Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

1
Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and
Sustainability

• Chapter 1

2
Paper example of growth
3
Facts about folding paper

• Thickness doubles for every fold no matter
  dimensions the paper originally has
• Humans can only manually fold paper 7-8 times
• Fold it 42 times, thickness reaches length
  between earth and moon (240,000 miles)
• Fold it 50 times, thickness reaches length
  between earth and the sun (93,000,000 miles)

4
13
12
11
10
9
?
8
7
Billions of people
6
5
4
3
Industrial revolution
2
Black Deaththe Plague
1
0
2000
2000
2100
25 million years
8000
6000
4000
B. C.
A. D.
Time
Industrial revolution
Agricultural revolution
Hunting and gathering
Fig. 1-1, p. 5
5
Core Case Study Living in an Exponential Age

• Impact of human exponential growth
• Loss of animal and plant species
• Use and loss of resources

6
What is studied in environmental science?
7
Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections
in Nature (1)

• Interdisciplinary science connecting information
  and ideas from
• Natural sciences,
• Biology with an emphasis on ecology
• Chemistry
• Earth Science
• Social sciences (studies of human society)
• Economics
• Cultures
• Politics
• Humanities (Ethics, Philosophy)

8
Environmental Science Is an Interdisciplinary
Study
9
Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections
in Nature (2)

• How nature works
• How the environment affects us
• How we affect the environment
• How to deal with environmental problems
• How to live more sustainably

10
Where do you think an environmental scientists
works?
11
What jobs could a environmental scientist do?

• Work in Washington helping to develop legislation
• Work at a corporation or as an entrepreneur to
  develops ways to better utilize raw materials or
  recycle old material
• Work with local government on ways to improve the
  environment in a city or county
• Work in Banking to develop resources so people in
  developing countries can get income and material
  to generate an environmentally friendly business.
• Work with international agencies dedicated to
  improving environmental conditions everywhere

12
Is every environmentalist an environmental
scientist?
13
Environmental Science vs- Environmentalism
14
WHAT ARE THE GREATEST ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
FACING US TODAY?

• Groups of 3
• Determine top 3 environmental problems, their
  causes, and solutions

15
Environmental Problems

• Do you agree on the order, cause and solution?

16
What is meant by natural capital and solar
capital?
17
NATURAL CAPITAL

Natural Capital Natural Resources Natural
Services
Solar capital
Air
Air purification
Renewable energy (sun, wind, water flows)
Climate control
UV protection (ozone layer)
Life (biodiversity)
Water
Population control
Water purification
Waste treatment
Pest control
Nonrenewable minerals iron, sand)
Land
Soil
Food production
Soil renewal
Natural gas
Nutrient recycling
Oil
Coal seam
Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels)
Natural resources Natural services
Fig. 1-3, p. 8
Fig. 1-3, p. 8
18
What does it mean for you to live sustainably?
19
1-1 What Is an Environmentally Sustainable
Society?

• Concept 1-1A Our lives and economies depend on
  energy from the sun (solar capital) and on
  natural resources and natural services (natural
  capital) provided by the earth.
• Concept 1-1B Living sustainability means living
  off the earths natural income without depleting
  or degrading the natural capital that supplies it.

20
Sustainability Is the Central Theme of This Book

• Natural capital supported by solar capital
• Natural resources
• Natural services
• E.g., nutrient cycling
• Degradation of natural capital through human
  activities
• Scientific solutions

21
Nutrient Cycling
22
Environmentally Sustainable SocietiesProtect
Natural Capital and Live off Its Income

• Live off natural income
• Natural income includes living organisms,
  renewable inorganic resources, energy
• Human activity and its affect on the earths
  natural capital

23
What do you think it would take for the world to
live sustainably?

• Do you think it is possible?

24
1-2 How Can Environmentally Sustainable Societies
Grow Economically?

• Concept 1-2 Societies can become more
  environmentally sustainable through economic
  development dedicated to improving the quality of
  life for everyone without degrading the earth's
  life support systems.

