1. 45:211: Environmental Geography Module 12 Sustainability

2. 45:211: Environmental Geography Sustainable Living Sustainably means that: –We use the essential products and processes of nature no more quickly than they can be renewed/produced –We discharge wastes no more quickly than they can be absorbed. Global carrying capacity is based on the sustainability of global ecosystems.

3. 45:211: Environmental Geography Humans are Part of Nature As we eat, drink and breath, we constantly exchange energy and matter with our environment. –Food chains that support animal life – including our own – are based on plant ecosystems. –Nature absorbs our wastes and provides life- support services such as clean water, climate stability and protection from UV radiation.

4. 45:211: Environmental Geography Ecosystem Services The Earth's human economies would soon collapse without fertile soil, fresh water, breathable air, and an amenable climate –These are Nature's life-support services The human economy depends on ecosystems –It’s not the other way around

5. 45:211: Environmental Geography Nature and Economy

6. 45:211: Environmental Geography Global Commons These provide us with –air –water –soil –nutrients –climate stability –natural resources

7. 45:211: Environmental Geography Waste not, Want not We treat waste as a problem of disposal. We bury it instead of reusing or recycling it. –Where and how to bury it becomes an environmental issue. –The consequences of waste disposal become environmental problems (air pollution, etc). We treat natural systems of waste absorption and disposal as free goods and services.

8. 45:211: Environmental Geography Do More with Less Energy and material efficiency Use alternate (renewable) sources of energy Recycle and re-use wastes Reduce consumption - find quality of life in other ways

9. 45:211: Environmental Geography Sustainability: Two Sides Ecological sustainability underpins socioeconomic sustainability The necessary conditions for developing sustainability: –Securing a satisfactory quality of life for all (socioeconomic imperative). While –Reducing the Ecological Footprints of the industrialized countries (ecological imperative).

10. 45:211: Environmental Geography Standard of Living The necessities and luxuries essential to a level of existence that is customary within a society or culture.

11. 45:211: Environmental Geography Sustainability Gap Developing countries aspire to the higher standard of living of developed countries –More material growth, at least in the poor countries, seems essential for socioeconomic sustainability.

12. 45:211: Environmental Geography Ecology Gap According to Ecological Footprint analysis, the current level of global human consumption exceeds the available ecological capacity of the Earth by 30%. –From this perspective, any global increase in material and waste throughput seems ecologically unsustainable.

13. 45:211: Environmental Geography Sustainability Challenge If we rely on conventional economic strategies and technologies to fix development problems, the additional energy and material growth would further compromise global ecosystems. –Sustainable development is more than simple economic reform. –How can we decrease humanity’s total ecological impact while providing adequately for the needs of all humankind?

14. 45:211: Environmental Geography SUMMARY Conventional wisdom: –Global population cannot grow indefinitely Unconventional wisdom: –Material consumption cannot grow indefinitely –Carrying capacity is limited by ecological resources Sustainability means finding an ecological footprint that preserves the integrity of global ecosystems - on which we all depend