Chapter 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes and Sustainability

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Chapter 1Environmental Problems, Their Causes
and Sustainability
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Environmental Science vs. Environmentalism

• Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary
  study
• Environmentalism is a philosophy and social
  movement dedicating to protecting the earth and
  environmental conservation

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What is the environment and why study it?

• Everything around us living and nonliving
• We depend on it for survival
• Environmental science is an interdisciplinary
  study of how humans interact with their
  surroundings
• Ecology is big component

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Sustainability

• The capacity of the earths natural systems and
  human cultural systems to survive, flourish and
  adapt to changing environmental conditions into
  the very long-term future
• Earth has been sustained for 4.5 billion years
• Life on earth 3 billion years

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How has life on Earth sustained itself?

• Three Principles of Sustainability
• Reliance on sun (photosynthesis, warms earth,
  atmospheric and oceanic circulation)
• Biodiversity - variety of organisms providing
  food, shelter, renewal of topsoil, pest control,
  air purification, fertilization, etc.)
• Nutrient Cycling circulation of carbon,
  nitrogen and others from soil, water and
  organisms

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Natural Capital

• Natural resources and natural services that keep
  us and other forms of life alive and support our
  human economies

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• Natural Capital Natural Resources Natural
  Services
• Resources materials and energy that are useful
  or essential to humans air, water, soil, wind,
  solar energy, etc.
• Services processes in nature that support life
  air purification, renewal of topsoil

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Resources

• Perpetual- continuous supply sun, wind
• Renewable dont use it faster than nature can
  renew it forests, grasslands, fish populations,
  fresh water, etc.
• Nonrenewable exist in a fixed amount can be
  renewed but takes a long time fossil fuels,
  metals, etc.

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We are living unsustainably

• Environmental Degradation we are wasting,
  degrading and depleting the earths natural
  capital at an accelerating rate
• Examples?
• Forests shrinking
• Soil eroding
• Glaciers melting
• Sea level rising
• Rivers drying
• Coral reefs disappearing
• Biodiversity decreasing

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Pollution What is it? Examples?
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Pollution

• Presence of a substance, heat, noise that is
  harmful to the health or survival of humans or
  other organisms

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Point vs. Nonpoint Source Pollution
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Activity marine debris timeline
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Types of Property

• Private property individuals or companies own
  the rights to land, minerals or other resources
• Common property rights to certain resources are
  held by large groups of individuals (ex National
  parks)
• Open access renewable resources atmosphere,
  underground water supplies, open ocean

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• Many common property and open access renewable
  resources have been degraded.
• Biologist Garrett Hardin (1968) called this the
• Tragedy of the Commons
• If I dont use this resource, someone else will.
  The little bit that I use or pollute is not
  enough to matter and anyway, its a renewable
  resource.
• Okay until the number of users gets too big. So
  whats the answer?

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http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/material
.html
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Ecological Footprint

• Amount of biologically productive land and water
  needed to provide an indefinite supply of
  renewable resources and to absorb and recycle the
  wastes and pollution produced by such resource use

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If ecological footprint is greater than
biological capacity (biocapacity) there is an
ecological deficit.
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Homework www.myfootprint.org estimate your
own ecological footprint
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Read p 21-22. Which has more harmful
environmental effects, affluence or poverty?
Explain
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Environmental Sustainability

• Living off the earths natural income without
  depleting or degrading the natural capital that
  supplies them.
• Natural income renewable resources (plants,
  animals, soil)
• Considerable evidence that were living
  unsustainably (remember your ecological
  footprint?)

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• How do we globally live sustainably?
• What are the challenges we face in trying to do
  so?
• Can a few make a difference?

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed,
it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret
Mead, anthropologist
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• 50-100 years to make a shift in living
  unsustainably to living sustainably.
• Three principles of sustainability (general
  themes in this class)
• Rely on renewable energy from the sun, wind,
  water
• Protect biodiversity
• Reduce production of waste and pollution as to
  not degrade nature