1. Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
Chapter 1

2. Key Concepts Population growth and sustainability
Economic growth and development
Resources and resource use
Pollution
Causes of environmental problems

3. World Population Click for Current World Population
World’s Population Growth = 1.2%
(78 million people added per year = 8,900 / hour) ?
Billions of people
Black Death—the Plague
Time
Hunting and
gathering
Agricultural revolution
Industrial
revolution
Click for Current World Population

4. Natural Capital See Fig. 1-2, p. 7 NATURAL CAPITAL = NATURAL RESOURCES
Air
Water
Soil
Land
Life (biodiversity)
Nonrenewable minerals (iron, sand)
Renewable energy
(sun, wind, water flows)
Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels, nuclear power) +
NATURAL SERVICES
NATURAL CAPITAL
Air purification
Water purification
Soil renewal
Nutrient recycling
Food production
Pollination
Grassland renewal
Forest renewal
Waste treatment
Climate Control
Population control (species interactions)
Pest control

5. Environmentally Sustainable Society
A society that manages economy & population size without doing irreparable environmental harm.
Does not deplete natural capital
Income analogy

6. Economics
Economic growth= increase in capacity of country to provide goods and services
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = annual market value of goods and services produced in a country
Per capita GDP = GDP/Population
Economic development= improvement of living standards via economic growth
Developed and developing countries

7. Global Outlook Percentage 19 Population 81 0.1 Population growth 1.5
of World's 19
Population 81
0.1
Population
growth
1.5
Wealth and
income 85 15
Resource
use 88 12 75
Pollution
and waste 25
Developed countries
Developing countries

8. Human Population Growth
97% of projected increase expected in developing world
World total
Developing
countries
Population (billions)
Developed
countries
Year

9. Economic Development Global life expectancy doubled since 1950
Trade-Offs
Economic Development
Good News
Bad News
Global life expectancy doubled since 1950
Infant mortality cut in half since 1955
Food production ahead of population growth since 1978
Air and water pollution down in most developed countries since 1970
Number of people living in poverty
dropped 6% since 1990
Life expectancy 13 years less in
developing countries than in
developed Countries
Infant mortality rate in developing countries over 9
times higher than in developed
countries
Harmful environmental effects of
agriculture may limit future food
production
Air and water pollution levels in
most developing countries too high
Half of world's workers trying to
live on less than $2 (U.S.) per day

10. Resources Perpetually Renewable - sun, wind, flowing water
{Potentially} Renewable - fresh air, water, soils, forests, food (“potentially renewable”= can be depleted if used beyond sustainable yield)
Nonrenewable - fossil fuels, metals, … economic depletion

11. Renewable Resources (Potentially Renewable)
Sustainable yield= highest rate renewable resource can be used indefinitely w/out reducing supply
Environmental degradation= depletion of renewable resource is faster than renewal
Tragedy of the Commons = overuse of free- access resources (clean air, water, fish, pasture,…) “If I don’t use this resource, someone else will.”

12. Ecological Footprint 1.0 hectare = 2.47 acres
current global footprint requires 1.2 planets
21% higher than carrying capacity Sustainable???
Fig. 1-5, p. 11

13. Nonrenewable Resources- (exist in fixed quantity in earth’s crust)
Energy resources- coal, oil, natural gas
Metallic mineral resources - iron, copper, aluminum
Nonmetallic mineral resources - salt, clay, sand
Economic depletion- Exhaustion of about 80% of estimated supply of nonrenewable resource.
Recycling and reuse

14. Pollution
Definition: any addition to air, water, soil or food that threatens health, survival or activities of humans or other organisms
Point sources- single identifiable sources (smokestack, drainpipe, exhaust pipe)
Nonpoint Sources - dispersed and difficult to identify and control (fertilizer / pesticide runoff, wind- blown pesticides, …)
Unwanted effects of pollution 1. Disrupt life support systems 2. Damage wildlife, human health and property 3. Create nuisances (noise, smell, taste, sight)

15. Point-source Air Pollution
Fig. 1-8, p. 14

16. Solutions to Pollution
Pollution prevention (input control)
Pollution cleanup (output control)
Disadvantages of output control- temporary bandage, can transfer to other areas, costly

17. Environmental Problems: Causes and Connections
First step: Understanding the causes
Poverty and population growth
Premature death among the poor

18. Causes of Environmental Problems
Population
growth
Unsustainable
resource use
Poverty
Not including the
environmental costs
of economic goods
and services in their
market prices
Trying to manage and
simplify nature with too
little knowledge about
how it works
⇑Poor Environmental Accounting
⇑Ecological Ignorance
Fig. 1-9, p. 15

19. Some Harmful Results of Poverty
Lack of
access to
Number of people
(% of world's population)
Adequate
sanitation
2.4 billion (37%)
Enough fuel for
heating and
cooking
2 billion (31%)
Electricity
1.6 billion (25%)
Clean drinking water
1.1 billion (17%)
Adequate
health care
1.1 billion (17%)
Enough food
for good health
1.1 billion (17%)
Fig. 1-12, p. 17

20. Malnutrition
Fig. 1-13, p. 17

21. Economics and Ethics
Affluenza= unsustainable addiction to over-consumption and materialism
Globalization and global advertising= it takes 27 tractor trailer loads of resources to support one American
Law of Progressive Simplification-shift from material to non-material
Positive environmental effects of affluenza- In many developed countries, environ quality is improving

22. Affluenza Diagnosis
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.” - W. Rogers
I am willing to work at a job I despise so I can buy lots of stuff
When I am feeling down, I like to go shopping to make myself feel better.
I would rather be shopping right now.
I owe more than $1,000 on my credit cards.
I usually make only the minimum monthly payments on my credit card bills.
I am running out of room to store my stuff.
If you agree with 2 or more of the statements above, you could be suffering from Affluenza

23. Measuring Environmental Impact I = PAT
Developing Countries X X =
Consumption per person (affluence, A)
Technological impact per unit of consumption (T)
Environmental impact of population (I)
Population (P) X X = X X =
Developed Countries
Fig. 1-7, p. 13

24. Historical Changes in Human Culture
Hunter-gatherers - 60,000 years ago - 12,000 yrs ago
Agricultural revolution- began between 10k & 12k years ago
Industrial-medical revolution- began 275 years ago
Information-globalization revolution- 50 years ago

25. Eras of US Environmental History
Tribal era (10K yrs before Euro Settlement) - respect for land
Frontier era ( )- Euro Colonists- Conquer Nature
Early conservation era- ( ) Alarm from resource depletion- Urged protection of Wilderness
Environmentalism (1870-present)- Resource conservation, public health and environmental protection

26. Sustainability Revolution
Current
Emphasis
Sustainability
Emphasis
Pollution cleanup
Waste disposal (bury or burn)
Protecting species
Environmental degradation
Increased resource use
Population growth
Depleting and degrading natural capital)
Pollution prevention (cleaner production)
Waste prevention & reduction
Protecting where species live
(habitat protection)
Environmental restoration
Less wasteful (more efficient) resource use
Population stabilization by decreasing birth rates
Protecting natural capital and living off the biological interest it provides
Fig ,
p. 449