1. Environmental Problems, Their Causes and Sustainability

2. What is Environmental Science?
Natural Sciences
Ecology
Biology
Chemistry
Geology
Social Sciences
Economics
Politics
Ethics

3. Earth’s Life-Support System
Human Culturesphere
Air
(atmosphere)
Water
(hydrosphere)
Population
Technology
Soil and rocks
(lithosphere)
Life
(biosphere)
Economics
Politics

4. Sustainability Satisfies basic needs of people
Food
Water
Air
Shelter
Doesn’t deplete natural resources

5. © 2004 Brooks/Cole – Thomson Learning
Environmental
Social
Economic
© 2004 Brooks/Cole – Thomson Learning
Traditional
decision making

6. Social Economic Sustainable Solutions Environmental
Decision making in a
sustainable society

7. Population Growth
Growth is exponential – increases by a fixed percentage

8. Death rates drop – better health care, increased sanitation
Birth rates remain the same
Can measure growth in doubling time – number of years it takes a population to double
Use rule of 70: 70/percentage growth rate = doubling time
World population: 7,018,000,000
US population: 313,000,000

9. What makes a country developed?
More developed countries have greater populations than less developed countries
What makes a country developed?
Improved standard of living
Industrialized
Per capita Gross National Income (GNI)

10. Population (billions)12 11 10
World total 9 8
Developing
countries 7
Population (billions) 6 5 4 3
Developed
countries 2 1
2000
2050
2100
1950
Year

11. Good news about developed countries
Life expectancy is rising
Infant mortality rate has dropped
Food production is outpacing population growth
Increase in safe drinking water
Less raw materials = more goods
Air and water pollutant levels are dropping

12. Not-so-good news about developing countries
Life expectancy 11 yrs less
Infant mortality is 8x higher
Poverty (1 of 4 have income of $370)
Burning fossil fuels  global warming
Natural resources are being depleted
Air and water pollutant levels too high

13. Predominantly natural
Arctic
Circle
Arctic
Circle
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
Tropic of
Capricorn
Human disturbance
Antarctic
Circle
Predominantly natural
Partially disturbed
Human dominated

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

15. Ecological Footprint
The amount of land needed to produce the resources needed by an average person in a country.

16. Total Ecological Footprint
Country
Total Ecological Footprint
(Hectares)
United States
The Netherlands
India
3 billion
hectares
94 million hectares
1 billion

17. Biodiversity Depletion
Habitat destruction
Habitat degradation
Extinction
Air Pollution
Global climate change
Stratospheric ozone depletion
Urban air pollution
Acid deposition
Outdoor pollutants
Indoor pollutants
Noise
Food Supply Problems
Overgrazing
Farmland loss
and degradation
Wetlands loss
Overfishing
Coastal pollution
Soil erosion
Soil salinization
Soil waterlogging
Water shortages
Groundwater depletion
Loss of biodiversity
Poor nutrition
Major
Environmental
Problems
Water Pollution
Sediment
Nutrient overload
Toxic chemicals
Infectious agents
Oxygen depletion
Pesticides
Oil spills
Excess heat
Waste Production
Solid waste
Hazardous waste

18. Pollution
Any addition to air, water, soil, or food that threatens the health, survival, or activities of living organisms
Can be natural or caused by humans
Point source: come from single, identifiable sources
Nonpoint sources: dispersed sources that are difficult to identify

19. Pollutants cause:
Disruption of life-support systems for living things
Damage to wildlife, human health, property
Unpleasant noise, taste, sounds, smells
Prevent or clean-up!

20. Rapid 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