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Rats brought the plague. Rats increased. Cats died.  Caterpillar numbers went up. 

Explore the impact of human behavior on environmental health, the balance of Earth's ecosystem, population growth issues, disparities between high and low-income countries, resource consumption and overpopulation concerns.

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Rats brought the plague. Rats increased. Cats died.  Caterpillar numbers went up. 

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  1. Rats brought the plague. • Rats increased. • Cats died.  • Caterpillar numbers went up.  • WHO sent DDT to Borneo.  • Mosquitoes were wiped out. • Caterpillars ate grass roofs.  • Cats were parachuted in.  • Cats caught lizards containing DDT.  • Roaches stored DDT in their bodies. • Lizards disappeared. • Lizards slowed down. • Lizards ate roaches and got DDT. • Bad Mosquitoes

  2. Bad Mosquitoes • WHO sent DDT • Mosquitoes Died • Cockroaches stored DDT • Lizards at cockroaches • Lizards slowed down • Cats ate lizards • Lizards Disappear • Cats die • Caterpillar #’s increase • Caterpillars ate grass roofs • Rats increase • Rats spread plague • Cats are Parachuted into Borneo

  3. Environmental Science and Sustainability

  4. Purpose of Environmental Science – assess the state of the abiotic and biotic interactions and how they affect the overall environmental health of a region, state, nation and the planet giving special consideration to the impact of human behavior

  5. Maintaining Balance Earth – well suited for life • positionfrom the sun– not too hot, not too cold • plenty of water • enough sunlight to drive photosynthesis • atmospheric gases support life • minerals and nutrientsfor growth and development

  6. Changes disrupt life’s balance • human activity - largest agent of environmental change Ex: Use and depletion of natural resources • Pollution • Extinction of other species • Introduction of foreign species– Zebra muscle, kudzu, gypsy moth, Japanese Beetle • Alteration of Ecosystems

  7. Humanity Major Impact – Population Basic Example: 10 gallon aquarium = 10 inches of fish - why? Availability of nutrients and the accumulation of waste - more fish = necessity for more nutrients and the production of more waste

  8. Human Population: • Population Growth – page 4 • Estimated Size > Population Clock • rapid growth means impact on human quality of life and environmental health

  9. Result of a large population = fewer resources per person  Poverty • Poverty: WHO (World Health Organization) definition = making less than one dollar a day • Associations of Poverty: low life expectancy, illiteracy, inadequate access to health services, safe water and balanced nutrition • Solutions: Population control • May not be culturally or religiously accepted

  10. Rich Countries Vs. Poor Countries Highly Developed Countries(HDC): 20% of world’s population Ex: US, Canada, Japan, most of Europe Moderately Developed and Less Developed (Poor) Countries(LDC): 80% of world’s population Ex: Bangladesh, Mali, Ethiopia LDC have many people for laborbutlittle economic resources for development - mostly agricultural – lots of poverty and disease - during development, rapid growth of population often causes a depletion in the natural resources

  11. HDC and LDC disparity HDC use more natural resources per capita than LDC HDC (20% of world population) use over 50% of the resources • Draw two pie charts • 1 - Showing relative population sizes of HDC and LDC countries • 2 – Showing relative resource consumption of HDC and LDS countries

  12. Unequal Distribution of Resources • The world is not homogenous. • Resources are clustered in different areas of the world. RESOURCES = $$$$$$

  13. Steel Production

  14. Types of Resources Non-renewable – in limited supply and are depleted with use and cannot be replenished by natural processes within a reasonable human time scale Ex: metallic minerals, non-metallic minerals, fossil fuels Renewable – can be replaced by natural processes Ex: fresh water, fertile soil, solar energy, wind energy, clean air, animal populations (barring extinction)

  15. Renewable vs. Sustainable - overuse of a renewable resource may cause its depletion - need to be used in a sustainable way – gives time for replenishment

  16. Resource Consumption - use of materials and energy • HDC individuals use a far greater amount of resources than LDC individuals Ex: amount of electricity and water used and waste generated, products consumed and the energy needed to produce it - Overconsumption due to overpopulation Overpopulation: when the level of demand on the resource base results in damage to the environment

  17. Types of Overpopulation 1. People Overpopulation: too many people for the resources available – even if each person uses a small amount of the resources 2. Consumption Overpopulation: too many resources are used by each person (more than necessary) – consumption oriented lifestyle

  18. Ecological Footprint - the average amount of productive land, fresh water and ocean required to supply a person with food, wood, energy, water, housing transportation and waste disposal on a continuous basis

  19. - Earth contains 11.4 billion hectares (or 28.2 billion acres or 1.2 x 1014 ft2) of productive land and water • 1 hectare = 1.87 football fields - divided by the population results in a 1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) per person which is less than the current 2.3 hectare (5.7 acre) ecological footprint - RESULT: ECOLOGICAL DEFICIT which causes forest destruction, degredation of crop land, loss of biological diversity, declines in ocean fishing, and water shortages

  20. HDC disparity: developing countries such as India have ecological footprints approximating 1 hectare (1.87 football fields) per person. US footprint is about 9.6 hectares. - If all the people in the world lived as US citizens lived, we would need 4 more planets for the necessary supplies - Ecological footprint is not only affected by the population but also by the level of development. As a nation getsmore and more developed it consumes more and more resources per person.

  21. Impact Determination (IPAT MODEL) - the level of impact any activity causes can be estimated by the factors that cause it - the number of people involved (P) • the consumption or amount of resources used per person in that activity (A) • – known as the affluences • the environmental effects (T) of the technologies used to obtain and consume the resources • – this is a measure of the resources needed and wastes produced - thus the impact (I) is the product of these three factors (P x A x T) I = P x A x T

  22. Ex: Impact of CO2 emissions by automobile is based on • P = amount of people with cars • A = number of cars per person • T = amount of CO2 per car - the level of impact varies based on these three factors and continuous fluctuate based on usage and trends Ex: SUV’s and Hybrid cars

  23. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY - one of the goals of environmental science is to develop and educated people in the ways of environmental sustainability • Sustainability: indefinite use of the environment in a manner that it’s quality does not decline – needs of the human population are met without endangering the welfare of future generations • Sustainability avoids the Tragedy of the Commons

  24. Tragedy of the Commons - Its not my land, why should I clean it up? - I didn’t make the mess, why should I bother? - Its not going to hurt me, why should I care? • lack of communal responsibility, lack of foresight, lack of a sense of stewardship

  25. - when there is no sense of ownership or responsibility, the effort to care for a resource is diminished – thus when a large number of people use the resource (a common resource) without the sense of stewardship (care and sustaining), the common resource will degrade and be unavailable for future use Ex: Generate lots of air pollution now – affect future generations Don’t recycle – impacts availability of resources

  26. Need Stewardship – shared responsibility for the use and care of the resources of the planet – not for exploitation but a protective and sustainable approach to using the resources and developing new and better ways of meeting our needs Role of Government: Regulate and Control the use of Resources Ex: Fish and Game Commission

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