Environmental Science and Resource Management ESRM R100

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Environmental Science and Resource
ManagementESRM R100

• Kevin Flint
• Wednesdays 4 650 P.M.

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Billions of people
Black Deaththe Plague
Time
Industrial Revolution
Hunting and Gathering
Agricultural revolution
Fig. 1-1, p. 6
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Human Culturesphere
Earth's Life-Support System
Water (hydrosphere)
Air (atmosphere)
Population Size
Worldviews and ethics
Soil and rocks (lithosphere)
Life (biosphere)
Politics
Economics
Fig. 1-2, p. 7
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A Path to Sustainability
Natural Capital Degradation
Individuals Matter
Trade-Offs
Solutions
Natural Capital
Sound Science
Fig. 1-3, p. 8
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NATURAL RESOURCE SERVICES


NATURAL CAPITAL
NATURAL RESOURCES
NATURAL SERVICES
NATURAL RESOURCES
NATURAL SERVICES
NATURAL SERVICES
NATURAL RESOURCES
Air purification
Air
Water purification
Water
Water storage
Soil renewal
Soil
Nutrient recycling
Land
Food production
Conservation of biodiversity
Life (Biodiversity)
NATURAL CAPITAL



Wildlife habitat
Nonrenewable minerals (iron, sand)
Grassland and forest renewal
Waste treatment
Renewable energy sun, wind, water flows
Climate control
Population control (species interactions
Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels, nuclear power)
Pest Control
Fig. 1-4, p. 9
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Percentage of World's
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Population
82
0.1
Population Growth
1.5
85
Wealth and Income
15
88
Resource use
12
Pollution and waste
75
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Developing countries
Developed countries
Fig. 1-5, p. 11
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Fig. 1-6, p. 11
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Fig. 1-7a, p. 13
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Fig. 1-7b, p. 13
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Fig. 1-7c, p. 13
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Environmental Footprint Survey
Environmental Footprint Link
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SOLAR CAPITAL
EARTH
Goods and services
Heat
Human Economic and Cultural Systems
Human Capital
Depletion of nonrenewable resources
Degradation of renewable resources
Natural Capital
Pollution and waste
Recycling and reuse
Fig. 1-10, p. 17
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Causes of Environmental Problems
Trying to manage and simplify nature with too
little knowledge about how it works
Not including the environmental costs of economic
goods and services in their market prices
Poverty
Unsustainable resource use
Population growth
Fig. 1-11, p. 17
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Fig. 1-12, p. 18
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Trade-Offs
Industrial-Medical Revolution
Advantages
DIsadvantages
Mass production of useful and affordable products
Increased air pollution
Increased water pollution
Higher standard of living for many
Increased waste pollution
Greatly increased agricultural production
Soil depletion and degradation
Lower infant mortality
Groundwater depletion
Longer life expectancy
Habitat destruction and degradation
Increased urbanization
Lower rate of population growth
Biodiversity depletion
Fig. 1-15, p. 23
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Solutions
Principles of Sustainability
How Nature Works
Lessons for Us
Runs on renewable solar energy.
Rely mostly on renewable solar energy.
Recycles nutrients and wastes. There is little
waste in nature.
Prevent and reduce pollution and recycle and
reuse resources.
Preserve biodiversity by protecting ecosystem
services and habitats and preventing premature
extinction of species.
Uses biodiversity to maintain itself and adapt
to new environ- mental conditions.
Reduce human births and wasteful resource use to
prevent environmental overload and depletion and
degradation of resources.
Controls a species population size and
resource use by interactions with its
environment and other species.
Fig. 1-17, p. 25
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Fig. 1-16, p. 24
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Sustainability Emphasis
Current Emphasis
Pollution cleanup
Pollution prevention (cleaner production)
Waste disposal (bury or burn)
Waste prevention and reduction
Protecting where species live (habitat
protection)
Protecting species
Environmental restoration
Environmental degradation
Less wasteful (more efficient) resource use
Increased resource use
Population stabilization by decreasing birth
rates
Population growth
Protecting natural capital and living off the
biological interest it provides
Depleting and degrading natural capital
Fig. 1-18, p. 25
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More holistic
