Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

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Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and
Sustainability
G. Tyler Millers Living in the Environment 14th
Edition Chapter 1 Sections 1 and 2
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Key Concepts Sections 1 and 2
1) What keeps us alive? What is an
environmentally sustainable society? 2) How fast
is human population growing? What are economic
growth, economic development and globalization?
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Living More Sustainably Key Terms

• Environment is everything that affects
• living organisms.
• Ecology biological science that studies the
  relationships between living organisms and their
  environment.

• Environmental Science an interdisciplinary study
  that uses information from physical sciences and
  social sciences to learn how the earth works, how
  we interacts with the earth and how to deal with
  environmental problems.

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What is environmentalism?

• A social movement dedicated to protecting the
  earths environment.
• Can include
• Ecologists
• Biologists
• Geologists
• Environmentalists

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What Keeps Us Alive? Capital

• Solar Capital without the sun there would be no
  life. (What is the difference between direct and
  indirect solar energy?
• Natural
• Resources
• Air, water, soil
• ect.

Fig. 1-2, p. 7
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What is an environmentally sustainable society?

• Meets the basic needs of its people indefinitely
  without compromising future generations ability
  to meet those same needs?

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Population Growth

• ExponentialGrowth a quantity increases at a
  constant rate per unit of time
• Between 1950 and 2004 the world population
  increased exponentially from 2.5 B to 6.4 B.

Each year your college raises tuition 6, does
that mean every year the tuition goes up the same
amount?
Fig. 1-4, p. 8
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World Population Growth

• 1950 2.5 billion
• 2004 6.4 billion
• 2100 8-12 billion
• Current avg. growth rate 1.25/year 219,000
  people per day or 80 million per year. (6.4
  billion X 0.0125)
• Despite a 22 fold increase in worldwide economic
  growth, almost one of every two survive on less
  than 3/day.

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World Population
Compare hunter/gathering, agriculture, and
industrial revolution time period.
Fig. 1-1 p. 5
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Where is most population growth occurring?
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Economic Growth
An increase in the capacity of a country to
provide its people with goods and services.

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annual market value
  of all goods and services produced within the
  country.

• Per Capita (GNP) GDP divided among the
  population of the country.

Economic Development improving living standards
by economic growth
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Worldwide Per Capita GDP
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Economic Development

• Developed Countries US, Canada, Japan,
  Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe. High
  Per Capita GDP. (1.2 billion people)

• Developing Countries 5.2 billion people living
  with very little. 97 of population growth.
• Example Mexico Daily Minimum Wage is about 4-6
  dollars a day.

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Percent of Worlds
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Population
81
0.1
Populationgrowth
1.6
85
Wealth andincome
15
88
Resourceuse
12
75
Pollutionand waste
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Developingcountries
Developedcountries
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Trade-Offs
Economic Development
Good News
Bad News
Life expectancy 11 years less in developing
countries than in developed countries
Global life expectancy doubled since 1950
Infant mortality rate in developing countries
over 8 times higher than in developed countries
Infant mortality cut in half since 1955
Harmful environmental effects of agriculture may
limit future food production
Food production ahead of population growth since
1978
Air and water pollution down in most developed
countries since 1970
Air and water pollution levels in most developing
countries too high
Half of worlds people trying to live on less
than 3 (U.S.) per day
Number of people living in poverty dropped 6
since 1990
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Globalization
We live in a world that is increasingly
interconnected through economic, cultural and
environmental interdependence. What does that
mean for our environment?
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Globalization A Few Pros/Cons

• Pros
• Sharing ideas and technology around the world.
• Access to materials once unthinkable (example
  fresh fruits and vegetables year round)

• Cons
• Wealth not shared equally.
• Pollution now worst in poor countries.
• Loss of local identities.

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Sections 1 and 2 Review

• List 3 pros and cons related to economic
  development.
• List several differences between developed and
  developing countries?
• Describe exponential growth as it related to
  population.
• How may globalization impact the worlds
  environment?