25
How do you compare countries in terms of their
economic growth?
26
GDP

• Annual market value of all goods and services
  produced by all firms/organizations, foreign and
  domestic, operating within a country.
• Per Capita GDP National GDP/population growth

27
PPP

• Purchasing power parity
• A basic unit (like dollar) of currency in one
  country can buy more of particular thing than
  the basic unit of currency of another country
  (peso) can buy
• Consumers in the first country are said to have
  more purchasing power

28
There Is a Wide Economic Gap between Rich and
Poor Countries

• Countrys economic growth measured by gross
  domestic product (GDP)
• Changes in economic growth measured by per
  capita GDP
• Purchasing power parity (PPP) plus GDP are
  combined for per capita GDP PPP (measure of
  average goods/services an average person could
  buy in US)
• PPP used to compare developed with developing
  countries (different cost of living standards)

29
Developed vs-developing

• Developed highly industrialized, high per
  capita GDP PPP
• (1.2 billion people, North America, Europe,
  Japan, Austraila)
• Middle income, developing (China, India, Brazil,
  Mexico)
• Low income, developing (Most African Nations,
  Central American, Belarus(Soviet Union)

30
Percentage of World's
18
Population
82
0.12
Population growth
1.46
Life expectancy
77 years
67 years
85
Wealth and income
15
Resource use
88
12
75
Pollution and waste
25
Developing countries
Developed countries
Fig. 1-5, p. 11
31
World population fact

• 97 of the increase in the worlds population
  over the next 40-50 years will occur in
  developing countries
• the least equipped to handle it.

32
We live in a world of haves and have-nots

• More than half of the worlds population live on
  a daily income of less than 2

33
What would you have to give up to live on 2 a
day?
34
Extreme Poverty in a Developing Country
35
Leading questions for section 1.3

• What resources are found in the oceans?
• Who owns the resources found in the oceans?
• Who is responsible for their maintenance?

36
1-3 How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting
the Earth?

• Concept 1-3 As our ecological footprints grow,
  we are depleting and degrading more of the
  earths natural capital.

37
What is the difference between a renewable and a
perpetual resource?
38
Some Sources Are Renewable (1)

• Resource
• Anything obtained from the environment to meet
  our needs and wants
• Perpetual resources
• Solar energy (includes wind)
• Tidal energy

39
Some Sources Are Renewable (2)

• Renewable resource
• Examples are forests, grasslands, fresh air,
  fertile soil
• Sustainable yield
• Highest rate at which a resource can be used
  WITHOUT reducing its annual supply

40
When does environmental degradation occur?

• When the sustainable yield is exceeded

41
The worlds tuna supply an example of
environmental degradation

• Occurred as a result of the developed worlds
  taste for sushi

Who owns or watches over the Tuna?
42
Degradation of Normally Renewable Natural
Resources and Services
43
Some Resources Are Not Renewable

• Nonrenewable resources
• Energy resources
• Metallic mineral resources
• Nonmetallic mineral resources

44
Can you come up with examples of metallic and
nonmetallic resources?

• Metallic
• Gold, copper, aluminum, chrome, iron
• Non-metallic
• Top-soil, sand, salt

45
The use of non-renewable resources can be
extended through

• Reuse
• Recycle
• What is the difference?

46
Reuse Nepal Brewery
47
Consumption of natural resources differs around
the world
48
Consumption of Natural Resources
49
Consumption of Natural Resources
50
What do you Own or exclusively use? Assignment

• Make a list of everything that you possess that
  you can call your own. Its yours if you use it
  most of the time (think bed, desk, car, Wii)
• Count the number clothing items you own (Shoes,
  Shirts, Pants, Dresses)
• Take 2 pictures of all your items displayed, one
  with you in the frame, one without you in the
  frame
• ½ credit for list, ½ credit for pictures

51

• Mr. Patton
• Mr. Masiello

52
Our Ecological Footprints Are Growing

• Ecological footprint concept
• Biological capacity Ability of Environment to
  replenish what is used
• Ecological footprint how much biologically
  productive land and water it takes to supply a
  people with resources and take away
  waste/pollution

53
Stepped Art
Fig. 1-10, p. 15
54
For the rest of the world population to have the
same ecological footprint as the average American
It would take 5 more Earths
55
We are living with an ecological deficit as a
result of non-sustainable life styles which
are trying to by imitated around the world
56
Web Resource

• Redefining Progress Ecological Footprint Quiz
• http//www.rprogress.org/index.htm
•  

57
Case Study Chinas New Affluent Consumers (1)

• Leading consumer of various foods and goods
• Wheat, rice, and meat
• Coal, fertilizers, steel, and cement
• Second largest consumer of oil

58
Case Study Chinas New Affluent Consumers (2)

• Two-thirds of the most polluted cities are in
  China
• Projections, by 2020
• Largest consumer and producer of cars
• Worlds leading economy in terms of GDP PPP
• By 2030 will need two thirds worlds current
  grain harvest
• By 2030 will need twice worlds production of
  paper and all of worlds production of oil

59
Case Study (3)

• Who has the right to use materials?
• Who has right to a standard of living that
  matches the average American?

