CHAPTER 1Introduction:

Toward a Sustainable Future

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc.

EnvironmentalScienceTenth Edition

Richard T. Wright

The Chapter Introduction

• The global environmental picture

• Three strategic themes– Sustainability– Stewardship– Sound science

The Chapter Introduction

• Three integrative themes– Ecosystem capital– Policy/politics– Globalization

• The environment in the 21st century

The Lessons of Easter Island

• Society fails to care for the environment and sustain it

• Population increase beyond carrying capacity

• Disparity between rich and poor widens

How to Prevent a Global Version of the Easter Island Disaster

• Understand how the natural world works• Understand how human and natural systems

interact• Accurately assess the status and trends of

crucial natural ecosystems• Establish long-term sustainable relationships

with the natural world

The Global Environmental Picture

• Population growth and economic development

• Decline of ecosystems

• Global atmospheric changes

• Loss of biodiversity

Rapid Human Population Growth

Indicators of Decline of Vital Ecosystems

• Depleted water supplies

• Agricultural soils degraded

• Oceans over-fished

• Forests cut faster than they can grow

Conceptual Framework for Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Global Atmospheric Changes

Contributors to Loss of Biodiversity

• Habitat alteration

• Exploitation

• Pollution

Three Strategic Themes

• Sustainability: interactions with the natural world that we should be working toward

• Stewardship: the ethical and moral framework of our actions

• Science: the basis for our understanding of how the world works

Unifying Themes

Four Dimensions to Sustainable Solutions

• Environmental

• Social

• Economic

• Political

First Quarter Project

• Ecosystem in a jar

• Example

Stewardship

• Recognition that a trust has been given

• Responsible care for something not owned

• Desire to pass something on to future generations

Environmental Justice or Racism?• Placement of waste sites and

hazardous facilities in nonwhite communities

The Nature of Science

A Historical Overview

Lamarckian Theory

• Jean Baptiste de Lamarck

• use-disuse theory• inheritance of

acquired characteristics

• environmental influences

Rotting Meat Living Organisms

Testing the Theory of Spontaneous Generation

Francesco Redi (1626-1698)

Observations

• Maggots appear on meat that is left uncovered.

• Maggots appear spontaneously on meat; life arises spontaneously in a variety of circumstances.

Hypothesis

• Life does not arise by “spontaneous generation.” Maggots on meat can be explained by some other mechanism.

Experimentation

• Controls = natural situation– Meat in open jars

• Experimental = alter one variable from the natural environment– Meat in jars covered with cork or gauze

Observation

• Maggots do not develop when jars are covered

Conclusions

• Maggots do not develop when jars are covered, therefore, spontaneous generation is not true.

• There must be another explanation.– Flies lay eggs on the meat– Eggs hatch– Maggots come from the hatching fly eggs

Introduction to Experimental Design

• Testing the Hypothesis of Spontaneous Generation

The Cell TheoryPro

Introduction to Experimental Design

Testing the Hypothesis of Spontaneous Generation

Introduction to Experimental Design

Testing the Hypothesis of Spontaneous Generation

Steps in the Scientific Method

Assumptions of the Process of Science

• We perceive reality with our five basic senses

• Objective reality functions according to certain basic principles and laws

Components to the Structure of Sound Science

• Data: measurable

• Theories: explanations

• Shaping principles: uniformity of nature, quantifiability

Assumptions of the Process of Science

• Causes and effects are explainable

• We have tools and capabilities to understand basic principles and natural laws

True or False Concerning the Process of Science

• There are no controversies or arguments among scientists.

• Progress in science can be slow.• We are continually confronted by new

observations.• Some observed phenomena may not lend

themselves to simple experiments.

True or False Concerning the Process of Science

• Science is incapable of providing absolute proof for any theory.

• The process of science can be used to test value judgments.

• The validity of science is based on the ability to do experiments.

Junk Science

• “A thorough distortion of science that is meant to confuse issues such that the public, media, or policy makers are hard pressed to know what is true.”– Presentations of selective results– Public distortions of scientific works– Publication in quasi-scientific journals

Examples of Junk Science

• science used to further a special agenda, such as personal injury lawyers extorting deep-pocket businesses;

• the “food police,” environmental Chicken Littles, and gun-control extremists advocating wacky social programs;

• overzealous regulators expanding bureaucratic power/budgets;

Examples of Junk Science

• cut-throat businesses attacking competitors;

• unethical businesses making bogus product claims;

• slick politicians; and

• wannabe scientists seeking fame and fortune.

Three Integrative Themes

• Ecosystem Capital

• Policy and Politics

• Globalization

Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being

Policy and Politics

• Human decisions that determine what happens to the natural world and the political processes that lead to those decisions.– Purpose of public policy is to promote the

common good.

Globalization

• The accelerating interconnectedness of human activities, ideas, and cultures.– Health improvements– Global markets– Improved crop yields– Dilution or destruction of cultural and religious

ideals.

Globalization

– Environmentally friendly consumer goods– Economic reorganization of the world– Worldwide spread of emerging diseases– Dispersion of exotic species– Trade in hazardous wastes– Spread of persistent organic pollutants

The Environment in the 21st Century

• The big issues– Corporate accountability– Globalization and WTO– Trade and subsidies– Climate and energy– Development priorities and aid

The Environment in the 21st Century

• If we do not change direction, we will end up where we are heading.

End of Chapter 1

PPT by Clark E. Adams