Concept 1: Sustainability

Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability: Copy Nature Reliance on Solar Energy Biodiversity Population Control Nutrient Recycling Figure 1-16

Implications of the Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability Figures 1-17 and 1-18

SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS Technological optimists: suggest that human ingenuity will keep the environment sustainable. Environmental pessimists: overstate the problems where our environmental situation seems hopeless.

Introduction Environment Ecology Environmental Science External conditions that affect living organisms Ecology Study of relationships between living organisms and their environment Environmental Science how nature works. how the environment effects us. how we effect the environment. how we can live more sustainably without degrading our life-support system.

Solar Capital and Earth Capital Energy from the sun Provides 99% of the energy used on earth Earth Capital Life-support and Economic Services Environment Planet’s air, water, soil, wildlife, minerals, natural purification, recycling, pest control,…

Carrying Capacity The maximum number of organisms of a local, regional, or global environment can support over a specified period Variables Location Time Short term ~ seasonal changes Long-term ~global changes in factors such as climate Technology

Sustainability The ability of a specified system to survive and function over time $1,000,000 10% interest Live on up to $100,000 per year Examples: Sustainable earth, resource harvest, and society The steps to sustainability must be supported by sound science.

Linear Growth Quantity increases by a constant amount per unit of time 1,2,3,4,5, … 1,3,5,7,9, … When plotted on a graph, growth of money yields a fairly straight line sloping upward

Exponential Growth Growth yields a J-shaped curve Describes the human population problem that disturbs the environment today

Rule of 70 How long does it take to double? Rule of 70 Resource use Population size Money in a savings account Rule of 70 70 divided by the percentage growth rate = doubling time in years 70 / 7% means it takes ten years to double

Economic Growth - Key Terms Increase in the capacity to provide goods and services for people’s use Gross National Product Measures economic growth in a country Gross Domestic Product Market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced only within a country during one year

Economic Growth - Key Terms More Developed Countries (MDC) Highly industrialized Average per capita GNP above $4000 Less Developed Countries (LDC) Low to moderate industrialization Average per capita GNP below $4000

Economic Growth - Key Terms Development Change from a society that is largely rural, agricultural, illiterate, poor and rapidly growing population Per Capita GNP GNP divided by the total population Shows one person’s slice of the economic pie

Questions 1. The sun provides the earth with what percent of the energy? (A) 2% (B) 25% (C) 50% (D) 80% (E) 99%   2. What is the carrying capacity of an environment? (A) The number of animals that can be produced when mating. (B) The maximum number of organisms in an area that can be supported. (C) The amount an animal can carry in that environment (D) The number of prey that an environment can sustain (E) The minimum a population must have to survive in an environment 3. What is used in order to calculate the doubling of a resource, population, money, etc.? (A) Rule of 2 (B) Rule of 20 (C) Rule of 40 (D) Rule of 70 (E) Rule of 90 1. (E) 99% 2. (B) The maximum number of organisms in an area that can be supported 3. (D) Rule of 70

POPULATION GROWTH, ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Economic growth provides people with more goods and services. Measured in gross domestic product (GDP) and purchasing power parity (PPP). Economic development uses economic growth to improve living standards. The world’s countries economic status (developed vs. developing) are based on their degree of industrialization and GDP-PPP.

Wealth Gap The gap between the per capita GNP of the rich, middle-income and poor has widened since 1980 More than 1 billion people survive on less than one dollar per day

Sustainable Development Assumes the right to use the earth’s resources and earth capital to meet needs It is our obligation to create sustainability Environmentally sustainable societies meets basic needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without degrading the natural capital that supplies these resources.

Potentially Renewable Resources Renewable Non-Renewable Potentially Renewable Direct solar energy Fossil fuels Fresh air Winds, tides, flowing water Metallic minerals (iron, copper, aluminum) Fresh water Nonmetallic minerals (clay, sand, phosphates) Fertile soil Plants and animals (biodiversity)

Biodiversity Genetic Diversity Species Diversity Ecological Diversity Variety in a genetic makeup among individuals within a single species Species Diversity Variety among the species or distinct types of living organisms found in different habitats of the planet Ecological Diversity Variety of forests, deserts, grasslands, streams, lakes, oceans, wetlands, and other communities

Environmental Degradation Common Property Resources Tragedy of the Commons Resources owned by none, but available to all users free of charge May convert potentially renewable resources into nonrenewable resources

Natural capital degradation The exponential increasing flow of material resources through the world’s economic systems depletes, degrades and pollutes the environment. Figure 1-11

