1. Environmental Issues, Their Causes & Sustainability
Chapter One

3. Exponential Growth
A quantity increases by a constant rate of increase per unit of time
Also called Geometric Growth
Follows a geometric pattern of increase
2,4,8,16,32, etc.

4. Makes a J- curve Called this because of its shape
To find Doubling Time
Use Rule of 70
Divide Percent increase into 70
Human population is growing in this manner

6. Arithmetic Growth Increases at a constant amount per unit of time
1,3,5,7, etc.
Also called Linear Growth
Graph will be a sloping straight line
Food production is increasing in this manner

7. Environment, Ecology, & Environmental Science
Environment - all external conditions and factors that affect living organisms
Ecology - study of relationships between living organisms and their environment
Environmental Science - examines the effect of humans on the earth’s environment
How the earth works
How to deal with the problems we face
It is an interdisciplinary science - natural and social sciences.

8. Capital Wealth – to an economist Solar capital – energy from the sun
Direct sunlight and indirect forms such as windpower, hydroelectric, and biomass
Natural capital – (natural resources) air, water, soil, biodiversity, etc. Also called natural resources.
Our existence depends completely on the sun and the earth.

9. Environmentally Sustainable Society
Satisfies the basic needs of the people without depleting or degrading its natural resources and therefore preventing current and future generations from meeting their basic needs.
Live off the natural income replenished by soils, plants, air and water and not depleting the natural capital that supplies this income.

10. Carrying capacity
The maximum number of organisms an environment can support over a specified period of time.
Varies with
Time - long and short term
Location
Technology available to extract and process resources & to deal with problems caused by overpopulation

11. How rapidly is the human population growing?
It took 60,000 years to reach 1 billion
It took 130 years to reach 2 billion
It took 30 years to reach 3 billion
It took 17 years to reach 4 billion
It took 12 years to reach 5 billion
It took 10 years to reach 6 billion
48% of earth’s land area has been modified by man.

12. What is economic growth?
An increase in a country’s capacity to provide goods and services for its population’s use.
Its measured by Gross National Income (GNI) Used to be called Gross National Product
Market value of all goods and services produced within a country for final use during a year.
Usually calculate per capita GNI - GNI divided by total population

13. Gross Domestic Product – GDP – the market value in current dollars of all good and services produced within a country during a year.
Gross World Product – GWP – market valut in current dollars of all goods and services produced in the world during a year
Per capita GNI in purchasing power – GNI PPP/total population at mid-year. A way to compare people’s economic welfare among countries.

14. What is economic development?
Improvement of living standards by economic growth

15. Developed Countries Highly industrialized High per capita GNI
Have 20% of world’s population
Have 85% of world’s wealth and income
Use 88% of its natural resources
Generate 75% of its pollution & waste

16. Developing Countries Low to moderate industrialization
Low per capita GNI
Most are in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Have 80% of the world’s population
Have 15% of its wealth and income
Use only 12% of its natural resources

17. Development
The change from a largely rural society, mainly agricultural, illiterate, and poor with a rapidly growing population to one that is mostly urban, industrial, educated, and wealthy with a slow-growing population..

18. Globalization
The process of global social, economic, and environmental change that leads to an increasingly integrated world.
Economic indicators - global economy has grown and there are many transnational corporations
Information & communication - many people have Internet access
Environmental effects - diseases and pollutants transported across international borders & global climate change

19. RESOURCES
RESOURCE - anything obtained from the earth to meet human needs and wants
Food, water, shelter, manufactured goods, transportation

20. Types of resources PERPETUAL - renewed continuously
SOLAR ENERGY
WIND, TIDES, FLOWING WATER
RENEWABLE - can be replenished fairly rapidly
AIR, WATER, SOIL, BIODIVERSITY
NONRENEWABLE - exist in a fixed quantity
FOSSIL FUELS
METALLIC MINERALS
NONMETALLIC MINERALS

21. Sustainable yield
The highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply.
Environmental degradation - results when a resource’s natural replacement level is exceeded.

22. The Tragedy of the Commons
Garrett Hardin
“If I don’t use it, someone else will”
Overusing that which belongs to all or us
Air, water, ocean
Called COMMON PROPERTY OR FREE-ACCESS RESOURCES

23. Nonrenewable resource
Exist in fixed amounts in the earth’s crust and can be completely used up
Include energy resources such as coal, oil natural gas & uranium
Metallic mineral resources - iron, copper
Nonmetallic mineral resources - salt, sand, clay
Mineral - hard, crystalline material formed naturally
Also called exhaustible resources

24. Economic depletion
When 80% of a mineral is used up and it becomes more expensive to retrieve it than the mineral is worth.
Five choices at this point:
Reduce or use less, reuse or recycle existing supply - does not apply to nonrenewable energy sources- use less or try to find a substitute or do without.

25. Recycling - collect and reprocess. resource into new products
Recycling - collect and reprocess resource into new products. Reuse - Use resource over & over again. Cannot recycle nonrenewable energy sources Reserve - known deposit from which a useable mineral can be extracted at a profit at current prices.

26. Ecological Footprint
The amount of land needed to produce the resources needed by the average person in a country.
Ecological footprint of people in developed countries is large compared to people in developing countries.
If all people in the world consumed what we do in the U.S. it would take three planets to support them.

27. Per Capita Ecological Footprint (Hectares of land per person)
Country
10.9
United States
5.9
The Netherlands
1.0
India

28. Pollution
Any addition to air, water, soil or food that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or others
Can be natural such as a volcano or anthropogenic - due to human activities
POINT SOURCES - come from a single identifiable source - a wastewater treatment plant
NONPOINT SOURCES - come from sources that are difficult to identify.

29. Solutions to Pollution
CLEANUP - usually only temporary
PREVENTION - the best way - slow or eliminate pollutant reaching environment.

30. Key Environmental Problems FIVE ROOT CAUSES
Overpopulation
Waste of resources
Poverty
Not including environmental costs of economic goods and services in their market prices
Trying to manage and simplify nature with too little knowledge of how nature works.

31. Connections Model developed by Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren- 1970’s
Population x Affluence x Technology = Environmental Impact
P = number of people
A = number of units of resources used /person
T = Env. Degredation & pollution/unit of resource used
I = environmental impact of population

32. P x A x T = I

33. Results
Developing countries have more people but use less resources / person
Developed countries have less people but use more resources/person
Ends up that both have effects on environment

34. Environmental worldview - how people think the world works, their role, and right and wrong behavior (environmental ethics)
Planetary management worldview- humans are the most important and should manage the planet
Environmental wisdom worldview - we are a part of nature and resources are limited. We must manage.