Chapter 13 Environmental Problems

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Chapter 13Environmental Problems
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Myth or Fact?

• Environmental pollution did not become a problem
  until the 1960s and 1970s.
• Environmental conditions deteriorated in the last
  half of the twentieth century.

• It was not until the 1960s that serious attention
  was focused on the issue.
• Whereas many conditions have deteriorated, there
  have also been significant improvements.

MYTH
FACT
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Environmental Sociology

• Ecology
• Branch of biology that studies relationships
  between living organisms and environment
• The environment
• Refers to conditions and circumstances
  surrounding and affecting a particular group of
  living creatures
• An ecosystem
• A complex, interrelated network of life and
  non-life forms
• Interact to produce an exchange of materials
• Each ecosystem achieves a natural balance

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Environmental Problems

• The most severe environmental damage in the past
  century
• The product of human beings
• The social conditions that affect the impact that
  humans have on environment
• Formula developed by biologists Paul and Ann
  Ehrlich
• I P x A x T
• Impact Population x Affluence x Technology

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Social Sources of Environmental Problems

• Population Growth
• Affluence
• Technology
• Economic Growth
• Cultural Values

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Social Sources of Environmental
ProblemsPopulation Growth

• Carrying capacity
• Upper-size limit imposed on a population by its
  environmental resources
• Cannot be permanently exceeded
• Determining carrying capacity of an ecosystem
• Complicated by what is considered socially
  acceptable
• Some ecosystems have been made unlivable
• When are there too many people for the earth to
  support?
• Ecological footprint quiz

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Social Sources of Environmental
ProblemsAffluence

• Achieving material comfort and affluence
• Consuming resources
• Creating waste
• Consumer products
• List of typical lifestyle items
• Other nations want to achieve our standard of
  living
• The phenomenon of rising expectations
• We may exceed carrying capacity of earth
• If others achieve Western levels of affluence

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Social Sources of Environmental
ProblemsTechnology

• Two-edged sword
• Positive aspects
• Makes life more comfortable
• Enables production of foods and medicines
• Can help reduce environmental damage
• Negative aspects
• Short-term rewards without consideration of impact

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Social Sources of Environmental
ProblemsEconomic Growth

• If a nations population is growing
• Economy must produce more to provide the same
  standard of living
• Provides increasing levels of affluence
• Capitalism stresses ideology of growth
• Drive to expand
• Find new markets
• Worldwide pressures toward economic growth and
  competition
• Corporations often ignore environmental damage as
  cost of doing business
• Pressure for economic growth in less developed
  nations
• Raising low standards of living
• Controversy over some policies

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Social Sources of Environmental
ProblemsCultural Values

• Supports practices that damage the environment
• Mastery
• Religious beliefs that humans are superior
• Mastery over the earth and its creatures
• Progress
• Peoples standard of living should keep rising
• Individualism
• Individual desires and achievements more
  important than collective accomplishments and
  goals
• Environmental concerns often focus on what is
  good for the whole

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The Social Construction of Environmental Problems

• Process of identifying and defining environmental
  problems
• Raising consciousness
• Early environmental (conservation) movement
  (1890-1900s)
• National Parks
• Sierra Club, Audubon Society
• Modern environmental movement (1960s)
• Carsons Silent Spring, Ehrlichs The
  Population Bomb
• Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace
• Legislation (1970s)
• Clean Air Act
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Media coverage
• Publicizing the problems
• Convincing people of need to address

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Santa Barbara

• and the Modern
• Environmental Movement

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Santa Barbara Oil Spill

• Union Oil platform
• 6 miles out from Summerland
• January 29, 1969
• 11 days
• 200,000 gallons of crude oil
• 800 square miles of ocean
• 35 miles of coastline
• Renewable and nonrenewable resources
• Declining biodiversity

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The Extent of Environmental Problems

• Water Supply and Pollution
• Solid and Toxic Wastes
• Radioactive Wastes
• Land Degradation
• Declining Biodiversity
• Air Pollution
• Pesticides and Other Chemicals
• Energy Resources

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The Extent of Environmental Problems

• Water Supply and Pollution
• Acid rain
• Eutrophication
• Solid and Toxic Wastes
• U.S. the worlds trashiest people
• Residues of production, problematic to dispose
• Radioactive Wastes
• Lifespan of wastes
• NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) syndrome of disposal
• Land Degradation
• Desertification
• Deforestation

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Levels of Various Air Pollutants
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Levels of Lead Emitted into the Air
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Toxic Chemical Releases by Industry
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Worst Hazardous Waste Sites
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Municipal Garbage
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The Extent of Environmental Problems

• Declining Biodiversity
• Loss of many species
• Could be of use to humans, or necessary to
  support life
• Air Pollution
• Threats from various sources
• Concern about greenhouse effect and global
  warming
• Pesticides and Other Chemicals
• Increase in synthetic organic chemical production
  
• Longer lasting and less biodegradable
• Energy Resources
• Affluent nations use inordinate shares
• Most existing forms of energy are finite

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Energy Consumption Among Nations
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Video Presentation
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Future Prospects

• Collective Action by Interest Groups
• Environmental and grassroots groups
• Moderating Economic Growth
• Unrestrained capitalism is a threat
• Government Regulation
• Endangered Species Act
• Environmental Partnerships
• Stakeholders collaborate efforts

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Future Prospects

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Consume less, reuse and recycle more
• Renewable Energy Resources
• Solar energy, wind, geothermal, biomass
• International Cooperation
• Kyoto Protocol
• New Cultural Values and Social Institutions
• Sustainability, deep ecology, eco-terrorism