A Global Concern

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A Global Concern
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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?

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Chapter Overview Questions (contd)

• What are the harmful environmental effects of
  poverty and affluence? (Is affluence a bad
  thing?)
• 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 to build
  more environmentally sustainable societies during
  this century?

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What is Environmental Science?

• The goals of environmental science are to learn
• how nature works.
• how the environment affects us.
• how we affect the environment.
• how we can live more sustainably without
  degrading our life-support system.

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Environmental Science

• Interdisciplinary science ecology, geology,
  chemistry,
• Politics, engineering, economics, ethics
• Connections and interactions between humans and
  the rest of nature
• Validity of data questioned many variables

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Environmental Issues

• Population growth
• Increasing resource use
• Destruction and degradation of habitat
• Premature extinction
• Poverty
• Pollution

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Carrying Capacity

• The total number of organisms an environment can
  support over a specified period
• Some factors that regulate populations include
• Predation
• Amount of resources (food, space)
• Natural disasters- hurricane, volcano eruption,
  etc.
• Disease

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Sustainability The Integrative Theme

• Sustainability is the ability of earths various
  systems to survive and adapt to environmental
  conditions indefinitely.
• The steps to sustainability must be supported by
  sound science.

Figure 1-3
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Population Growth

• Linear Growth
• Quantity increases
• by a constant amount per unit of time
• 1,2,3,4,5,
• 1,3,5,7,9,
• When plotted on a graph, S shaped curve appears

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Population Growth

• 2. Exponential Growth
• Starts off slowly, doubles a few times, then
  grows rapidly.
• J shaped curve
• Current human population 6.86 billion
• 1.2 growth increase/year

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Core Case Study Living in an Exponential Age

• Human population growth J-shaped curve

Figure 1-1
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Doubling Time

• Rule of 70
• Doubling time is equal to
• 70 / the growth rate
• Example
• If a country had a population of 100 people
• and a growth rate of 7. How long would it
• take for them to double their population?
• 70 / 7 10 years

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Population Growth, Economic Growth, and Economic
Development

• Economic growth provides people with more goods
  and services.
• Measured in gross domestic product (GDP)
• Economic development uses economic growth to
  improve living standards.
• The worlds countries economic status (developed
  vs. developing) are based on their degree of
  industrialization and GDP.

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Global Outlook

• Comparison of developed and developing countries.

Figures 1-5 and 1-6
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Economic Development

• More Developed Countries (MDC) 1.2 billion
  people
• 20 population
• Highly industrialized
• High average per capita GNP
• 85 of world wealth income
• Uses 88 of resources
• Creates 75 of wastes
• US, Japan, Canada, parts of Europe

• Less Developed Countries (LDC) 5.2 billion
  people
• 80 of population
• Low to moderate industrialization
• Average per capita GNP below 4000
• 15 of world wealth income
• Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia

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Environmental Impact
P (population) X A (affluence) X T
(technological impact/unit of use) I
(Environmental impact)
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Ecological Footprint or Environmental Impact

• Amount of land needed to produce the resources
  needed by an average person in a country

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National Geographic Video

• National Geographic Channel Videos Human
  Footprint

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Resources

• Ecological
• Habitat, food, shelter
• Economic
• Renewable
• Non renewable
• Potentially renewable

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Sustainable Development

• Assumes the right to use the earths resources
  and earth capital to meet needs
• Obligation exists to pass the earths resources
  and services to future generations in as good or
  better shape than condition when passed to us

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Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability
Copy Nature

• Reliance on Solar Energy
• Biodiversity
• Population Control
• Nutrient Recycling

Figure 1-16
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Tragedy of the Commons

• Written by Garrett Hardin
• Concerns over-use of common property
• Clean air, open ocean and its fish, wild life
  species, publicly owned land, gases of lower
  atmosphere, space

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Globalization

• Social, economic and environmental change that
  leads to an increasingly integrated world
• Economic, information and communication,
  environmental effects

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Information Revolution and Globalization

• International trade of goods increased
• Transnational corporations from 7,000 to 53,000
• Phones from 89 to 850 million
• Passenger kilometers from 28 million to 2.6
  trillion
• Infectious microbes transported

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RESOURCES

• Perpetual On a human time scale are continuous.
• Renewable On a human time scale can be
  replenished rapidly (e.g. hours to several
  decades).
• Nonrenewable On a human time scale are in fixed
  supply.

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Pollution

• Found at high enough levels in the environment to
  cause harm to organisms.
• Point source
• Nonpoint source

Figure 1-9
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Environmental Worldview

• Planetary Management or Anthropocentric
• We are in charge of nature, always more to use,
  all economic growth is good.
• Earth Wisdom
• Nature for all of earths species, not always for
  more use, make a judgment call about economic
  growth.

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Resource Conservation

• 1903-Theodore Roosevelt
• Set aside Pelican Island, FL to save the brown
  pelican
• 1905- Gifford Pinchot
• Formed US Forest Service
• Philosophy Resources should be saved to be used
  for the greatest good, for the greatest number,
  for the longest time.

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Moral / Aesthetic Nature Conservation

• John Muir, Sierra Club founder
• Fundamental right of organisms to exist for its
  own sake. . .

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Aldo Leopolds Environmental Ethics

• Individuals matter.
• land is to be loved and respected is an
  extension of ethics.
• We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity

Figure 1-A
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Cultural Changes

• Hunter gatherers 12,000 years ago
• Agricultural revolution 10,000-12,000-
• Industrial revolution 275 years ago
• Technological revolution 50 years ago

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Cultural Changes and the Environment

• Agricultural revolution
• Allowed people to stay in one place.
• Industrial-medical revolution
• Led shift from rural villages to urban society.
• Science improved sanitation and disease control.
• Information-globalization revolution
• Rapid access to information.

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Hunting and Gathering Societies

• Nomadic, living in small bands
• Population in balance with food supply
• High infant mortality
• Life expectancy 30-40 yr.
• 3 energy sources
• Sun
• Fire
• Muscle power

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Agricultural Societies

• Settled communities
• Slash and burn cultivation to fertilize
  nutrient-poor field by ashes
• Shifting cultivation
• Subsistence farming

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Effects and Environmental Impact of Agricultural
Revolution

• Urbanization and agricultural expansion, cut down
  forests, destroyed habitats, soil erosion and
  desertification
• Birth rate faster than death rate causes
  population increase

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Early Industrial Societies (Mid 1700s)

• Wood used up resulted in coal usage
• Steam generation
• Fossil fuel-powered farm machinery
• Less farmers needed
• Moved to cities

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Advanced Industrial Societies (1914 ---)

• Increase in agricultural products
• Lower infant mortality
• Improved health
• Increase in longevity
• Net population increase