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Globalisation, Sustainability, Resources, Views on the Sustainability
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Kofi Annan Ghanaian diplomat, seventh secretary-general of the United Nations, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.) Globalization is a fact of life. But I believe we have underestimated its fragility. ”
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John J. Sweeney “ In its current form, globalization cannot be sustained. Democratic societies will not support it. Authoritarian leaders will fear to impose it. ”
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What is Sustainibility? A meaningless cliché, or It has real conceptual heft.
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Sustainability What exactly does it mean to Go Green???
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Sustainability But “sustainable,” which at first conjures up a similarly vague sense of environmental virtue, actually belongs in the second. It has real conceptual heft.
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Sustainability Despite its simplicity, however, sustainability is a concept people have a hard time wrapping their minds around.
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Global equity
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Views of the World There are four general views of the world when we discuss sustainability of resources necessary for the globalization -Spaceship Earth -Gaia Hypothesis - Limits to Growth - Cornucopian
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Views of the World https://www.youtube.co m/watch?v=KKfBc0Atk8Q Spaceship Earth Concept Spaceship Earth is a view expressing concern over the use of Earth’s limited resources. The idea was presented by Henry George. In 1879, he wrote Earth is a well-provisioned ship on which we sail through space. If the bread and beef above decks seem to grow scarce, we open a hatch and there is a new supply of resources we never used.
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Views of the World Spaceship Earth Concept…2 The phrase was popularized by Buckminster Fuller in his 1963 book Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. Fuller refers to fossil fuels. He suggested that we can make all of humanity successful via oil-related industrial evolution PROVIDED we do not exhaust in a split second of astronomical history the billions of years' energy supplies aboard our Spaceship Earth.
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Views of the World Spaceship Earth Concept…3 Spaceship Earth regards Earth as a tiny, fragile sphere with limited resources, a rapidly growing population and a threatened life-support system. This viewpoint was fully expressed in Kenneth Boulding’s 1966 essay The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth.
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The Gaia Hypothesis & The Earth As A System
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Mother Earth Throughout history, the concept of Mother Earth has been a part of human culture in one form or the other The Hopi name for Mother Earth is Tapuat ( meaning mother and child) Mother Earth Symbolizes the cycle of life, the rebirth of spirit, its earthly path,and possibly its return to the possible domain.
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Hindu,Godess Kali Kali is the Cosmic Power all of the good and all of the bad in the universe, combining with the absolute power of destruction with the precious motherly gift of creation. Kali creates, preserves, destroys
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What is Gaia? Greek mythology – goddess of the earth mother of living things, sustainer of life
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Hypothesis=? thesis= main idea or argument (like in an essay or debate) hypothesis= a theory or proposal based on scientific or logical reason
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Gaia Hypothesis An idea proposed by James Lovelock (published in 1979) All living things on earth (biosphere) function as one SUPERorganism that changes its environment to create conditions that best meet its needs, with the ability to self-regulate critical systems needed to sustain life
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4 Systems The 4 systems that sustain life are: Biosphere (living things) Hydrosphere (all water on earth’s surface) Atmosphere (air) Lithosphere (soil)
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Self-Regulation Surface Temperature maintenance of a consistent temperature that supports life Atmospheric Composition the composition of the air remains the same, even though it should change a lot over time Ocean Salinity the ocean never gets more/less salty, even though minerals are forever being added from rivers
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What is a System? System? A group of parts that function together Open v. Closed all systems require an energy source to drive them parts can be either lost from or added to the system all parts exist in precise amounts, and nothing can be lost or added.
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System Earth Earth=closed system. All ingredients (water, gases, and chemical nutrients) exist on Earth in limited amounts. For life on Earth to continue to function, these ingredients have to be recycled over and over again. Energy source: the sun
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SYSTEM WARNING If we use up or seriously deplete any of Earth’s essential ingredients, or if we disrupt its natural cycles, we risk upsetting the balance of the entire system.
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To sum up… Earth = single living organism. Over 4.6 billion years the Earth has become: self-evolving self-regulating self-sustaining Evolve: change and become more effective Regulate: able to monitor/control/adjust itself Sustain: to maintain current life indefinitely
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Furthermore… All living things act to create environmental changes that benefit all life forms The Earth is always changing and adapting in response to its life forms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjLC3GjFMv0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGCE4wOUt9 g
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Gaia in action Planetary simulation: Daisyworld http://library.thinkquest.org/C003763/flash/gaia1.htm
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Views of the World Gaia Hypothesis Gaia Hypothesis visualizes the Earth as a dynamic and living organism. The Earth is a “geo-biosphere” in which life creates an environment on Earth suitable for life to continue. The 1960s theory was formed by scientist Sir James Lovelock. In 1979, he released his book Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. Lovelock hypothesized that Earth’s living matter functioned like a single, self-regulating organism. Lovelock named this living system after the Greek goddess Gaia.
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Views of the World Gaia…2 Gaia Hypothesis is non- technical. Among some scientists, Gaia lacks scientific rigor, and offers quasi-mystical thinking about the planet Earth. Yet, everyone accepts life and the physical environment significantly influence one another.