• What does environmentally sustainable society
  mean?
• List 3 types of solar capital and natural
  capital.
• What is the current worldwide population? How is
  that expected to change?

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Chapter 1 Sections 3,4 and 5 Main Ideas

• What are earths main types of resources? How can
  they be depleted or degraded?
• What are the principle types of pollution? What
  can we do about pollution?
• What are the basic causes of todays
  environmental problems? How are the causes
  connected?

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Resources

• Perpetual renewed continuously on a human scale.

• Renewable can be replenished fairly quickly.

• Non-renewable exist only in fixed quantities.
  (once they are gone they are gone.)

Fig. 1-6 p. 9
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Renewable ResourcesCan be depleted or degraded.

• Sustainable Yield the highest rate at which a
  renewable resource can be used without reducing
  its supply.
• Example over-farming the land leading to soil
  erosion, clear-cutting forests.

• Environmental Degradation when we exceed the
  natural replacement rate of the resource.
• Example groundwater depletion, water pollution.

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Tragedy of the Commons1968 Garrett Hardin

• Degradation of renewable free-access resources.
• If I do not use this resource, someone else
  will. The little bit I use or pollute is not
  enough to matter, and such resources are
  renewable anyway.
• Solutions????

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Ecological Footprint
Measure of the biologically productive land and
water needed to support each person.
1 hectare 100 acres or 10,000 square meters
(about 100 football fields)
Fig. 1-7 p. 10
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Non-Renewable ResourcesExist only in fixed
quantities on earth.

• Energy Resources such as coal, oil and natural
  gas.

• Metallic Resources
• such as iron, copper, aluminum

• Non-MetallicResources
• Such as salt, clay, sand

When 80 is gone it may be too costly to get the
last 20.
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Reduce, Reuse and RecycleSaving Nonrenewable
resources

• Reduce Use less resource
• Reuse To use the resource more than once to
  conserve.
• Recycle collecting resource, processing it into
  new products.

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Pollution What is it?

• Pollution is the presence of substances at high
  enough levels in air, water, soil or food to
  threaten humans or other living organisms.
• Most pollution are unintended by products of
  useful activities. Example driving cars gives of
  pollutant.

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Effects of Pollution

1. Disrupt or degrade life-supporting systems for
   humans or other species.
2. Can damage wildlife, human health or property.
3. Can by a nuisance such as noise, smell, sights.

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Sources of Pollution

• Point Source pollutants that come from one
  single, identifiable source such as a pipe.
• Nonpoint Source pollutants that are dispersed
  and often difficult to identify such as farm or
  street runoff.

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Dealing With Pollution

• Prevention (Input Control)
• Reduced or eliminates pollutants from production
• EXAMPLE driving more fuel efficient automobile

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Dealing with Pollution
Pollution Cleanup (output control) Cleaning up
or diluting pollution once in the environment.
What are the problems with pollution
cleanup?
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Environmental and Resource Problems 5 Root Causes
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Environmental Impact
Fig. 1-13 p. 15
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Environmental Interactions
Goal for environmental science is to learn about
these complex interactions.
Fig. 1-14 p. 15
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Solutions
Fig. 1-16, p. 18
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What is Our Greatest Environmental Problem????

• Disease
• Overpopulation
• Water Shortages
• Climate Changes
• Biodiversity Loss
• Poverty
• Malnutrition

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Sections 3,4,5 Review Questions

• List and describe several root causes of
  environmental problems.
• Describe the differences between point and
  non-point source pollution.
• What is an ecological footprint?
• Identify several perpetual, renewable and
  nonrenewable resources.
• Analyze the differences between pollution
  preventions and pollution cleanup.
• Describe the Tragedy of the Commons.
• Describe reduce, reuse and recycle.

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Environmental Worldviews
Look up these worldviews for tomorrow and write
which one you fit into and why. Hint page 16
Planetary Management
Environmental Wisdom
Stewardship