Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainabilitypeople.nnu.edu/jocossel/BIOL1040/BIOL1040...
Transcript of Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainabilitypeople.nnu.edu/jocossel/BIOL1040/BIOL1040...
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Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and
Sustainability
Chapter 1
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WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE?
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Environmental science is a study of connections in nature
• Environment… • Science…
• Ecology…
• Environmentalism…
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WHAT ARE THREE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY?
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Three principles of sustainability
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Sustainability has certain key components
• Life depends on natural capital, natural resources and natural services.
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Key natural resources and services
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Nutrient cycling
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Some resources are renewable and some are not
• A perpetual resource is continuously renewed and expected to last (e.g. ?).
• A renewable resource is replenished in days to several hundred years through natural processes (e.g. ?).
• Sustainable yield is the highest rate at which a renewable and non-renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply (e.g. ?).
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Some resources are renewable and some are not
• Some resources are not renewable. – Nonrenewable resources exist in fixed
quantities. – Exhaustible energy (e.g. ). – Metallic minerals (e.g. ). – Nonmetallic minerals (e.g. ).
• Sustainable solutions: 3 R’s (Jack Johnson) 80-90% metal & plastic
recycling Know-how http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShC0RqSANr4
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Rich and poor countries have different environmental impacts
• Developed countries include the high income ones – e.g.
• Developing countries include the low income ones – e.g.
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HOW ARE OUR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS AFFECTING THE EARTH?
Section 1-2
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We are living unsustainably
• Environmental, or natural capital, degradation is occurring.
• Examples?
• We have solutions to these problems that can be implemented.
• Examples?
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Degradation of normally renewable natural resources
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Pollution comes from a number of sources
• Point sources are single, identifiable sources (e.g., ).
• Nonpoint sources are dispersed and often difficult to identify (e.g., ).
What can we do?
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Pollution comes from a number of sources
• Clean it up…
Or • Prevent it…
• Which is “better”?
Why?
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The tragedy of the commons: overexploiting shared renewable resources
• In 1968, the biologist Garrett Hardin called the degradation of openly shared resources the tragedy of the commons.
• Reducing degradation. – Reduce use by government regulations. – Shift to private ownership.
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Ecological footprints: our environmental impacts
• Ecological footprint is the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a person or country with renewable resources and to recycle the waste and pollution produced by such resource use.
• Per capita ecological footprint is the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given country or area (per person).
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Ecological footprints: our environmental impacts
• Ecological deficit means the ecological footprint is larger than the biological capacity to replenish resources and absorb wastes and pollution.
• Humanity is living unsustainably. By what %??? • Footprints can also be expressed as
number of Earths it would take to support consumption.
30% World ~90% U.S.
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Total and per capita ecological footprint of selected countries
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IPAT is another environmental impact model
• In the early 1970s, scientists Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren developed the IPAT model.
• I (environmental impact) = P (population size) x A (affluence/person) x T (technology’s beneficial and harmful effects).
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I = P x A x T
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WHY DO WE HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS?
Section 1-3
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Fig. 1-10, p. 16
Causes of Environmental Problems
Population growth
Unsustainable resource use
Poverty Excluding environmental costs from market prices
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Exponential growth
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Poverty has harmful environmental and health effects
• Poverty occurs when…
• One in every five people live in extreme poverty (<$1.25/day), and more are susceptible.
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Harmful effects of poverty
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Malnutrition
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Prices of goods and services due not include harmful environmental and health costs
• A company’s goal is often to maximize the profit. • Often consumers do not know the damage
caused by their consumption. • Government subsidies may increase
environmental degradation. • There are ways to include harmful costs of
goods and services. – Shift from environmentally harmful to beneficial
government subsidies. – Tax pollution and waste heavily while reducing taxes
on income and wealth.
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People have different views about environmental problems and their solutions
• Each individual has their own environmental worldview—a set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what your role should be.
• Environmental ethics
• Planetary management worldview
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People have different views about environmental problems and their solutions
• Environmental ethics • Why should be care about the environment? • Are we the most important species? • Is it a sin to cause extinction? • Do we owe future generations anything? • Do we all have inalienable environmental
rights?
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People have different views about environmental problems and their solutions
• Each individual has their own environmental worldview—a set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what your role should be.
• Environmental ethics
• Planetary management worldview
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People have different views about environmental problems and their solutions
• Stewardship worldview
• Environmental wisdom worldview
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WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY?
Section 1-4
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What is an environmentally sustainable society?
• Environmentally sustainable societies protect natural capital and live off its income. – Increase reliance on renewable resources. – Protect earth’s natural capital.
• We can work together to solve environmental problems. – Trade-off solutions provide a balance between
the benefits and the costs. – Individuals matter especially in success of
bottom-up grassroots action.
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Three Big Ideas
1. Solar Power!!!
2. Protect Biodiversity
3. Help sustain earth’s natural chemical cycles