1. A P Environmental Science
(APES)

2. What’s the use of a house if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on? Henry David Thoreau

3. Humans and Sustainability:
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes and Sustainability

4. Chapter Overview Questions
What are the main themes of this book?
What keeps us alive? What is an environmentally sustainable society?
How fast is the human population growing?
What is the difference between economic growth, economic development, and environmentally sustainable economic development?

5. Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d)
What are the harmful environmental effects of poverty and affluence?
What three major human cultural changes have taken place since humans arrived?
What are the four scientific principles of sustainability and how can we use them and shared visions to build more environmentally sustainable and just societies during this century?

6. Key Concepts
Nature has sustained itself for billions of years by relying on solar energy, biodiversity, and nutrients cycling
Lives and economies depend on energy from the sun, natural resources and natural services
(natural capital)

7. Connections in Nature Environment- living and nonliving components
that set stage for life
Environmental Science- intergrated studies of:
natural science (biology, chemistry, geology)
social science (geography, economics, political science)
humanities (philosophy, ethics)

8. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Earth's Life-Support System
Human Culture Sphere
Air
(atmosphere)
Water
(hydrosphere)
Population
Size
Worldviews
and Ethics
Soil and
rocks
(lithosphere)
Life
(biosphere)
Economics
Politics

9. Ecology and Environmental Science
Ecology- study of interaction of organisms with each other and their environment Species- organisms capable of reproducing and producing viable young Ecosystem- defined area within which organisms interact with each other and their environment (smaller slice of a biome) Environmentalism- social movement dedicated to protecting life support systems for all species

10. 3 Goals of Environmental Science
Learn how nature works
Understand how we interact with the environment
Find ways to deal with environmental issues to live more sustainably

11. 3 Principles of Sustainability
Long-term sustainability rests on:
Solar energy
Biodiversity
Nutrient (chemical)
cycling

12. Solar Energy Warms planet, necessary for photosynthesis
(essential for most life on planet)
Powers indirect forms of solar energy- wind, flowing water (hydroelectric power)

13. Biodiversity (Astounding) variety of life
Natural systems that support life (biomes)
Natural services such as:
topsoil renewal
pest control
air and water purification

14. Chemical Cycling
Indefinite recycling of chemicals from environment through organisms and back again
AKA nutrient recycling

15. CHECKPOINT
1. What is sustainability and why should we care about it? 2. What are 3 principles nature has used to sustain itself for billions of years?

16. 3 Components of Sustainability
Natural capital
Natural resources
Natural services

17. Natural Capital Natural resources and natural services
Supports Earth’s diversity
Provided by solar energy
ex: ozone layer (resource) + UV protection(service)

18. Natural Resource Material from environment that meet needs/wants
Vary in renewal time after use:
perpetual- continuous supply (sunlight)
renewable- days to years for renewal (some fish species)
*sustainable yield- highest rate renewable resource
can be used without reducing it
nonrenewable- exist in fixed stock in terms of human time (energy, metallic minerals, nonmetallic minerals)

20. The Tragedy of the Commons (overexploiting shared renewable resources)
described by biologist, Garrett Hardin
Open-access renewable resources: owned by noone, used by anyone (air, open ocean, marine life)
Leads to: “If I don’t use the resource, someone else will and any damage I do to the resource will be too small to matter”
Results in: exploitation and possibly complete degredation of common resource (noone can use it anymore)

21. Example of Tragedy of Commons
Imagine a field of grass shared by 6 farmers, each with one cow

22. Each cow currently produces 20 liters of milk per day The carrying capacity of the commons is 8 cows. For each cow above 8, the milk production declines by 2 liters (due to overgrazing, there is less grass for each cow: less grass, less milk!).
Total daily milk production for the commons: 120 liters

23. I need a new tractor. Better graze another cow
Are the farmers satisfied with 1 cow apiece? Not if they are want more liters of milk (and more profit)!
I need a new tractor. Better graze another cow
Total daily milk production for the commons: 140 liters (7 cows)

24. Wait! If you can graze another cow, so can I.
We are now at the carrying capacity -- do we stop? Not if I can make a little more profit!
Wait! If you can graze another cow, so can I.
Total daily milk production for the commons: 160 liters (8 cows)

25. And so... ...Until there was no more grass for any of the cows The End
Me too!
Me too!
Me too!
Me too!
...Until there was no more grass for any of the cows
The End

26. Natural Services Natural consequence of energy flow
Provide ecological services
Purify, recycle and detoxify
ex: bee pollination of crops
rocks, sand purifying stream water
marshes controlling flood waters
soil formation from eroding rock,
decaying organisms

27. Sustainability- Altogether Now

28. CHECKPOINT
Create a concept map showing a connection between the following terms: perpetual, renewable and nonrenewable energy.
Give examples of each type of resource.

