Upload
madeline-cobb
View
217
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
INTRODUCTIONChapter 1Advance Placement
Environmental Science (affectionately called APES)
04/19/23 O'Connell 1
The 3 Fingers of Sustainability[A sustainable society] is one
that shapes its economic and social systems so that natural resources and life-support systems are maintained.
-Lester Brown (1990)
(italics are mine)
04/19/23 O'Connell 2
Outline• Invasive species• Island Earth• Human impact• Consumption• Sustainability• Environmental science• Addressing environmental problems• Working together
04/19/23 O'Connell 3
INVASIVE SPECIES
04/19/23 O'Connell 4
Zebra mussels
Aral Sea
04/19/23 O'Connell 5
• USSR in 1960s diverted the inbound water for farming.
• Salinity changed from about 10g/L to 100g/L.
04/19/23 O'Connell 6
Water budget: inflow from the rivers, evaporation, precipitation rates, and groundwater inflow.
Caspian Sea
04/19/23 O'Connell 7
Easter Island
04/19/23 O'Connell 8
ISLAND EARTH
• Resources– Finite– Boundaries– Nonrenewable– Renewable
04/19/23 O'Connell 9
Types of Resources
04/19/23 O'Connell 10
Renewable, but only when managed in a sustainable way
04/19/23 O'Connell 11
FACES W
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• Population growth• Increasing resource use• Global climate change• Loss of biodiversity• Pollution• Poverty
04/19/23 O'Connell 12
HUMAN IMPACT
Most populous countries:
1) China 1,361,500,0002) India 1,251,700,0003) United States 321,530,0004) Indonesia 256,000,0005) Brazil 204,000,000
13O'Connell04/19/23
7.3 billion as of August 16, 2015
Rich Countries
• Highly developed countries – HDCs or industrial nations
• 20% of the world’s population• High resource use per capita (person)
04/19/23 O'Connell 14
Poor Countries
• Moderately developed countries (MDCs)• Developing nations
• Less developed countries (LDCs)• Third World
• 80% of the world’s population• Rapidly increasing population
04/19/23 O'Connell 15
The contrast between less developed and highly developed countries is great (India vs. Texas)
04/19/23 O'Connell 16
Global Atmospheric Changes
• Greenhouse effect• H2O and CO2
• Natural• Greatly increased by people• Can change climates
04/19/23 O'Connell 17
Loss of Biodiversity
• How many different types of species in a given area
• Habitat alteration• Loss of:– future crop food choices– medicines
• Who decides what’s important?
04/19/23 O'Connell 18
Pollution
• Anything that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.
• 5Rs: refuse (to use); replace (with a less harmful substitute); reduce (use less); reuse; and recycle .
• “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” –Benjamin Franklin
04/19/23 O'Connell 19
Poverty• Poverty leads
to ecosystem degradation
20O'Connell04/19/23
04/19/23 O'Connell 21
Poverty
• 1.2 billion – 2.8 billion people• Per capita income of less than $1 a day
04/19/23 O'Connell 22
Leads to . . .
Inadequate health care
Unsanitary water
Poor nutrition
Lower life expectancy
Lights of the World
04/19/23 O'Connell 23
Increasing Human Numbers
400 million
04/19/23 O'Connell 24
CONSUMPTION
• 1 U.S. child has the environmental impact of 12+ children in less develop countries
• 1.9 hectares needed per capita• 2.3 hectares currently using (average)• 9.6 hectares for Americans
04/19/23 O'Connell 25
People Overpopulation
• When excess number of people causes environmental damage
• Poor nations
04/19/23 O'Connell 26
Consumption Overpopulation
• When people consume enormous amounts of natural resources
• Rich countries• Uses ½ the planet’s resources• Creates 75% of the waste
04/19/23 O'Connell 27
Ecological footprint
04/19/23 O'Connell 28
04/19/23 O'Connell 29
04/19/23 O'Connell 30
IPAT Model
04/19/23 O'Connell 31
I = P A T
Environmental Impact
Number of people
Affluence per person
Environmental effect of
technologies
SUSTAINABILITY
• Stewardship of natural resources leading to their perpetual availability for successive generations
• Individual, community, regional, national, and global
04/19/23 O'Connell 32
“Live simply so others may simply live”
• Earth’s resources are not infinite• In order to satisfy the basic needs of
everyone:– Using only the air, water, plants, and soil that can
be replenished – Saving the planet for future generations
04/19/23 O'Connell 33
Sustainability of:
• Resource harvest -- taken year after year• Ecosystem -- keeping a balance• Economy -- maintaining a certain
standard of living• Development -- keep improving as a
civilization
04/19/23 O'Connell 34
Sustainability and the Tragedy of the Commons
04/19/23 O'Connell 35
Garrett Hardin
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
• Interdisciplinary study of the interconnected problems associated with the environment
• Heavily leans upon ecology
04/19/23 O'Connell 36
04/19/23 O'Connell 37
The Process of Science
04/19/23 O'Connell 38
Problem recognition or question
Hypothesis development
Experimentation
Analysis
Share knowledge
Make predictions
Hypothesis supported? YESNO
Other scientistsNew knowledge
ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Case in Point: Lake Washington
04/19/23 O'Connell 39
Background:
•Treated sewage dumped in lake from 1941 - 1954
•Cyanobacteria grows out of control
Lake Washington: Environmental Problem
• Scientific assessment: gather info, run experiments, and use reason– Treated sewage was adding unwanted nutrients
(phosphorus and nitrogen), allowing cyanobacteria to grow
– Bacteria feeding on the cyanobacteria used up too much oxygen thus depriving the other organisms
04/19/23 O'Connell 40
Lake Washington: Environmental Problem
• Risk analysis: potential effects of doing nothing or of intervention – More treatment of sewage or– Discharge into Puget Sound
04/19/23 O'Connell 41
Lake Washington: Environmental Problem
• Public education and involvement: Explain the problem, present alternatives, probable costs and results– Articles in newspapers
04/19/23 O'Connell 42
Lake Washington: Environmental Problem
• Political action: Elected officials select a course of action and implement it– Formation of a regional government to deal with
the problem
04/19/23 O'Connell 43
Lake Washington: Env. Problem• Evaluation: Results of action are monitored – By 1975 the lake was back to normal
04/19/23 O'Connell 44
Lake Washington: Env. Problem
04/19/23 O'Connell 45
Evaluation
WORKING TOGETHER
• Confrontation over env. problems • Scientists don’t always agree • Politicians take a “wait and see” approach
04/19/23 O'Connell 46
Direction of Environmental Science?
• Business as usual
»OR• Long-lasting, successful solutions to
our problems
04/19/23 O'Connell 47
04/19/23 O'Connell 48