1. 1-2 How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?
Concept 1-2 As our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earth’s natural capital.

2. Natural Capital Degradation
Figure 1.9: These are examples of the degradation of normally renewable natural resources and services in parts of the world, mostly as a result of rising populations and resource use per person.
Rate of degradation is accelerating (unsustainable living)
Also called ________________ degradation
environmental
Fig. 1-9, p. 13

3. 2005, UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
4 year study conducted by 1,360 experts from 95 countries
Reported that human activities have degraded about _______ of the earth’s natural services, mostly in the past ______ years
Good News! – We have the tools to conserve, rather than degrade, our natural capital
60% 50

4. Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources
One of the earliest environmental problems that scientists have addressed is pollution – any presence of a chemical
or agent at a level that is harmful to organisms
Two Sources of Pollution
Point sources – come from ____________, identifiable sources
E.g., smokestack
Nonpoint sources - ______________ and difficult to identify
E.g., pesticides blown into the air
Main Type of pollutants
Biodegradable – natural processes can break down over time
Nondegradable – natural processes cannot break down
single
dispersed

5. Dealing with Pollution
Pollution cleanup (____________ pollution control)
Involves cleaning up or diluting pollutants AFTER we have produced them
Pollution prevention (__________ pollution control)
Reduces or eliminates the PRODUCTION of pollutants
Which type of control method do you think environmentalists recommend?
output
input
Prevention / input control

6. Problems with Relying on Cleanup
Temporary bandage
Cleanup sometimes causes another type of pollution
Ex: Picking up garbage - it will still have to be…
Burned – causing ________ pollution
Dumped on the land – may cause
__________ pollution through runoff
or seepage into groundwater
Buried – may cause _________ and _______________ pollution
There is usually a _______ cost involved with reducing pollutant to acceptable levels
air
water
soil
water
high

7. Overexploiting Shared Renewable Resources: Tragedy of the Commons
Three types of property or resource rights
Private property
Common property – owned by a large _____________ of individuals…may be managed by a country’s government
Open access renewable resources – shared by ____________________
Atmosphere, underground water supplies, open ocean
group
everyone

8. Overexploiting Shared Renewable Resources: Tragedy of the Commons
Concept developed by biologist Garret ___________ in 1989
Individual users…
Feel that if they don’t use a resource, someone else will
Fail to recognize their cumulative effect
Possible solutions?
Establish _________ to regulate overuse
Convert to ___________ ownership – people are more likely to protect their own investment
Hardin
laws
private

9. Ecological Footprints
Different countries (and individuals) leave different ecological footprints on the planet
Ecological footprint - the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to….
provide an area with a supply of ________________ resources
______________ or ____________ the waste or pollution associated with a resource
Figure 1.13: Natural capital use and degradation.
These graphs show the total and per capita ecological footprints of selected countries (top). In 2008, humanity’s total, or global, ecological footprint was at least 30% higher than the earth’s biological capacity (bottom) and is projected to be twice the planet’s biological capacity by around Question: If we are living beyond the earth’s renewable biological capacity, why do you think the human population and per capita resource consumption are still growing rapidly? (Data from Worldwide Fund for Nature, Global Footprint Network, Living Planet Report See
renewable
absorb
recycle
Per capita ecological footprint – average ecological footprint
for an _________________ in a certain country
individual
Fig. 1-13, p. 16

10. Patterns of Natural Resource Consumption
Less developed countries
Use of resources is usually devoted to _________ needs
Low environmental impact
basic
Figure 1.12: Patterns of natural resource consumption: The top photo shows a family of five subsistence farmers with all their possessions. They live in the village of Shingkhey, Bhutan, in the Himalaya Mountains, which are sandwiched between China and India in South Asia. The bottom photo shows a typical U.S. family of four living in Pearland, Texas, with their possessions.
New Problem: Some LDCs are clearing the rainforest for wood
___________ term survival is more important for them than
thinking long term
Short
Fig. 1-12a, p. 15

11. Patterns of Natural Resource Consumption
More developed countries
Overconsumption due to ____________
(wealth)
affluence
Figure 1.12: Patterns of natural resource consumption: The top photo shows a family of five subsistence farmers with all their possessions. They live in the village of Shingkhey, Bhutan, in the Himalaya Mountains, which are sandwiched between China and India in South Asia. The bottom photo shows a typical U.S. family of four living in Pearland, Texas, with their possessions.
Fig. 1-12b, p. 15 11

