Bell Ringer 9/3/2012Include questions AND answers on

your new bell ringer!

What is the independent variable?

Dependent variable?

Bell Ringer 9/3/2012

• What is the difference between developed and non-developed countries?

• Developed vs. developing: Higher GNP, more industrialization

Globalization – we are living in an increasingly integrated world

Economic indicatorsGlobal economy grewInternational trade grewCorporation operating in multiple countries grew

Information and Communication1 in every 11 people in the world have Internet access

Environmental EffectsNumber of diseases transmitted across international

borders has increasedPollution transported globally

Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services

Natural resources – materials or energy in nature that are useful (sometimes essential) to humans.

Natural services – functions of, or processes in nature which support life and human economies

Solar capital – energy from the sun

Resources• Resource – anything obtained from the

environment that fulfills a need or want• Directly available for use (sun, air, water, wind)• Not directly available for use (iron, coal, crops)

Resources• Perpetual – on a human time scale are

continuous• solar energy

• Renewable – can be replenished rapidly (e.g. hours to several decades)

• forests, grasslands, fresh air, fertile soil• Nonrenewable – in a fixed supply or not

replenished on a human time scale• fossil fuels, iron, copper, salt

• Recycling and reusing extends supply of nonrenewable resources.– Recycling processes waste

material into new material.– Reuse is using a resource over

again in the same form.

Some Sources Are Renewable…Some Resources Are Not Renewable Sustainable yield – the highest rate at which a

renewable resource can be used without reducing its available supply

Environmental degradation – when resource supply shrinks as a result of overuse

Overexploiting Shared Renewable Resources: Tragedy of the Commons

• Three types of property or resource rights:– Private property – owned by a person– Common property – owned by a group– Open access renewable resources – owned by no one,

available to all, no charge

• Tragedy of the Commons – common property/ open access resources will be exploited– Solutions – laws or policy reducing resource

access or use OR convert the resource to private ownership

Imagine a field of grass shared by 6 farmers, each with one cow…

A few facts: Each cow currently produces 20 liters of milk per day The carrying capacity of the commons is 8 cows. For each cow above 8, the milk production declines by 2 liters (due to overgrazing, there is less grass for each cow: less grass, less milk!).

20 liters 20 liters

20 liters

20 liters20 liters

20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 120 liters

Do the farmers sit back and stay at 6 cows? Not if they are individual profit maximizers (here simplified as milk production maximizers)

20 liters 20 liters

20 liters

20 liters20 liters

20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 120 liters (6 cows)

Do the farmers sit back and stay at 6 cows? Not if they are individual profit maximizers (here simplified as milk production maximizers)

20 liters

20 liters

20 liters20 liters

20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 140 liters (7 cows)

40 liters

“I’ll get another cow”

We are now at the carrying capacity -- do they stop? No.

20 liters

20 liters20 liters

20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 160 liters (8 cows)

40 liters 40 liters

“Then I’ll get another cow too”

They are now at the maximum total milk production. But do they stop? No…

18 liters18 liters

18 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 162 liters (9 cows)

36 liters 36 liters

“I’ll get another cow”

36 liters

32 liters16 liters

16 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 160 liters (10 cows)

32 liters 32 liters

32 liters

“My cow is now less productive, but 2 will improve my situation”

28 liters

14 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 154 liters (11 cows)

28 liters 28 liters

28 liters

“I’ll get another cow” 28 liters

24 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 144 liters (12 cows)

24 liters 24 liters

24 liters

24 liters

“Well, everyone else is getting one, so me too!”

24 liters

20 liters

Total daily milk production for the commons: 130 liters (10 cows)

30 liters 20 liters

“Well, I can still increase milk production if I get a third cow”

20 liters

20 liters

20 liters

Ecological Footprints -

• the amount of land needed to produce the resources needed by an average person in a country

Ecological Footprints

Num

ber

of E

arth

s

Humanity's Ecological Footprint

Earth’s Ecological Capacity

Year

What’s YOUR ecological footprint?

