Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability Chapter 1 – Part 1 Tragedy of the Commons

Environment: study of everything around us

Environmental Science: Interdisciplinary Study

Our Goals 1.Learn how nature works 2.Learn how the environment affects us 3.Learn how we affect the environment 4.Learn how to deal with environmental problems and live more sustainably

Consumption and Conservation  Resource – anything obtained from the environment to meet our needs and wants Renewable Air, water, trees, etc. Nonrenewable Coal, oil, etc.

Money doesn’t grow on trees  Natural capital: keeps us and other forms of life alive and supports our economies Natural resources – materials; air, water, soil, etc. Natural services – functions; nutrient cycling

Major Natural Service: Nutrient Cycling

Fig. 1-3, p. 8 Air Air purification Climate control Water Water purification Waste treatment Nonrenewable minerals iron, sand) Natural gas Oil Soil Soil renewal Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels) Solar capital Land Food production Nutrient recycling Coal seam Life (biodiversity) Population control Pest control Renewable energy (sun, wind, water flows) UV protection (ozone layer) Natural resources Natural services NATURAL CAPITAL Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services Fig. 1-3, p. 8 Solar Capital…can we survive without it???

Human Degradation: To Sushi or Not?  Human activities degrade natural capital  Using normally renewable resources faster than nature can renew them Forestry Fishing

Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources  Sources of pollution Point E.g., smokestack Nonpoint E.g., pesticides blown into the air  Main type of pollutants Biodegradable Nondegradable x0AJQ5zHQ&feature=related x0AJQ5zHQ&feature=related

Environmentally Sustainable Societies Protect Natural Capital and Live off Its Income  You just won $1,000,000! How long can you make it last if you earn 10% interest each year? Spending $200,000/year = 7 years Spending $110,000/year = 18 years Spending $100,000/year = lifetime

Environmentally Sustainable Societies Protect Natural Capital and Live off Its Income  Living sustainably means living off natural income Preserve the Earth’s natural capital

Overexploiting Shared Renewable Resources: Tragedy of the Commons  Three types of property or resource rights Private property Common property Open access renewable resources

Different Views about Environmental Problems and Their Solutions  Environmental Worldview including environmental ethics Planetary management worldview Stewardship worldview Environmental wisdom worldview

Your Turn!  Lorax Values and Beliefs

Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability Chapter 1 – Part 2 Human Population Growth

Video – Tragedy of the Commons   Activity: Goldfish Tragedy of the Commons

Interview: Garrett Hardin on Tragedy of the Commons and Resources  atch?v=L8gAMFTAt2M atch?v=L8gAMFTAt2M  HW Review: #2,5,6,8,9,11

Experts Have Identified Five Basic Causes of Environmental Problems  Population growth  Wasteful and unsustainable resource use  Poverty  Failure to include the harmful environmental costs of goods and services in their market prices  Insufficient knowledge of how nature works

Only a few grains of wheat… Problem?

Exponential Growth: a quantity increases at a fixed rate per unit of time Each doubling is more than the total of all earlier growth!

Cultural Changes Have Increased Our Ecological Footprints  12,000 years ago: hunters and gatherers  Three major cultural events Agricultural revolution Industrial-medical revolution Information- globalization revolution

Exponential Growth: a quantity increases at a fixed rate per unit of time  Human numbers through time: population-growth.html population-growth.html

What’s the problem?  Add 225,000 people per day! That’s the equivalent of adding the United State’s population to the world every 4 years

What’s the problem?  Add 225,000 people per day! By 2100 ½ of word’s plants and animals may vanish

Are There Too Many of Us?  Will growing populations cause increased environmental stresses? Infectious diseases Biodiversity losses Water shortages Traffic congestion Pollution of the seas Climate change

There Is a Wide Economic Gap between Rich and Poor Countries  Gross domestic product (GDP) – annual market value of all goods and services produced within a country Per capita GDP – changes in economic growth per person  Per capita GDP PPP - Purchasing power parity (PPP) plus GDP are combined for more accurate comparison of different countries Used to identify developed with developing countries

There Is a Wide Economic Gap between Rich and Poor Countries

Extreme Poverty in a Developing Country More than ½ people in world live on less than $2 a day!

Consumption of Natural Resources: Mali

Consumption of Natural Resources: China

Consumption of Natural Resources: USA

Comparison of Developed and Developing Countries, 2008 Why is the growth rate so high in developing countries?

Some Harmful Results of Poverty

UN World Population Projections by 2050

Natural Capital Use and Degradation

Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial Environmental Effects  Harmful environmental impact due to Mass advertising – buying things brings happiness High levels of consumption Unnecessary waste of resources

Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial Environmental Effects  Affluence can provide funding for Developing technologies to reduce Pollution Environmental degradation Resource waste

Video: China Revs Up (NOVA)  21:00 – 26:00

Extreme Poverty in a Developing Country HW: The $2 Challenge!

Calculating population growth… Rule of 70  Doubling time = 70/annual growth rate (in %)  Example: If a population is growing at a rate of 4%, how long will it take for the population to double?  Doubling time = 70/4 = 17.5 years

Calculating population growth…Growth Rate  Population Growth in given period of time = Initial Population Size * Growth Rate  Example: If a population of 2000 is growing at a rate of.1 during any 10 year period, what will the population be after 10 years? After 20 years?  Population Growth = 2000 *.1 = 200 people  Population size after 10 years = 2200 people  Population Growth = 2020 *.1 = 202 people  Population size after 20 years = 2402 people