60
Cultural Changes Have Increased Our Ecological
Footprints

• 12,000 years ago hunters and gatherers
• Three major cultural events
• Agricultural revolution
• Industrial-medical revolution
• Information-globalization revolution
• Time for a 4th revolution focused on
  sustainability

61
What are the logical outcomes if we do NOT become
sustainable?

• War over resources
• Ruination of the environment
• Lower standard of living
• Move to dictatorial/draconian governments in
  order to get something done
• Anything else

62
Tragedy of Commons lab

• MMs, spoons, paper plates, cloth
• Random Groups of 3
• Record data and answer questions in Comp Book,
  make sure to start on new page and put a title
  in.
• Do not start (or eat the MMs) until I tell you
  to

63
Tragedy of the commons

• You are the head of a family whose only food and
  income is derived from catching fish
• You and 2 other families can only get fish from a
  single pond (exclusive rights)
• Goal of lab is feed you family and get richer

64
Tragedy of the commons

• MMs represent fish (the commons)
• Plate represents pond
• Aluminum foil represents information (or lack
  thereof)

65
Part 1

1. Familys take turns fishing from lake, any family
   that does not take a minimum of 2 fish out,
   starves and is out of contest
2. No one is allowed during the turn to know how
   many fish are in the lake (dish covered with
   aluminum foil)
3. After each person has fished, uncover and double
   the number of fish in lake, then cover back up
   (this represents repopulation)
4. Complete a second and 3rd round in the same
   manner, with different order of fisherman.

66
Part 1, continued

• 5. NO TALKING, Strategizing, agreements are
  allowed in part 1 (every family for themselves)
• 6. Rounds continue (up to 6) as long as there is
  fish and families
• 7. Record information the change in fish
  population and wealth of fisherman

67
Part 2

• Replay the game with the following rule changes
• No aluminum foil
• May communicate freely
• At end of round, number Fish left in any pond are
  doubled
• Limits are placed for maximum of fish in ponds
  Commons 20, private 4
• Minimum of 2 fish must be caught to feed family
• Record information about fish populations in
  commons and in private ponds, and the wealth of
  the fishermen

68
Overexploiting Shared Renewable Resources
Tragedy of the Commons

• Three types of property or resource rights
• Private property
• Common property
• Open access renewable resources
• Tragedy of the commons
• Solutions

69
Solutions to tragedy of the commons

• 1) use shared resources at rates well below their
  estimated sustainable yields
• Regulation, enforcement
• 2) Convert open-access resources to private
  ownership
• If you own something, you are most likely to
  protect your investment
• Not practical for global open access resources,
  air, open ocean, most wild life species

70
1-4 What Is Pollution and What Can We Do about It?

• Concept 1-4 Preventing pollution is more
  effective and less costly than cleaning up
  pollution.

71
What forms of pollution affect your life?
72
Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources

• Sources of pollution
• Point
• E.g., smokestack
• Nonpoint
• E.g., pesticides blown into
• the air
• Main type of pollutants
• Biodegradable (ex. sewage)
• Nondegradable (ex. plastic diapers)
• Unwanted effects of pollution (things burned or
  buried)

73
We Can Clean Up Pollution or Prevent It

• Pollution cleanup (output pollution control)
• Pollution prevention (input pollution control)
• Which costs more? Explain why?

74
Can you list 5 reasons we have environmental
problems?
75
1-5 Why Do We Have Environmental Problems? (1)

• Concept 1-5A Major causes of environmental
  problems are
• population growth
• wasteful and unsustainable resource use
• poverty
• exclusion of environmental costs of resource use
  from the market prices of goods and services
  (lumber)
• attempts to manage nature with insufficient
  knowledge. (bunnies in Austraila)

76
Causes of Environmental Problems
Population growth
Unsustainable resource use
Poverty
Excluding environmental costs from market prices
Trying to manage nature without knowing
enough about it
Fig. 1-12, p. 18
77
1-5 Why Do We Have Environmental Problems? (2)

• Concept 1-5B People with different environmental
  worldviews often disagree about the seriousness
  of environmental problems and what we should do
  about them.