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Views of the World Limits to Growth Limits to Growth was presented in 1972 by the Club of Rome. Based on computer models, the Limits to Growth theory predicts possible outcomes of population growth. There are limits to growth because (1) the Earth has finite resources (e.g., space, food, energy) and (2) renewable resources (e.g., wind power, solar) can be overused, depleted or destroyed. Unabated human population will eventually exceed Earth’s carrying capacity (i.e., the maximum number of people that can be sustained by Earth’s resources), and human populations/societies will crash.
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Views of the World Limits to Growth…2 The 1972 model is a Pessimistic Model because the world’s systems – natural, social and economic – were predicted to collapse within 100 years. In 1976, the Club of Rome produced the Optimistic Model. Within 200 years, technological solutions would be found to offset any impacts of human population expansion and resource exploitation. A more moderate model was used in 2000 and a less extreme outcome was predicted.
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Cornucopian Theory A cornucopian is a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology. Fundamentally, they believe that there is enough matter and energy on the Earth to provide for the estimated peak population of about 9.22 billion in 2075.
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The term comes from the cornocupia, the "horn of plenty" of Greek Mythology, which magically supplied its owners with endless food and drink. The cornucopians are sometimes known as “ Boomsters ”.
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Limits-to-Growth Thesis (Doomsters- to Cornucopian) There are limits to population growth because finite resources will be used up, and renewable resources can be overused or damaged. Computer models have predicted that if trends in population growth, economic development, resource use, and consumption continue, within 100 years Earth ’ s carrying capacity will be exceeded.
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Expansionist World View The value of the world ’ s resources lies in their importance to society in the creation of wealth and other benefits for humankind. Science and technology can control and tame nature for the benefit of humankind. Nature is a resource to be used, not preserved.
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Ecological World View Humans have a spiritual relationship with nature (which has intrinsic value) that can be preserved only if nature is protected against exploitation. All parts of the natural world are interrelated; thus, humans must work within the limitations of the planet ’ s ecosystem because damage to one part will have a ripple effect, ultimately damaging humanity. How people treat nature is a reflection of the state of human society.
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Sustainable Development Sustainable development meets the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. According to the World Conservation Strategy (1980) development programs should have these 3 objectives: maintenance of essential ecological processes sustainable use of Earth ’ s resources preservation of genetic diversity
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Resource is A Stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively. synonyms:assets, funds, wealth, money, capital
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Resources A stock resource is non-renewable, at least in practical terms. Oil is an excellent example in the sense that new oil is developing but so slowly that it is irrelevant to human needs. Solar radiation is a good example of a flow resource. The resource is constantly being replaced.
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“ Resources are not: they become. ”
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What can you do to make your own use of resources more sustainable?
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transportation—walking/bicycling to destinations when possible, taking public transportation wherever feasible, driving fuel-efficient vehicles food—growing some of their own food, purchasing organic food, restricting meat consumption. housing—turning down the thermostat and wearing a sweater, using a programmable thermostat, increasing the R-value of insulation. clothing—purchasing clothing that uses cotton, wool, and other natural fibres, recycling old clothing through charitable organizations recreation—choosing recreational activities that reduce carbon footprint and other environmental damage e.g., sailing or canoeing rather than jet skiing, and thinking carefully before traveling.
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The term “ carbon footprint ” refers to the amount of carbon (C02) we emit individually in any one-year period. C02 is produced from many sources and is the primary gas responsible for Global warming.
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The global economy of the past: vs Current global economy -Wealth was accumulated largely by the degradation of the environment. (Industrial Revolution U.K., 1750) -- Wealth increased the standard of living, which created higher consumption patterns and further inappropriate exploitation of the environment.
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Consequences of the Wealth Accumulation -Eventually, the degraded environment created in causes less wealth to be created, which in turn increases stress on society. -In an attempt to generate more wealth, further environmental degradation occurs; a negative feedback loop is created in which the environment continues to be degraded. - At some point, there is a realization that our parasitic relationship with the environment is destroying our “ home. ”
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The Core in Geography The 'core' consists of Europe (excluding Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus), the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Israel. Within this region is where most of the positive characteristics of globalization typically occur: transnational links, modern development (i.e. higher wages, access to healthcare, adequate food/water/shelter), scientific innovation, and increasing economic prosperity. These countries also tend to be highly industrialized and have a rapidly-growing service (tertiary) sector.
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The Periphery The 'periphery' consists of the countries in the rest of the world: Africa, South America, Asia (excluding Japan and South Korea), and Russia and many of its neighbors. Although some parts of this area exhibit positive development (especially Pacific Rim locations in China), it is generally characterized by extreme poverty and a low standard of living. Health care is non-existent in many places, there is less access to potable water than in the industrialized core, and poor infrastructure engenders slum conditions. Population is skyrocketing in the periphery because of a number of contributing factors including a limited ability to move and the use of children as means to support a family.
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New Core- Receive the most benefits of globalization. Old Core- Experienced both benefits and hardships of globalization. Far Periphery- Hopeful, waiting on more benefits from globalization.
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