Human Impacts on Ecosystems and Environmental Impacts

As humans, what kind of impacts do we have on our environment? As Calgary was built, land was cleared of forests and native prairies were ploughed under. To meet the needs of our great cities, massive amounts of natural resources are consumed – trees, oil, water, minerals and more!

The Past Consider 100 years ago…. Only local, available plants and animals were used for food and clothing People lived in simple shelters People traveled by foot or horse or canoe Everything was found in the surrounding environment Can you think of resources that were used for food and shelter?

The Present Needed items are produced far, far away and imported from countries around the world – bananas, clothes, etc Many items are synthetic and involve massive amounts of packaging People travel by all sorts of means – cars, trains, planes, boats “Shelters” can hardly even be called shelters anymore!!!

Needs vs Wants Canadians don’t really have a challenge finding food and shelter so they have turned their attention to “wants” Every time we satisfy a need or want, we are using natural resources in some way and are therefore impacting our environment ie. Fruits and vegetables – most food in stores is produced elsewhere and shipped to us Is food from far away a luxury???

To satisfy our wants, we often forget the basic needs of plants and animals Visiting parks affects wildlife – disrupted wildlife corridors, changes in habits for animals (habituation), etc Forest fires: naturally occurring fires are beneficial to the environment – should we be fighting them? Removal of “bad” animals – wolves, coyotes, cougars, bears – results in other problems in food chains

Your Ecological Footprint All living things need food, water, shelter and space to live in However, North Americans and other wealthy countries use far more than their share of the Earth’s resources – we do not live in a sustainable manner Sustainability means that the resources of nature are being renewed at least as quickly as they are used and that all wastes are able to be completely absorbed

Concerns: Rate at which forests are being cut down Rate at which fish are being harvested What happens when oil reserves run out? Will there be enough fresh water for us? Will our garbage overwhelm dumps and disposal sites?

Ecological Footprint If you take away oceans, deserts, mountaintops and land covered in concrete or pavement – only about 8.9 billion hectares of land is usable (a hectare is 100m x 100m) If this land was divided equally among the approx. 6 billion people, each human would get about 1.5 hectares

In reality, Canadians would need about 5 In reality, Canadians would need about 5.8 hectares of land – about the size of three city blocks! If everyone in the world continued to live as North Americans live, we would need at least two more planets the size of Earth to support us!!!!! Your ecological footprint is a calculation of the total area of land and water needed to supply all of the materials and energy that you use, as well as absorb all your wastes

What To Do? Canadians are using too many resources and creating too much waste Each person can reduce the size of their footprint by: Being aware of the natural resources you consume each day Reduce the amount of energy you use, the number of products you buy and the amount of garbage you produce

The 3 R’s Reduce – the amount of garbage you produce Reuse – products rather than throwing them away Recycle – look for ways to turn materials into something else

Next Week Topic # 1-3 Quiz on Monday Your waste reduction spreadsheet and questions …. Due the last day before Christmas break!!!!!