29. Humans and Sustainability
Economic growth- increase in nation’s output of goods, sevices
Gross domestic product (GDP)- annual market value of goods, services produced within nation (measure of economic growth)
Per capita GPD- GPD ÷ total population at midyear (measures economic growth/person)

30. Sustainability and Economic Development
Nations are classified as:
More-developed- high average income
*19% of population use ≈88% of planet’s resources; produce ≈75% of planet’s waste
(US, Canada, Japan, Australia)
Moderately-developed (China, India, Brazil)
Less-developed- middle-low income (poverty)
*81% of world’s population
(Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia)

31. Developed vs Less-Developed Countries

32. Economics: Global View

33. CHECKPOINT What is the difference between GDP and per capita GDP?
2. Distinguish between more-developed and less-developed countries?

34. (calculate your own footprint at www.myfootprint.org/)
Ecological Footprint
Ecological footprint- amount of biologically productive land and water required to support an individual and absorb his/her pollution
Per capita ecological footprint- average eco footprint of an individual in an area
(calculate your own footprint at

35. Ecological Footprint

36. Natural Capital Degradation
unsustainable resource use by wasting, depleting and degrading natural capital
accelerating exponentially
includes:
air pollution, aquifer depletion, declining ocean fisheries, species extinction desertification

37. Natural Capital Degradation

38. Ecological Tipping Point
threshold level at which natural capital degradation is irreversible
current tipping points:
1. collapse of some fish populations due to
overfishing
2. premature extinction of species due to
overhunting, habitat destruction
3. long-term climate change due to burning
fossil fuels

39. CHECKPOINT
1. Compare the total and per capita ecological footprints of the United States and China. Use the ecological footprint model to explain how we are living unsustainably.

40. Pollution Contamination of resource that renders it unsafe
Major types: biodegradable, nondegradable
Results in:
1. disruption of natural life-supports
2. damages life directly
3. create nuisances (unpleasant
smells, unwanted noise, etc)

41. Pollution Sources
Point source: single, identifiable sources (drainpipe of a factory, smokestack of a power plant, exhaust pipe of car)
Nonpoint source: dispersed, difficult to identify (pesticides blown into air, runoff of fertilizers from farming areas, litter on Tybee)

42. Dealing with Pollution
Output pollution control/pollution cleanup:
cleaning or diluting pollution after it happens
Input pollution control /pollution prevention: reduces or eliminates production of pollutants

43. Problems with Pollution Cleanup
Temporary solution (doesn’t address unsustainable use of resource)
Often creates pollution in other areas (burning , dumping or burying garbage)
Costly

44. 4 Major Causes of Environmental Problems
Exponential population growth
Unsustainable use of resources
Poverty
Excluding environmental costs from market prices of goods
Conflicting worldview of environmental ethics

45. 1.Population Growth & 2.Unsustainable Resource Use
≈6.9 billion people on planet
Humanity’s ecological footprint is close to exceeding earths ecological capacity
Can be slowed by economic development, family planning, EDUCATION!

46. Exponential Growth Black Death Hunting and Gathering
Agricultural revolution
Industrial Revolution

47. 3.Environmental Effects of Poverty and Affluence
Poverty: inability to provide for daily needs
affects ≈1 in 5 on planet
prevents choice of environmental protection over survival
results in high rate of natural capital degradation

48. Results of Poverty

49. Environmental Effects of Poverty and Affluence (cont’d)
Affluence: lifestyle associated with developed countries which results in:
rapid unsustainable consumption of resources
generation of more pollutants
large ecological footprint
affluenza- addiction to buying more stuff

50. Upside to Affluence Access to education and technology
Resources to protect natural capital
Resources to reverse some affects of natural capital degredation

51. 4. Prices Vs Value of Natural Capital
Prices of consumer goods and services do not include harmful environmental costs
Government subsidies may encourage depletion and degradation of natural capital
Consumers don’t “feel” the cost of goods to the environment (so they keep wanting more!)

52. 5. Conflicting Worldviews of Environmental Issues
Environmental ethics: beliefs about how to
treat environmental issues
Planetary management worldview: man is in charge of nature; nature exists to serve man
Stewardship worldview: man has responsibility to ethically manage nature
Environmental wisdom view: nature exists for all species, not just man. Our success depends on knowing how life sustains itself
*Aldo Leopold- nature does not belong to man;
man belongs to nature

53. CHECKPOINT What is poverty?
In what ways do poverty and affluence affect the environment?
Explain the problems we face by not including the harmful environmental costs in the prices of goods and services.