78
Poverty Has Harmful Environmental and Health
Effects

• Population growth affected
• Malnutrition
• Premature death
• Limited access to adequate sanitation facilities
  and clean water
• Focus is on short term survival to exclusion
  everything else

79
Lack of access to
Number of people ( of world's population)
Adequate sanitation facilities
2.6 billion (38)
Enough fuel for heating and cooking
2 billion (29)
2 billion (29)
Electricity
Clean drinking water
1.1 billion (16)
Adequate health care
1.1 billion (16)
Adequate housing
1 billion (15)
Enough food for good health
0.86 billion (13)
Fig. 1-13, p. 18
80
War, Disease, Malnutrition are all population
solutions of neglect
81
Describe the harmful and beneficial effects of
wealth on the environment
82
Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial
Environmental Effects

• Harmful environmental impact due to
• High levels of consumption
• Unnecessary waste of resources
• Affluence can provide funding for
• Developing technologies to reduce
• Pollution
• Environmental degradation
• Resource waste
• Poverty

83
Prices Do Not Include the Value of Natural Capital

• Companies do not pay the environmental cost of
  resource use (Home Builders)
• Goods and services do not include the harmful
  environmental costs (Cars)
• Companies receive tax breaks and subsidies (BLM)
• Economy may be stimulated but there may be a
  degradation of natural capital (Off-shore oil
  drilling)

84
Does everybody hold the same view/outlook on
environmental problems?
85
Different Views about Environmental Problems and
Their Solutions

• Environmental Worldview including environmental
  ethics
• Planetary management worldview
• Stewardship worldview
• Environmental wisdom worldview

86
Planetary Management world view

• Nature exists mainly for our benefit
• Use our ingenuity, technology to manage Earths
  systems for our benefit

87
Stewardship worldview

• We can and should manage the earth for our
  benefit
• We have an ethical responsibility to be
  caring/responsible managers (noble obligation)

88
Environmental Wisdom Worldview

• We are part of the whole
• The world does not exist just for our benefit
• Success in life depends if all life on earth is
  sustained

89
Strengths and Weaknesses of each World View
90
We Can Learn to Make Informed Environmental
Decisions

• Scientific research
• Identify problem and multiple solutions
• Consider human values

91
Steps Involved in Making an Environmental Decision

• Similar to the scientific method, but also
  consider economic political and ethical values

92
We Can Work Together to Solve Environmental
Problems

• Social capital (Individuals Matter)
• Encourages
• Openness and communication
• Cooperation
• Hope
• Discourages
• Close-mindedness
• Polarization
• Confrontation and fear
• Think of the political advertisements

93
Case Study The Environmental Transformation of
Chattanooga, TN

• Environmental success story example of building
  their social capital
• 1960 most polluted city in the U.S.
• 1984 Vision 2000
• 1995 most goals met
• 1993 Revision 2000

94
Individuals Matter Aldo Leopold

• 510 of the population can bring about major
  social change
• Anthropologist Margaret Mead
• Aldo Leopold environmental ethics
• A leader of the conservation and environmental
  movements of the 20th century
• Land ethic
• Wrote A Sand County Almanac

95
Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability
96
The rest of the year

• We will look more in depth at particular aspects
  of the 4 principles

97
Studying Nature Reveals Four Scientific
Principles of Sustainability

• Reliance on solar energy
• renewable, least amount of pollution
• Biodiversity
• more variety means more ways to adapt
• Population control
• Healthy competition means healthy limits
  established on populations
• Nutrient cycling
• More natural, less waste

98
Current Emphasis
Sustainability Emphasis
Pollution cleanup
Pollution prevention
Waste disposal (bury or burn)
Waste prevention
Protecting species
Protecting habitat
Environmental degradation
Environmental restoration
Increasing resource use
Less resource waste
Population growth
Population stabilization
Depleting and degrading natural capital
Protecting natural capital
Fig. 1-18, p. 24
99
Your Questions?

• Connected to the information presented in this
  chapter

100
Video Resource

• Planet Earth The Future Living Together
  (Documentary, 2007). The final episode of the
  Planet Earth series explores the intricacies of
  conservation and sustainability.
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/planetearth/