Pollution

• Any addition to air, water, soil, or food that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms

PollutionWhere do pollutants come from?• Point Sources – single identifiable sources

– Smokestack– Drainpipe– Exhaust pipe

• Nonpoint sources – dispersed sources– Runoff from fields– Pesticides sprayed in the air

Pollution

What are the effects of pollutants?

a) Disruption of life-support systems for humans and other species.

b) Damage to wildlife, human health, and property.

c) Nuisances such as noise, and unpleasant smells, tastes, and sights.

Dealing With Pollution

Prevention (Input Control)ReplaceReduceReuseRecycle

Cleanup (Output Control)TemporaryShifts problem somewhere else

Costly

Environmental and Resource Problems

Major Problems (See Fig. 1-9 p. 12)

• Air Pollution• Water Pollution• Biodiversity Depletion• Food Supply• Waste Production

Air Pollution• Global climate change• Stratospheric ozone

depletion• Urban air pollution• Acid deposition• Outdoor pollutants• Indoor pollutants• Noise

Biodiversity Depletion• Habitat destruction• Habitat degradation• Extinction

Water Pollution• Sediment• Nutrient overload• Toxic chemicals• Infectious agents• Oxygen depletion• Pesticides• Oil spills• Excess heat

Waste Production• Solid waste• Hazardous waste

Food Supply Problems• Overgrazing• Farmland loss

and degradation• Wetlands loss

and degradation• Overfishing• Coastal pollution• Soil erosion• Soil salinization• Soil waterlogging• Water shortages• Groundwater depletion• Loss of biodiversity• Poor nutrition

MajorEnvironmental

Problems

Experts Have Identified Five Basic Causes of Environmental Problems

1. Population growth2. Wasteful and unsustainable resource use3. Poverty4. Failure to include the harmful environmental costs

of goods and services in their market prices5. Insufficient knowledge of how nature works

Resource Consumption and Environmental Problems

• ADD TO NOTES (back of sheet)• BOTH poverty and wealth can lead

to environmental degradation:

• Underconsumption– People who live in poverty are concerned with

survival, not the environmental implications of their actions.

• Overconsumption– Affluenza: unsustainable addiction to

overconsumption and materialism.

Environmental Impact

Fig. 1-11 p. 13

Connections between Environmental Problems and Their Causes

I = PATI = P x A x T

I = Environmental Impact P = Population A = Affluence (per capita consumption) T = Technology

Environmental Interactions

Fig. 1-12 p. 14

Environmental Worldviews

Planetary Management• We are in charge of nature.

• There is always more.

• All economic growth is good.

• Our success depends on how well we can understand, control, and manage the earth’s life support systems.

Environmental WorldviewsEnvironmental Wisdom

• Nature does not exist just for us and we only think we are in charge.

• There is not always more.

• Some forms of technology are environmentally beneficial, some are harmful.

• Our success depends on learning how the earth sustains itself and integrating these lessons into how we think and act.

SUSTAINABILITY ANDENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS

• Technological optimists:– suggest that human ingenuity will keep the

environment sustainable.

• Environmental pessimists:– overstate the problems where our environmental

situation seems hopeless.

How Would You Vote?Is the society you live in on an unsustainable path?

–a. Yes: Without readily available green products and services, converting to a sustainable society is unrealistic.

–b. Not entirely: I'm doing what I can to improve sustainability, including recycling and using less energy.

Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability: Copy Nature

• Reliance on Solar Energy

• Biodiversity• Population Control• Nutrient Recycling

Figure 1-16

Fig. 1-16, p. 24

Reliance onSolar Energy

Population ControlNutrient Recycling

Biodiversity

Environmentally-Sustainable Economic Development

Fig. 1-13 p. 17Decision making in asustainable society

Social Economic

Environmental

SustainableSolutions

Traditionaldecision making

Environmental

Social Economic

CurrentEmphasis

Pollution cleanup

Waste disposal (bury or burn)

Protecting species

Environmental degradation

Increased resource use

Population growth

Depleting and degrading natural capital

SustainabilityEmphasis

Pollution prevention (cleaner production)

Waste prevention and reduction

Protecting where species live (habitat protection)

Environmental restoration

Less wasteful (more efficient) resource use

Population stabilization by decreasing birth rates

Protecting natural capital and living off the biological interest it provides