INTERDISCIPLINARY ECOLOGY CHEMISTRY ECONOMICS POLITICS GEOLOGY SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

1-1 LIVING SUSTAINABLY

Questions to ask How the Earth works? How are we affecting the Earth’s life supports system? How to deal with environmental problems? –What laws? When do we phase it in?

What do you think is our most serious environmental problem? a)Corruption in governments and businesses, and bad economic policies b)Destruction of biodiversity c)Environmental impacts from human poverty and hunger d)Genetic engineering of organisms e)Greenhouse Effect (global warming) and resulting climatic changes f)Human diseases (cancer, malaria, AIDS, etc.) g)Human overpopulation h)Nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction i)Poor farming techniques (soil erosion, overuse of pesticides, livestock wastes, etc.) j)Wasting of valuable and nonrenewable resources

Six important environmental issues Population growth Increasing resource use Global climate change Premature extinction of plants and animals Pollution Poverty

LIVING SUSTAINABLY SOLAR CAPITAL - PROVIDES 99%OF OUR ENERGY WE USE ON EARTH. EARTH CAPITAL - LIFE-SUPPORT AND ECONOMIC SERVICES. SUSTAINABILITY - IS THE ABILITY OF A SPECIFIED SYSTEM TO SURVIVE AND FUNCTION OVER A SPECIFIED TIME.

SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE HARVEST SUPPLY OF RESOURCES THAT CAN BE HARVESTED EACH YEAR.

SUSTAINABLE EARTH EARTH CAPITAL ARE USED AND MAINTAINED OVER TIME.

What is sustainability? 1.Satisfying basic needs without depleting or degrading resources 2.Maximizing resource use 3.Reducing resource use even if it means some big sacrifices by human beings 4.Halting further resource use and limiting human progress

SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY MANAGES ITS ECONOMY AND POPULATION SIZE WITHOUT EXCEEDING ALL OR PART OF THE PLANET’S ABILITY TO ABSORB ENVIRONMENTAL INSULTS, REPLENISH ITS RESOURCES, AND SUSTAIN HUMAN AND OTHER FORMS OF LIFE OVER A SPECIFIED PERIOD. HUNDREDS OF YEARS.

CARRYING CAPACITY DEFINED AS THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ORGANISMS A LOCAL,REGIONAL, OR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT CAN SUPPORT OVER A SPECIFIED PERIOD.

CARRYING CAPACITY VARIES BY LOCATION GLOBAL CHANGES TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY USES TO EXTRACT AND PROCESS THE RESOURCES

ARE WE LIVING OFF THE INTEREST OR THE PRINCIPAL?

1-2 GROWTH AND THE WEALTH GAP

LINEAR POPULATION GROWTH IS A QUANTITY THAT INCREASES AT A CONSTANT AMOUNT PER UNIT OF TIME. IF PLOTTED ON A GRAPH IT WOULD BE A STRAIGHT LINE.

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IS WHERE THE QUANTITY INCREASES BY A FIXED PERCENTAGE OF THE WHOLE IN A GIVEN TIME AS EACH INCREASE IS APPLIED TO THE BASE FOR FURTHER GROWTH. IS J SHAPED. DOUBLING TIME - THE RULE OF /% OF GROWTH RATE = DOUBLING TIME IN YEARS. k = (1/t)ln(N/N 0 ) t = (1/k)ln(N/N 0 )

The earth’s population is currently 6.6 billion people. The rate of population growth is 1.2 percent. How large will the earth’s population be after 58 years? billion people billion people billion people

Which of the following would not be an example of sound science? 1.Calculating the destruction of trees in a forest based on historical cut rates 2.Calculating the pollution in a stream based on chemical analysis 3.Developing a plan on how to conserve resources based on opinion polls 4.Forecasting CO 2 levels in a region based on historical emissions

Because developing nations make up 81% of the world’s population, they generate most of the pollution and waste as well as using most of the world’s resources. 1.True 2.False

Based on the map, in which three countries would you not expect to find high levels of poverty? 1.United States, Argentina, Japan 2.United States, China, Australia 3.Greenland, Kenya, South Africa 4.Mexico, Brazil, Canada

How many people live on the earth? 1.About 5 million 2.About 2 billion 3.Over 6 billion 4.Over 10 billion

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES LOW INDUSTRIALIZATION AND PER CAPITA GNPs. MAKES UP 80% OF THE WORLDS POPULATION. 15% OF THE WORLD’S WEALTH AND INCOME. ONLY USE 12% OF THE WORLD’S RESOURCES.

Most population growth is projected to occur in: 1.Developed countries 2.Developing countries

More Developed Country Less Developed Country

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THE WEALTH GAP? NOTHING, BECAUSE PEOPLE MAKE THEIR OWN BED SO THE MUST LIVE IN IT. IF WE HELP THEM WE WILL BE CREATING A WELFARE STATE. THUS HURTING THEM IN THE LONG RUN. SOMETHING, BECAUSE THE POOR ARE DYING. THE POOR SOMETIMES HAVE A MORE ADVERSE AFFECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT THAN THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

TOO MANY RICH PEOPLE WEIGHING RELATIVE BURDENS ON THE PLANET READ PAUL EHRLICH’S ESSAY. WRITE A COUNTER POINT ESSAY. TYPED 2 pages. 20 POINTS. Test points Due Friday the 9th

1-3 RESOURCES

Nonrenewable resources: 1.Are fixed in quantity 2.Include solar energy 3.Degrade quickly once they have been extracted from the earth 4.Can be exhausted completely

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? IS THE CURRENT GROWTH RATE SUSTAINABLE IN THE FUTURE? THIS IDEA ASSUMES THAT WE RIGHT TO USE THE EARTH’S RESOURCES AND EARTH CAPITAL TO MEET OUR NEEDS BUT THAT WE HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO PASS ON THE EARTH’S RESOURCES AND SERVICES TO FUTURE GENERATIONS IN AS GOOD OR BETTER SHAPE THAN THESE CONDITIONS WERE PASSED ON TO US. SHOULD WE LIVE FOR TODAY AND NOT CARE ABOUT HOW FUTURE WILL BE AFFECTED?

