1. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CH.1 “our changing environment”

2. T HE BIG PICTURE Human population  Earth’s natural resources  pollution  in air, water, or soil and harms humans or other living organisms. How can humans impact the environment less?

3. Env. Sci. is the study of the relationship between humans and the environment (both biotic and abiotic factors) It is interdisciplinary - science (ecology, chemistry, agriculture) and social sciences (geography, populations, politics, economics, ethics) Are there solutions to all environmental problems? All solutions have consequences for someone/something/organism

4. T YPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES List any 5 environmental issues that you can think of and identify if you think it is a global, regional, or local issue.

5. E NVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS No perfect – there’s a cost (may/maybe not financial) for everything All about BALANCE and TRADE-OFFS: cost v. benefit Examples – setting aside park reserves for animals by uprooting people, switching to wind/solar energy hurts the economic gain of oil companies, eggs of free-range chickens cost more money

6. T HE E NVIRONMENT (E ARTH ) Life has existed on earth for 3.8 billion years Earth well suited for life Water covers ¾ of planet Habitable temperature Moderate sunlight Atmosphere provides oxygen and carbon dioxide Soil provides essential minerals for plants But humans are altering the planet; not always in positive ways

7. W HAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE ? 1999 – 6 billion 1987 – 5 billion 1975 – 4 billion 1960 – 3 billion 1930 – 2 billion 1800 – 1 billion

8. H UMAN I MPACTS ON E NVIRONMENT - P OPULATION Earth’s Human Population is 7 billion Growing exponentially Increase will adversely affect living conditions in many areas of the world

9. P OPULATION Globally, 1 in 4 people lives in extreme poverty Cannot meet basic need for food, clothing, shelter, health Difficult to meet population needs without exploiting earth’s resources

10. G AP B ETWEEN R ICH AND P OOR Highly Developed Countries (HDC) Complex industrialized bases, low population growth, high per capita incomes Ex: US, Canada, Japan Less Developed Countries (LDC) Low level of industrialization, very high fertility rate, high infant mortality rate, low per capita income Ex: Bangladesh, Mali, Ethiopia

12. T YPES OF N ATURAL R ESOURCES

13. O VERPOPULATION People overpopulation Too many people in a given geographic area Problem in many developing nations (like Nigeria and India) Consumption overpopulation Each individual in a population consumes too large a share of the resources Problem in many highly developed nations (like US)

14. W HAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE ? 1999 – 6 billion 1987 – 5 billion 1975 – 4 billion 1960 – 3 billion 1930 – 2 billion 1800 – 1 billion

15. W ORTH REVISITING … ¼ have no access to clean water/live in extreme poverty Why does this matter? And what’s the solution? Reduces life expectancy, increased illiteracy, insufficient access to health services, safe water and balanced nutrition. Ecological problem - how to feed all these people without destroying ecosystems Current birth rate – 3 per family Solution = family planning

16. E COLOGICAL F OOTPRINT The average amount of land, water and ocean required to provide that person with all the resources they consume Earth’s Productive Land and Water 11.4 billion hectares Amount Each Person is Allotted (divide Productive Land and Water by Human Population) 1.9 hectares Current Global Ecological Footprint of each person 2.3 hectares

17. E COLOGICAL F OOTPRINT C OMPARISON

18. IPAT M ODEL Measures 3 factors that affect environmental impact (I) I = P A T Environmental Impact Number of people Affluence per person (consumption of resources) Environmental effect of technologies used to get/consume resources

19. E NVIRONMENTAL S USTAINABILITY The ability to meet current human need for natural resources without compromising the needs of future generations Requires understanding: The effects of our actions on the earth That earth’s resources are not infinite

20. S USTAINABLE D EVELOPMENT Economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising future generations

21. E XAMPLES OF HUMAN IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT Endocrine disrupters Ex: many chlorine containing compounds (PCBs and dioxins), lead, mercury, DDT, phthalates Overfishing Closed Georges Bank fishery due to low fish #s Results: lost jobs, more regulation (Magnuson- Stevens Fishery conservation and Management Act) Declining Bird populations Losing habitat, forest fragmentation (increases forest edge), nest parasitism (ex. Cowbirds) Reintroducing Wolves to Yellowstone To restore ecosystem and remove wolf from endangered species list, opposed by farmers/ranchers

22. Introduction of Invasive species Ex: ballast water, zebra mussels Common traits: good food supply, no predators, high reproductive rates Stratospheric Ozone depletion CFCs (stable!) from cooling agent Freon in refrigerators, air conditioners, aerosol propellants Global Climate Warming/Increasing Carbon dioxide Levels CO2 from burning fossil fuels and burning forests Kyoto Protocol Destroying Tropical Rain Forests For agriculture and pasture Ex: Amazon in Brazil Destroys habitat for organisms (ex songbirds), erosion into local water, loss of filtration and water flow regulation, CO2