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Their Causes and Sustainability
Environmental Problems:
Biologists estimate that human activities are causing premature extinction of the
earth’s species at an exponential rate of 0.1% to
1% a year.
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
A quantity increases at a constant rate per unit of
time.
Exponential growth plays a key role in:* population growth* resource use and waste* poverty* loss of biological diversity* global climate change
www.otherwise.com/population/exponent.html
Environment
Everything that affects a living organism.
Environmental Science
An interdisciplinary study that uses information from the
physical sciences and social sciences to learn how the earth works, how we interact with the
earth, and how to deal with environmental problems.
Environmentalism
A social movement dedicated to protecting the earth’s life
support systems for us and other species.
Solar CapitalEnergy from the sun.
Solar EnergyIncludes direct sunlight and indirect forms of renewable solar energy such as wind power, hydropower, and
biomass.
Natural Resourcesa.k.a. Natural CapitalDef. – The planet’s air, water, soil, wildlife, forest, rangeland, fishery, mineral, and energy resources, and the processes of natural purification, recycling, and pest control.
What is an Environmental Sustainable Society?
A society that meets the needs of its people for food, clean water, clean air,
shelter, and other basic resources without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their needs.
Living sustainably means living off natural income replenished by soils, plants, air,
and water and not depleting or degrading the earth’s natural capital that supplies this biological income.
How rapidly is the human population growing?
1.25% a year
Economic GrowthAn increase in the capacity of a country to provide people with
goods and services. Measured by the change in a country’s GDP.
Economic DevelopmentThe improvement of living standards by economic growth. Measured by
per capita GDP.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)The annual market value of all goods
and services produced by all firms and organizations in operation within
a country.
Per capita GDPThe GDP divided by the total
population at midyear.
Developed Countries• Highly industrialized.• High average per capita GDP.• Examples: US, Canada, Japan , Australia, Iceland.
Developing CountriesMiddle to low income.High poverty rates.Life expectancy lower than developed countries.
Examples: Yemen, Ethiopia, Samoa
Globalization
The process of social, economic, and environmental global changes that lead to an increasingly interconnected world. It involves increasing exchanges of people, products, services, capital, and ideas across international borders.
ResourceAnything obtained in the
environment to meet our needs and wants. Ex.- food, water,
shelter.
Perpetual ResourceRenewed continuously. Ex.- solar
energy, winds, tides, flowing water.
Renewable ResourceCan be replenished fairly rapidly through
natural processes. Ex.- forests, grasslands, wild animals, soil, fresh water,
fresh air.
Sustainable YieldThe highest rate at which a renewable
resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply.
Environmental DegradationExceeding a renewable resources natural
replacement rate.
Common-Propertya.k.a. free-access resources.
Not owned by anyone. Available to users at little or no cost. Ex.-
clean air, open ocean, fish, birds, wildlife, and publicly
owned land.
Tragedy of the Commons
The degradation of renewable free-access resources.
Per Capita Ecological Footprint
A measure of how much of the earth’s natural capital and biological income each
of us uses.
Humanity’s ecological footprint per person exceeds the earth’s biological capacity to replenish renewable resources and absorb
waste by about 15%.
Ecological Footprint is larger in developed than in developing countries.
What’s your ecological footprint?www.earthday.net
Nonrenewable ResourcesCan be depleted faster than they are
formed.Examples include:• Energy resources (coal, oil, natural
gas)• Metallic mineral resources (iron,
copper, aluminum)• Nonmetallic mineral resources (clay,
sand, phosphates)
A resource becomes economically depleted when
the costs of extracting and using what is left exceed
its economic value.
At that point, what are our options?• Try to find more• Recycle or reuse existing supplies• Waste less• Use less• Try to develop a substitute• Wait millions of years for more to be
produced
PollutionThe presence of substances at high enough levels
in the air, water, and soil, or food to threaten the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms.
Point sources – single, identifiable sources.
Nonpoint sources – dispersed, difficult to pinpoint.
Input pollution control – Prevention
Output pollution control – Cleanup
The Big Five – Key Environmental ProblemsPopulation GrowthWasteful Resource UsePovertyPoor Environmental Accounting
Ecological Ignorance
Environmental WorldviewHow you think the world works.
Three types:Planetary Management Worldview
Stewardship WorldviewEnvironmental Wisdom Worldview
Guidelines for Working With the Earth
Never leave the earth worse than you found it.
Take only what you need.Do no harm.Sustain diverse living organisms.Maintain earth’s capacity for self-repair
and adaptation.Do not waste; do not pollute.Decrease population; reduce poverty.