ECOLOGICAL VS. ECONOMIC RESOURCES ECOLOGICAL RESOURCE - IS ANYTHING REQUIRED BY AN ORGANISM FOR NORMAL MAINTENANCE, GROWTH, AND PRODUCTION. ECONOMIC RESOURCE - IS ANYTHING OBTAINED FROM THE ENVIRONMENT TO MEET HUMAN NEEDS AND WANTS.

RENEWABLE RESOURCES RENEWABLE RESOURCES - SOLAR. POTENTIALLY RENEWABLE RESOURCES - CAN BE REPLENISHED FAIRLY RAPIDLY THROUGH NATURAL PROCESSES. BIODIVERSITY GENETIC DIVERSITY SPECIES DIVERSITY ECOLOGICAL DIVERSITY VARIETY PROVIDES MORE RESOURCES.

Which of the following countries has the highest ecological footprint per capita? 1.India 2.The Netherlands 3.The United States 4.All are about the same

Some Major Problems Fig. 1–13a © Brooks/Cole Publishing Company / ITP

Fig. 1–13b More Major Problems © Brooks/Cole Publishing Company / ITP

Fig. 1–13c Still More Major Problems © Brooks/Cole Publishing Company / ITP

THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS. “ IF I DO NOT USE THIS RESOURCE, SOMEONE ELSE WILL. THE LITTLE BIT I USE OR POLLUTE IS NOT ENOUGH TO MATTER.” WITH ONLY A FEW USES, THIS LOGIC WORKS. HOWEVER, THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF MANY PEOPLE TRYING TO EXHAUSTS OR RUINS IT. THEN NO ONE CAN BENEFIT FROM IT, AND THEREIN LIES THE TRAGEDY.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS USE THE COMMON-PROPERTY RESOURCE AT RATES BELOW WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE BY REDUCING POPULATION AND REGULATING ACCESS. PROBLEMS - CONVERT THE COMMON-PROPERTY TO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP. PROBLEMS - COMMAND-AND-CONTROL IS THE USE OF TAXES AND THE FREE- MARKET PROBLEMS -

What is the tragedy of the commons? 1.The depletion of non- renewable resources 2.The degradation of renewable free-access resources 3.The seizing of natural resources by government 4.The underuse of resources that could benefit needy people

1-4 POLLUTION

POINT SOURCE - COMES FROM A SINGLE, IDENTIFIABLE SOURCE. NONPOINT SOURCE - RUNOFF THREE FACTORS DETERMINED HOW SEVERE THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF A POLLUTANT ARE. 1. THE CONCENTRATION LEVEL. ppm ppt 2. CHEMICAL NATURE. How active and harmful it is in nature? 3. HALF LIFE OR THE PERSISTENCE OF THE POLLUTANT. ex BIODEGRADABLE DDT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A PERSISTENT POLLUTANT.

SOLUTIONS TO POLLUTION POLLUTION CONTROL-INPUT CONTROL THREE Rs POLLUTION PREVENTION- OUTPUT CONTROL 1. TEMPORARY BANDAGE. 2. THE CLEANUP OF ONE TYPE OF POLLUTANT MAY CAUSE ANOTHER TYPE OF POLLUTION PROBLEM. 3. COST IS TO HIGH. ONLY 1 % IS SPENT ON PREVENTION

1-5 ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESOURCE PROBLEMS: CAUSE AND CONNECTIONS

RAPID POPULATION GROWTH RAPID AND WASTEFUL USE OF RESOURCES WITH TOO LITTLE EMPHASIS ON POLLUTION PREVENTION AND WASTE REDUCTION POVERTY FAILURE OF POLICIES THAT ENCOURAGE SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

Population X Affluence X Technology = Impact IMPORTANT

1-6 Is our present course sustainable

Are things getting better or worse?

1-8 ENVIRONMENTAL WORLD VIEWS AND SUSTAINABILITY

WHAT’S THE USE OF A HOUSE IF YOU DON’T HAVE A DECENT PLANET TO PUT IT ON? THOREAU ENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS PLANETARY MANAGEMENT WORLDVIEW.

SUSTAINABILITY –PLANETARY MANAGEMENT WORLDVIEW WE ARE THE BEST THERE IS ALWAYS MORE ALL EC. GROWTH IS GOOD SUCCESS = CONTROL OF EARTH FOR OUR BENEFIT

Environmental wisdom view Nature exist for all There is not always more Some economic growth is good while some might effect the environment

Working Toward Sustainability Some Guidelines Leave the earth as good or better than we found it. Take no more than we need. Try not to harm life, air, water, soil. Protect biodiversity. Help maintain Earth's capacity for self repair. Don't use potentially renewable resources faster than they are replenished. Don't waste resources. Don't release pollutants faster than Earth's natural processes can dilute or degrade them. Slow the rate of population growth. Reduce poverty. © Brooks/Cole Publishing Company / ITP