1. Monday - 8/8/16
Question of the Day Explain the concept of sustainability. In your opinion, are we living sustainably?
Agenda
Finish Easter Island questions - class discussion
Environmental timeline and ecological footprint activity

2. Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
Unit One
Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

3. What is Environmental Science?
The goals of environmental science are to learn:
how nature works.
how the environment effects us.
how we effect the environment.
how we can live more sustainably without degrading our life-support system.
We depend completely on the environment for survival.

4. Environmental Science
…can help us avoid mistakes made by past civilizations
The lesson of Easter Island??

5. Living in an Exponential Age
Population shapes relationship w/ resources
Human population growth: J-shaped curve
Agricultural Revolution
Stable food supplies
Industrial Revolution
Urbanized society powered by fossil fuels
Sanitation and medicines
More food
Figure 1-1

6. Which single advantage and disadvantage are the most important?
Figure 1-15

7. LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY
… the study of how the earth works, how we interact with the earth and how to deal with environmental problems.
Figure 1-2

8. Sustainability: The Integrative Theme
Sustainability, is the ability of earth’s various systems to survive and adapt to environmental conditions indefinitely.
The steps to sustainability must be supported by sound science.
Figure 1-3

10. Environmentally Sustainable Societies
… meets basic needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without degrading the natural capital that supplies these resources.
Figure 1-4

11. POPULATION GROWTH, ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic growth provides people with more goods and services.
Measured in gross domestic product (GDP)
Economic development uses economic growth to improve living standards.
The world’s countries economic status (developed vs. developing) are based on their degree of industrialization and GDP.

12. Global Outlook Comparison of developed and developing countries.
Figures 1-5 and 1-6

13. Wealth Gap GDP(per capita) Unempl Pop Pop below pov Life exp
Infant mortality
Pop. Growth rate
Nigeria
$2548
12.1%
176 mil
70% 52
73/1000
2.8%
Iraq
$6862
16.5%
38 mil
25% 70
38/1000
2.5%
Australia
$67,000
5.7%
24 mil
14% 82
3/1000
1.8%
Italy
$36,000
12.4%
60 mil
30% 83
0.5% US
$53,000
4.9%
324 mil
15% 80
6/1000
0.7%
Brazil
$11,000
10.9%
200 mil
21% 74
14/1000
0.9%
Mexico
$10,000
4.72%
129 mil
52% 77
12/1000
1.2%

14. Natural Resources: Vital to human survival
Natural resources = substances and energy sources needed for survival
Renewable Resources: Perpetually available; renew themselves over short periods of time
Nonrenewable Resources: can be depleted; oil, coal and minerals

15. Nonrenewable Resources
Exist as fixed quantity
Becomes economically depleted.
Recycling and reusing extends supply
Recycling processes waste material into new material.
Reuse is using a resource over again in the same form.
Figure 1-8

16. Tragedy of the Commons
Written by Garrett Hardin

17. Tragedy of the Commons Analyzed how people approach resource use
Resources not regulated in commons will eventually be depleted
Disputed theory that self interest serves the public in the long run

18. Our Ecological Footprint
Humanity’s ecological footprint has exceeded earths ecological capacity.
Figure 1-7

19. POLLUTION
Found at high enough levels in the environment to cause harm to organisms.
Point source
Nonpoint source
Figure 1-9

20. Pollution Pollutants can have three types of unwanted effects:
Can disrupt / degrade life-support systems.
Can damage health and property.
Can create nuisances such as noise and unpleasant smells, tastes, and sights.

21. Solutions: Prevention vs. Cleanup
Problems with relying on cleanup:
Temporary bandage without improvements in control technology.
Often removes a pollutant from one part of the environment to cause problems in another.
Pollutants at harmful levels can cost too much to reduce them to acceptable levels.

22. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS: CAUSES AND CONNECTIONS
The major causes of environmental problems are:
Population growth
Wasteful resource use
Poverty
Poor environmental accounting
Ecological ignorance

23. What is an “environmental problem?”
Perception of problem varies between individuals and societies
Ex: DDT (pesticide)
Welcomed in developing countries - kills malaria carrying mosquitoes
Banned in developed countries due to health risk

24. Natural capital degradation
The exponential increasing flow of material resources through the world’s economic systems depletes, degrades and pollutes the environment.
Figure 1-11

25. Poverty and Environmental Problems
1 of 3 children under 5, suffer from severe malnutrition.
Figure 1-12 and 1-13

26. Resource Consumption and Environmental Problems
Underconsumption
Overconsumption
Affluenza: unsustainable addiction to overconsumption and materialism.

27. Connections between Environmental Problems and Their Causes
Figure 1-14

28. SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS
Technological optimists:
suggest that human ingenuity will keep the environment sustainable.
Environmental pessimists:
overstate the problems where our environmental situation seems hopeless.

29. Implications of the Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability
Figures 1-17 and 1-18

30. Aldo Leopold’s Environmental Ethics
Individuals matter.
… land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity…
Figure 1-A

31. Thomas Malthus
“The superior power of population cannot be checked without producing misery or vice.”
Unless population growth is controlled, the number of people would outgrow the food supply.

32. Paul Ehrlich “Population Bomb”
Population control is only way to avoid starvation and war
Possible future global food crisis