Nonrenewable Resources Nonrenewable/Exhaustible Resources Exist in a fixed quantity in the earth’s crust and can be used up Mineral Any hard, usually crystalline material that is formed naturally Reserves Known deposits from which a usable mineral can be profitably extracted at current prices

Nonrenewable Resources Recycling Collecting and reprocessing a resource into new products Reuse Using a resource over and over in the same form

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS: CAUSES AND CONNECTIONS The major causes of environmental problems are: Population growth Wasteful resource use Poverty Poor environmental accounting Ecological ignorance

Questions 1. Approximately how many people in the world live on under a dollar a day? (A) 40, 000 (B) 100,000 (C) 1,000,000 (D) 10,000,000 (E) 1,000,000,000   2. Which is not a renewable resource? (A) Air (B) Water (C) Soil (D) Metal (E) Animals 3. What is genetic diversity? (A) The distinction between species (B) The variety of environments (C) The genetic makeup of individuals (D) The different genes from mating (E) Hybrid species mating 4. Which is not a cause of environmental problems? (A) Population growth (B) Unsustainable resource use (C) Poverty (D)Global warming (E) Trying to manage and simplify nature without knowledge 1. (E) 1,000,000,000 2. (D) Metal 3. (D) The different genes from mating 4. (D) Global warming

Poverty and Environmental Problems 1 of 3 children under 5, suffer from severe malnutrition. Figure 1-12 and 1-13

Our Ecological Footprint Humanity’s ecological footprint has exceeded earths ecological capacity. Figure 1-7

Pollution Any addition to air, water, soil, or food that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms Solid, liquid, or gaseous by-products or wastes

Point Source Pollutants From a single, identifiable sources Smokestack of a power plant Drainpipe of a meat-packing plant Exhaust pipe of an automobile

Nonpoint Source Pollutants Dispersed and often difficult to identify sources Runoff of fertilizers and pesticides Storm Drains (#1 source of oil spills in oceans)

Negativity of Pollutant Chemical Nature How active and harmful it is to living organisms Concentration Amount per unit volume or weight of air, water, soil or body weight Persistence Time it stays in the air, water, soil or body

Types of Pollutants Factors that determine the severity of a pollutant’s effects: chemical nature, concentration, and persistence. Pollutants are classified based on their persistence: Degradable pollutants Biodegradable pollutants Slowly degradable pollutants Nondegradable pollutants

Water Pollution Sediment Nutrient overload Toxic chemicals Infectious agents Oxygen depletion Pesticides Oil spills Excess heat

Air Pollution Global climate change Stratospheric ozone depletion Urban air pollution Acid deposition Outdoor pollutants Indoor pollutants Noise

Solution: Pollution cleanup Output Pollution Cleanup Involves cleaning up pollutants after they have been produced Most expensive and time consuming

Solutions: Pollution Prevention Input Pollution Control or Throughput Solution Slows or eliminates the production of pollutants, often by switching to less harmful chemicals or processes Four R’s Reduce, reuse, refuse, recycle

Questions 1. Which is not one of the 4 R’s? (A) Reduce (B) Reserve (C) Recycle (D) Reuse (E) Refuse 2. What resource is the world population most deprived of in poor countries? (A) Adequate sanitation (B) Electricity (C) Clean water (D) Enough food (E) Fuel   3. What is NOT a point source pollutant? (A) Smokestack from a coal processing plant (B) Drainpipe of a meat-packing plant (C)Runoff from fertilizers (D)Exhaust pipe of a car (E)Heated water from a power plant 1. (B) Reserve 2. (A) Adequate sanitation 3. (C) Runoff from fertilizers

Biodiversity Depletion Habitat destruction Habitat degradation Extinction

Food Supply Problems Overgrazing Farmland loss and degradation Wetlands loss and degradation Overfishing Coastal pollution Soil erosion Soil salinization Soil waterlogging Water shortages Groundwater depletion Loss of biodiversity Poor nutrition

Agricultural Revolution Cultural shift that began in several regions of the world Involved a gradual move from a lifestyle based on nomadic hunting Agroforestry Planting a mixture of food crops and tree crops

Agricultural Revolution Slash-and-burn Cutting down trees and other vegetation and then burning the underbrush to clear small patches of land Subsistence Farming Family grew only enough food to feed itself.

Planetary Management Worldview There is always more All economic growth is good Potential for economic growth is limitless Our success depends on how well we manage earth’s system for our benefit                                                                                    

Earth-Wisdom Worldview Nature exists for all of the earth’s species, not just for us There is not always more Not all forms of economic growth is beneficial to the environment Our success depends on learning to cooperate with one another and with the earth