution • Acid deposition • Outdoor pollutants • Indoor pollutants • Noise • Food Supply Problems • Overgrazing • Farmland loss • and degradation • Wetlands loss • and degradation • Overfishing • Coastal pollution • Soil erosion • Soil salinization • Soil waterlogging • Water shortages • Groundwater depletion • Loss of biodiversity • Poor nutrition Major Environmental Problems • Water Pollution • Sediment • Nutrient overload • Toxic chemicals • Infectious agents • Oxygen depletion • Pesticides • Oil spills • Excess heat • Waste Production • Solid waste • Hazardous waste

16. III. ROOT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS Almost all environmental problems can be traced back to… 1)POPULATION CRISIS- Number of people grows too quickly for the earth to support. 2)CONSUMPTION CRISIS- People are using up, polluting, wasting things faster than can be replaced.

17. Fig. 1-2 p. 4 Fig. 1-3 p. 5 Population Growth • Linear Growth • ExponentialGrowth-starts slow then becomes very rapid • Doubling Time/Rule of 70 * The current world population for mid-year 2007 is estimated at 6,602,224,175

18. 16 15 ? 14 13 12 11 ? 10 9 Billions of people 8 ? 7 6 5 4 3 2 Black Death–the Plague 1 0 2-5 million years 8000 6000 4000 2000 2000 2100 B.C. A.D. Time Hunting and gathering Agricultural revolution Industrial revolution World Population Fig. 1.1, p. 2

19. ACTUAL WORD POPULATION TREND United States Birth rate: 14.14 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) 2.07 children born/woman (2003 est.) http://www.otherwise.com/population/exponent.html

20. A Global Perspective: • Many environmental problems affect the entire world... • Examples: • Pollution in the American Midwest falls on Canada as acid rain • Destruction of tropical rainforests increases CO2 worldwide

21. Per Captia Ecological Footprint (Hectares of land per person) Country 10.9 United States 5.9 The Netherlands 1.0 India Total Ecological Footprint (Hectares) Country 3 billion hectares United States 94 million hectares The Netherlands 1 billion hectares India Ecological Footprint 1 Hectare = 2.5 Acres Fig. 1.10, p. 11

22. ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT LINKS

23. ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -Use of economic rewards and incentives -Increased economic penalties -Shift to prevention vs. excess

24. Sustainable Development Chapter 1: videos – Play on Windows Media Player

25. Story of Change(Season 2)