Bell Work Define what you think an indicator is. What are some key indicators you think we should be looking at when focusing on global Environmental conditions? List as many indicators as possible.

Environmental Indicators and Sustainability What Environmental Scientists Investigate: Is the planets natural life-support system being degraded by human induced changes? Ecosystem Services – processes by which life supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced Do we take a healthy Ecosystem for granted? When? We only notice a degraded ecosystem when it no longer produces the goods and services we need. Goal? Be able to measure the health of an Ecosystem prior to degradation.

Environmental Indicators Describe the current state of an environmental system. Five Global Scale Environmental Indicators: Biological Diversity Food Production Average Global Surface temperatures and Carbon Dioxide concentrations in Atmosphere Human Population Resource Depletion

Biological Diversity Diversity of life forms in an environment. Genetic Diversity – measure of genetic variation among individuals in a population. Why is Genetic Diversity important? Populations are better able to respond to environmental change

Species Diversity Species – group of organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring 2 million cataloged; estimate 5- 100 million exist (common estimate 10million) Species diversity – number of species in a region or in a particular type of habitat

Species Diversity cont… Ecosystems with higher species diversity are: More productive and resilient and better able to recover from disturbance

Species diversity cont… Environmental Scientists often focus on species diversity as a critical environmental indicator. Example: number of frog species Indicator of environmental health bc frogs are exposed to both water and air in their ecosystem Can species go extinct naturally?

Species Diversity cont… Background Extinction – The average rate at which species become extinct over the long term Under conditions of environmental change/ biological stress…. Estimate about 1000 species are going extinct a year. 500 times the background rate of extinction

What are common causes of species extinction? Habitat destruction/ degradation Climate change overharvesting, Pressure from introduced species Which do you think is major cause?

Ecosystem Diversity Measure of the diversity of ecosystems or habitats that exist in a given region Healthy and Productive Ecosystems = Health Environment Measures of Biodiversity are given in terms of “Land Area”

Converting Between Hectares and Acres Land area is expressed in hectares 1 Hectare (ha) is 100 meters x 100 meters. United States land area is usually expressed in acres 1 ha = 2.47 acres Problem: 1) If a nature preserve is 100ha, what is it size in acres? 2) A particular forest is 10,000 acres. Determine its size in hectares

Food Production Ability to grow food to support human population Wheat, corn, rice provide more than half the calories and protein humans consume Human population is straining ability to grow and distribute adequate food.

Food production cont… What factors influence the amount of grain produced in the world? 1. climatic conditions 2. quality land/ soil/ irrigation 3. human labor/ energy to plant, harvest, and bring grain to market

Food Production cont… Because production is not keeping up with population growth we have other issues: 1. soil degradation 2. crop diseases 3. unfavorable weather (drought/ floods) 4. demand out paces supply.

Average Global Surface Temperatures and Carbon Dioxide Concentrations Stable climate is needed for biodiversity and food production for human life. Atmosphere keeps temps constant Greenhouse gases – gases in earth’s atmosphere that trap heat near the surface Most important CO2

Average Global Surface Temperatures and Carbon Dioxide Concentrations CO2 is greater than 400 parts per million (ppm) This situation is what is considered Anthropogenic: What is Anthropogenic? Human activities duh!

Human Population Another factor to indicate health of our global environment Current population 7.2Billion 387,000 infants are born in 24 hours while 155,000 people die How many additional people every 5 days?

Resource Depletion As population continues to increase demands for natural resources increases Affects our environment in many ways: land degradation from mining, waste, air pollution Renewable and Non- renewable resources

Resource Depletion cont… Development – improvement in human well-being through economic advancement. Only 20% of worlds population lives in developed countries Black = developed Red = non developed Automobiles 87%/13% Meat and fish 45%/55% Energy 58%/42% Paper 84%/16%

Human well-being depends on sustainable practice Five Key Environmental indicators help analyze the health of the plane. This guides us toward Sustainability Sustainability? Living on Earth in a way that allows humans to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources.

Impact of Consumption on the Environment Developed nations consume far greater share of the world’s resources Large populations degrade environment How can we continue our current level of resource consumption without jeopardizing the well being of future generations?

Easter Island Read Easter Island Scenario

Impact of Consumption on the Environment What most environmental scientists believe: 1. limits to supply of clean air and water 2. limit nutritious foods 3. no longer able to maintain a stable climate

Impact of Consumption on the Environment To live Sustainably: Requirements: Environmental systems must not be damaged beyond their ability to recover Renewable resources must not be depleted Nonrenewable resources must be used sparingly. Sustainable Development: balances current human wellbeing and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations. Living Sustainably means acting in a way such that activities that are crucial to human society can continue. Ex. Not eating chicken six times a week.

Defining Human Needs Biophilia – connections that humans subconsciously seek with the rest of life Natural areas, for beauty, and for social connections are considered as vital to our well being and long-term goal of sustainability. Wants vs. Needs Essentials that sustain human life are needs: air, water, food, shelter And…. Biophilia? Love of Life

Ecological Footprint Ecological Footprint is a measure of how much an individual consumes, expressed in area of land. Method used to assess whether we are living sustainably is to measure the impact of a person or country on world resources.

Lorax Activity