Overarching Themes Chapter 2 1.Basic outline of U.S. environmental history 2.Historical figures of the environmental movement 3.NEPA and EIS’s and other environmental laws 4.The environment & economics 5.Pollution control 6.Ethics Chapter 1 1.What is environmental science? 2.What is sustainability? 3.An organisms footprint 4.Tragedy of Commons Chapter 3 1.Biomes (biotic & abiotic distinguishers) 2.Aquatic Ecosystems

Introducing Environmental Science and Sustainability Chapter 1

Sustainability What does it mean to be sustainable?

Sustainability 1.Perpetuated indefinitely 2.Improved or continued well being 3.Economics & Growth Web Definitions: A strategy by which communities seek economic development approaches that also benefit the local environment and quality of life....

Could We All Live In… 1. Could we all live in Georgia? - 43,560 Square feet in an acre or 91% of a football field minus the end zones acres in a square mile - 57,906 square miles in Georgia Georgia = 37,059,840 Acres Texas = 172 Million and change US Population = 304 Million 2. 11,000,000 acres of land devoted to farms in Georgia 3. 23,631,000 acres devoted to timber in Georgia

Increasing Human Numbers What is the world’s (USA Vs Ethiopia) carrying capacity for people?

The World At Night

The Middle Class People who have a degree of economic independence, but not a great deal of social influence or power. The term often encompasses merchants and professionals, bureaucrats, and some farmers and skilled workers. Why is a middle class significant?

Resources Renewable, but only when managed in a sustainable way

Environmental Impact IPAT Model I = P A T Environmental Impact Number of people Affluence per person Environmental effect of technologies

New Model IPAT I = P x A x T 1 I = P x A T 2 How to move T to the denominator Emulate Nature Linear becomes cyclical Resource extraction Vs renewable Ray C. Anderson

Environmental Laws, Economics, and Ethics Chapter 2

Land Ethic What is a land ethic?

Aldo Leopold The Shack - In 1935, he and his family initiated their own ecological restoration experiment on a worn-out farm along the Wisconsin River outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Land Ethic “When the private landowner is asked to perform some unprofitable act for the good of the community, he today assents only with outstretched palm. If the act costs him cash this is fair and proper, but when it costs only forethought, open-mindedness, or time, the issue is at least debatable.”

Aldo Leopold Continued Land Ethic Continued “To sum up: a system of conservation based solely on economic self-interest is hopelessly lopsided. It tends to ignore, and thus eventually to eliminate, many elements in the land community that lack commercial value, but that are (as far as we know) essential to its healthy functioning. It assumes, falsely, I think, that the economic parts of the biotic clock will function without the uneconomic parts. It tends to relegate to government many functions eventually too large, too complex, or too widely dispersed to be performed by government.”

Aldo Leopold Continued Land Ethic Continued Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac The land Ethic All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in the community, but his ethics prompt him also to co- operate. The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. We can be ethical only in relation to something we can see, feel, understand, love, or otherwise have faith in. The case for a land ethic would appear hopeless but for the minority which is in obvious revolt against these “modern” trends. Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient.

Environmental Laws Why do we have environmental laws or laws period?

Environmental History of U.S.

General Revisions Act The General Revision Act of 1891 authorizes the President to create forest preserves "wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not....” and prevent them from being acquired through the various public land laws.

Environmental History of U.S Several presidents, particularly Theodore Roosevelt, used this Act to establish 43 million acres of forest reserves. Republican General Revision Act 1 st National Park: Yellowstone (Est.1872) Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks

Antiquities Act 1906 The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Indian ruins and artifacts-collectively termed "antiquities ” Authorized presidents to proclaim historic landmarks as national monuments Use of the Antiquities Act

Wilderness What makes wilderness - wilderness?

Cohutta Wilderness

Wilderness Act 1964 The Wilderness Act describes a wilderness as - "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” Requires act of congress List of wilderness Areas: An area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.

Spotted Owl Controversy & The ESA

Endangered Species Act (1973) Authorizes listing of species as endangered and threatened Prohibits unauthorized taking, possession, sale, and transport of endangered species Provides authority to acquire land for the conservation of the listed species Establishes a recovery plan

Economics and the Environment Source Raw Materials Economy ProductionConsumption Products Money Sinks Waste How does our economic system compare to natural systems ? Why compare them?

Making a Can What does it cost to make a can? What does it cost to lose a species or to save one from endangerment?

Full Cost Accounting What are internal and external costs? Making the aluminum can:

Case-in-Point: The Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Service

Case-in-Point: The Everglades

Mangrove Swamps Losing approximately 2% a year 40% overall current loss 69 endemic terrestrial species Reasons for loss? Reasons for protection? Found 30 Latitude - fringe habitat

Economics and the Environment Cost-Benefit Analysis A.First graph - harm caused by pollution exceeds cost of reducing it - so it makes sense to control the pollution B.Second Graph - Cost of reducing pollution exceeds the harm of the pollution - so it makes sense to pollute Green line = cost $$$Brown line = harm done

Regulation 1) Command and control regulations 2) Incentive-based regulation A set of standards that all must meet - auto emissions - catalytic converters Pollution tax - uses economic forces 3) Cap & Trade system In effect, the buyer is being fined for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions. Over time the cap can be lowered. Uses market forces.

Subsidy What is a subsidy?

Types of Subsidies Labor: pays for employees Tax: income tax deductions Regulatory: fewer regulations Infrastructure: roads, scientific development Trade protection: tariffs Procurement: government buys the goods? Consumption: government produces and sells at lower price - bread Tax Breaks: “Corporate welfare” land, pollution, property Examples: Oil subsidies 1. Time 2:04 Farm Subsidies 1. Time 1: :32http://

Major Ecosystems of the World Chapter 6

Primary Forest

Fire Impacts of Fire? Which biomes burn regularly? Human Fire History

Earth’s Major Biomes Type of biome controlled by temperature and precipitation

Arizona Biomes

Aquatic Ecosystems Freshwater Ecosystems Lakes and Ponds Highly productive, high species richness - sunlight penetration / rooted plants Photosynthetically productive - upper surface with light penetration

Aquatic Ecosystems Freshwater Ecosystems Lakes and Ponds Not always present; anaerobic, dominated by decomposers - below light penetration

Thermocline - lakes Freshwater Ecosystems Thermal stratification in temperate lakes Point of change between warm surface & cold depths

Turnover - Lakes Turnover in temperate lakes Spring Turnover - Melting Ice (4 0 C) & warming surface waters + wind Fall Turnover - cooling surface water = > density(4 0 C) + wind Littoral-Limnetic-Profundal Zones

Aquatic Ecosystems Freshwater Ecosystems Rivers and Streams Tend to be narrow, swift, clear, cold, nutrient poor, and highly oxygenated Tend to be wide, slow, cloudy, warm, nutrient rich, and less oxygenated

Oxbow Lakes

Rivers & Deltas Headwaters-Waterfall-Tributaries-Basin-Flood Plain-Meanders-Oxbow lakes-Salt Marsh-Delta-Barrier Islands - detritus

Photo Benthic Photo Benthic Environment 1) Sea grasses 2) Kelp forests 3) Coral reefs

Neritic Zone

Pelagic Zone