More atomistic
Biosphere- or Earth-centered
Ecosystem-centered
Biocentric (life-centered)
Anthropocentric (human-centered)
Instrumental values play bigger role
Planetary management
Intrinsic values play bigger role
Self-centered
Stewardship
Environmental wisdom
Fig. 26-2, p. 616
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Environmental Worldviews
Planetary Management We are apart from the
rest of nature and can manage nature to meet
our increasing needs and wants. Because of
our ingenuity and technology we will not run out
of resources. The potential for economic
growth is essentially unlimited. Our success
depends on how well we manage the earth's life
support systems mostly for our benefit.
Stewardship We have an ethical responsibility
to be caring managers, or stewards, of the
earth. We will probably not run out of
resources, but they should not be wasted. We
should encourage environmentally beneficial
forms of economic growth discourage
environmentally harmful forms. Our success
depends on how well we manage the earth's life
support systems for our benefit and for the
rest of nature.
Environmental Wisdom We are a part of and
totally dependent on nature and nature exists
for all species. Resources are limited, should
not be wasted, and are not all for us. We
should encourage earth sustaining forms of
economic growth discourage earth degrading
forms. Our success depends on learning how
nature sustains itself and integrating such
lessons from nature into the ways we think and
act.
Fig. 26-3, p. 617
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Solutions
Developing Environmentally Sustainable Societies
Guidelines
Strategies
Learn from copy nature
Sustain biodiversity
Eliminate poverty
Do not degrade or deplete the earth's natural
capital, and live off the natural income it
provides
Develop eco-economies
Build sustainable communities
Take no more than we need
Do not use renewable resources faster than nature
can replace them
Do not reduce biodiversity
Use sustainable agriculture
Try not to harm life, air, water, soil
Depend more on locally available renewable energy
from the sun, wind, flowing water, and
sustainable biomass
Do not change the world's climate
Emphasize pollution prevention and waste reduction
Do not overshoot the earth's carrying capacity
Do not waste matter and energy resources
Help maintain the earth's capacity for self-repair
Recycle, reuse, and compost 6080 of matter
resources
Repair past ecological damage
Maintain a human population size such that needs
are met without threatening life support systems
Leave the world in as good a shape asor better
thanwe found it
Emphasize ecological restoration
Fig. 26-6, p. 622
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Ask a question
Do experiments and collect data
Interpret data
Well-tested and accepted patterns in data
become scientific laws
Formulate hypothesis to explain data
Do more experiments to test hypothesis
Revise hypothesis if necessary
Well-tested and accepted hypotheses become scienti
fic theories
Fig. 2-2, p. 29
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Relative Energy Quality (usefulness)
Source of Energy
Energy Tasks
Electricity Very high temperature heat (greater
than 2,500C) Nuclear fission (uranium) Nuclear
fusion (deuterium) Concentrated
sunlight High-velocity wind
Very high-temperature heat (greater than 2,500C)
for industrial processes and producing
electricity to run electrical devices (lights,
motors)
High-temperature heat (1,0002,500C) Hydroge
n gas Natural gas Gasoline Coal Food
Mechanical motion to move vehicles and other
things) High-temperature heat (1,0002,500C)
for industrial processes and producing
electricity
Normal sunlight Moderate-velocity
wind High-velocity water flow Concentrated
geothermal energy Moderate-temperature
heat (1001,000C) Wood and crop wastes
Moderate-temperature heat (1001,000C) for
industrial processes, cooking, producing steam,
electricity, and hot water
Dispersed geothermal energy Low-temperature heat
(100C or lower)
Low-temperature heat (100C or less) for
space heating
Fig. 2-13, p. 44
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Mechanicalenergy(moving,thinking,living)
Chemical energy (photosynthesis)
Chemical energy (food)
Solar energy
Waste Heat
Waste Heat
Waste Heat
Waste Heat
Fig. 2-14, p. 45
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System Throughputs
Inputs (from environment)
Outputs (into environment)
Unsustainable high-waste economy
High-quality energy
Low-quality energy (heat)
Matter
Waste and pollution
Fig. 2-15, p. 46
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Inputs (from environment)
System Throughputs
Outputs (into environment)
Energy conservation
Low-quality Energy (heat)
Energy
Sustainable low-waste economy
Waste and pollution
Waste and pollution
Pollution control
Matter
Recycle and reuse
Matter Feedback
Energy Feedback
Fig. 2-16, p. 47
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