Do Now 8/22/11 What do you think living sustainably means? *Please take out the summary of your notes and your binder with dividers. I need to check these*

Label Dividers 1.) Do Nows/Learning Logs/Reflections 2.) Notes 3.) Labs/Projects 4.) Assessments 5.) Readings/Current Events

Human Impacts and Sustainability 8/22/11

What is sustainability? A way of living which balances meeting our own needs, without limiting the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

What are three principles to help us live sustainably? Solar Energy Biodiversity Chemical/Nutrient Cycling

What are the 3 components of sustainability? Economy Environment (Natural Capital) Society

What is Natural Capital? Natural Capital = Natural resources + Natural Services – Natural resources=materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans – Natural Services= process in nature that benefit us i.e. purification of air, renewal of topsoil

What are the 3 types of natural resources? Perpetual – i.e. the sun Renewable – i.e. forests, grasslands, fish populations, freshwater, fresh air, topsoil Nonrenewable – i.e. energy- oil, coal, metals- copper, aluminum, non-metals- salt and sand

What is Economic Development? An effort to use economic growth to improve living standards, measured by average economic income. – More developed countries 19% of the population, 88% of all resources, 75% of the world’s pollution and waste – Less developed countries 81% of the population, 12% of all resources, 25% of pollution and waste

What is Environmental Degradation? Wasting, Depleting and degrading the earth’s natural capital.

What is pollution? A chemical, noise, heat or other agent in the environment that is harmful to the health, survival or activities of humans or other organisms.

How is pollution categorized? Point sources= single identifiable sources – i.e. smokestack, coal burning plant Non-point sources = disperse, difficult to identify – i.e. runoff fertilizers in a river, pesticides blown in the wind

How is pollution categorized? Biodegradable = pollutants a natural process can break down over time – i.e. Sewage, newspapers Non-degradable = pollutants a natural process can Not break down over time – i.e. lead, mercury, arsenic

What are the 2 ways we deal with pollution? Output control= clean up Input control = prevention

What are the 3 types of property? Private property = individuals or companies own it. Common property = large groups own it. Open-access resources = owned by no one and available for use by anyone – i.e. atmosphere, underground water supplies, open ocean and its marine life

What is the tragedy of the commons? When people exploit an open-access resource because they think – If I don’t use this resource, someone else will. The little bit that I use or pollute is not enough to matter and it’s renewable anyway.

What is an ecological footprint? A measure of how much a person consumes resources and produces waste and pollution, expressed in area of land.

How is an ecological footprint a measure of sustainability? If a country’s total ecological footprint is greater than its biological capacity to replish renewable resources and absorb pollutants and waste = ecological deficit – NOT sustainable

Summary