1. Important Environmental Issues
Earthrise
Apollo 8 – Christmas Eve 1968

2. 1. Exponential population growth
Growth is exponential b/c
- increased food supplies
- better healthcare & sanitation
Doubling time  # of years it takes a
population to double
* Rule of 70  = doubling time
% growth rate

3. * Most population growth occurs in developing countries
2. Poverty
Over 2.1 billion humans
survive on less than $3.10 a day.
* Per capita GNI  avg income
per person
- low income under $1025
- middle income $
- high income over $12476
developing
countries
developed
countries
* Most population growth occurs in developing countries

4. Percentage of population living on less than $2 a day.

5. 3. Global climate change * Shifts weather patterns
* Alters water supplies
* Shifts where crops can be grown

7. 4. Increasing resource use
anything obtained from the environment to meet human needs & wants
* Renewable  forests, animals, H2O & soil
BUT can be depleted or degraded if used faster than nature’s replacement rate
 Environmental degradation
(often caused by TOTC)

8. * Nonrenewable  fixed quantity on Earth when
considering the time it would
take to replace
ex. fossil fuels
Ecological Footprint  amount of resources that a person, city or country uses

9. 5. Pollution
 any addition to air, H2O, soil or food that threatens healthy survival /activity of humans or other organisms
Can be
1. natural ex. volcanoes

10. 2. Anthropogenic  caused by humans
* Nonpoint – difficult to identify source
* Point – easy to identify one source

11. Premature extinction of plants & animals
 results mostly from expanding resource use
Quagga
8/12/1883
Dodo
mid-late 17th century
Pyrenean Ibex
1/6/00
Passenger Pigeon 9/1/14