12. Natural Capital Use and Degradation
2008 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – earth’s global ecological
footprint exceeds its biological capacity by _______
Ecological ____________ – when your footprint exceeds your ability to renew your resources (kind of like credit card debt)
30%
deficit
Figure 1.13: Natural capital use and degradation.
These graphs show the total and per capita ecological footprints of selected countries (top). In 2008, humanity’s total, or global, ecological footprint was at least 30% higher than the earth’s biological capacity (bottom) and is projected to be twice the planet’s biological capacity by around Question: If we are living beyond the earth’s renewable biological capacity, why do you think the human population and per capita resource consumption are still growing rapidly? (Data from Worldwide Fund for Nature, Global Footprint Network, Living Planet Report See
(Extra 1/3)
Fig. 1-13, p. 16

13. Natural Capital Use and Degradation
By about 2035, our global ecological foot print will
be _____________ the earth’s biological capacity
twice
Figure 1.13: Natural capital use and degradation.
These graphs show the total and per capita ecological footprints of selected countries (top). In 2008, humanity’s total, or global, ecological footprint was at least 30% higher than the earth’s biological capacity (bottom) and is projected to be twice the planet’s biological capacity by around Question: If we are living beyond the earth’s renewable biological capacity, why do you think the human population and per capita resource consumption are still growing rapidly? (Data from Worldwide Fund for Nature, Global Footprint Network, Living Planet Report See
Fig. 1-13, p. 16

14. Stepped Art
Fig. 1-13, p. 16

15. IPAT is Another Environmental Impact Model
I = P x A x T
I = Environmental impact
P =
A =
T =
Population
Affluence (Consumption)
Technology

16. IPAT Illustrated P A T I MDC LDC MDC
Figure 1.14: Connections: This simple model demonstrates how three factors—number of people, affluence (resource use per person), and technology—affect the environmental impact of populations in less-developed countries (top) and more-developed countries (bottom).
Who’s affluence (consumption) is contributing a greater impact?
Who’s population growth is contributing a greater impact?
Who has more good technology that is helping to counteract bad technology?
MDC
LDC
MDC
Fig. 1-14, p. 17

17. Case Study: China’s New Affluent Consumers
World’s _____________ population
Leading consumer of various _______ and _______
Wheat, rice, and meat / Coal, fertilizers, steel, and cement
Second largest consumer of _______
_______ of the most polluted cities are in China
In the next decade, projected to be the largest consumer and producer of ________
Environmental policy expert, Lester R. Brown, proposes that China will need…
______ of the world’s current grain harvest
More than ______ of the oil currently produced
largest
food
goods
oil
2/3
cars
2/3
all

18. Natural Systems Have Tipping Points
Ecological tipping point: an often ______________ shift in the behavior of a natural system (threshold level)
Environmental problems can build slowly until the tipping point is reached
Long-term climate change
Over-fishing
Species extinction
irreversible

19. Cultural Changes Have Increased Our Ecological Footprints
Culture is the whole of a society’s knowledge, beliefs, technology, and practices
“Hunter-Gatherers”

20. Fourth needed cultural change… a _______________ ________________
Would involve learning how to reduce our ecological footprints and to live more sustainably
We should copy nature’s three sustainability principles…
Solar energy
Chemical cycling (recycling)
Biodiversity (maintaining diverse crops / plants  animals)
sustainability
revolution

21. Review Questions What is another term for natural capital degradation?
What type of land does the “tragedy of the commons” affect: private or shared?
What does IPAT stand for?
Environmental degradation
shared
Environmental
Impact
= population x affluence x technology

22. Do you think this is a point or a nonpoint pollution source?
Figure 1.11: The trash in this river came from a large area of land and is an example of nonpoint water pollution.
Do you think this is a point or a nonpoint pollution source?
Nonpoint source
Fig. 1-11, p. 14

23. A. twice that of China’s per capita ecological footprint
The U.S. per capita ecological footprint is approximately…
A. twice that of China’s per capita ecological footprint
B. half that of China’s per capita ecological footprint
C. 4 x that of China’s per capita ecological footprint
D. 6 x that of China’s per capita ecological footprint