Some Environmental Problems
A rather disturbing sample
Environmental Sustainability?What’s fishy about this map?
The Smoking Gun
Primary Industry Exports
What can you do to inform yourself?
• Consider multiple points of view
• Consider who has a prior agenda
• Consider who profits from the status quo
• Consider a variety of data
• Consider the history of debate over a range of issues including toxic chemicals, tobacco, etc.
http://www.env.duke.edu/faculty/crowley/climatemodel.html
Data from Climatologist Tom Crowley (Texas A&M)
NASA data
Data from GlobalWarming.org
Who should you believe?
• GlobalWarming.org is supported by the Cooler Heads Coalition, which is in turn supported by the National Consumer Coalition– http://www.consumeralert.org/ncc/members.htm– Strong ties to conservative organizations working to
privatize schools, cut taxes, end government regulation of corporations, and reduce environmental regulations
• NASA and Climatology professors at major research universities are interested in understanding the issue but will make money no matter what they find– http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/observe/surftemp/
Global climate change
• The greenhouse effect is not a subject of scientific dispute; our level of present and future contribution to the greenhouse effect is.
• Most scientists agree on an increase over the next century of 2.5 – 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit
• Evidence of climate change: – migration of tree-line– melting ice– temperature differentials in the earth’s crust– changes in species range
Melting Ice
• Arctic ice currently thinning 10% per decade
• 3000 k2 of Antarctic ice is lost each year
• net yearly outflow of Greenland ice shield = annual flow of the Nile
• warmest 23 years since record keeping began all since 1975
• overall change in past century about 1 degree Fahrenheit
How can a single degree change over the past century make such a difference?
Political pressure
• “For the first time, the Senate is about to vote on whether to restrict national emissions of carbon dioxide -- the respiration of our civilization and our economy -- in an attempt to control the world's uncontrollable climate. This legislation has absolutely no basis in science.”
• http://www.globalwarming.org/ (a project of the Competitive Enterprise Institute http://www.cei.org/gencon/014,03358.cfm)
• Bush administration withdrew US support from the Kyoto Protocol that would have called for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by industrialized nations
• Europe just suffered a record heat wave that claimed 35,000 lives, and will no doubt shape UN stances on Global Warming
Sea Level is Rising
• Sea level is rising at around 2 mm a year• faster than over the last 5000 years (less than 1 mm a
year)• slower than the rate predicted for the next 80 years (5
mm a year); approx. 1 meter in the next century• processes that have played an important role in
accelerating the rate of sea level rise in the last century.– loss of mid-latitude glaciers in the Alps, Andes, Rockies etc, – rising sea temperatures on the ocean's volume through thermal
expansion. – role played by the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets in
contributing to sea level rise?
• http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ResourceCenterPublicationsSeaLevelRiseIndex.html
Welcome to Venice!
Chemical Pollution
• Various synthetic (not naturally occurring) substances
• Although there are many naturally occurring toxins, natural systems have evolved in the presence of these toxins, not the synthetic ones
• Worst are classified as “persistent organic pollutants” –very “durable,” – passed through food chain to the top (predatory birds,
various mammals, and humans!)– Bioaccumulation– Long-distance transport
Frog Deformities
• reported in 44 states since 1996 (57 amphib. species)– extra legs & eyes– misshapen, missing or
incompletely formed limbs– limbs in inappropriate places– missing eyes
• Causes (in combination)– naturally occurring parasite
(flatworm larvae)– pesticides that greatly
increase frogs’ susceptibility to the flatworm larvae
Pesticide Use
• The US uses over 5 billion pounds of pesticides annually [EPA data]
• This volume is increasing at a rate of 100 million pounds per year
• Data from California show that acutely toxic systemic nerve poisons (organophosphates and carbamates) increased 17%, from 1991 to 1997 [http://www.pmac.net/use_increasing.html]
• Data from California show that the use of carcinogenic pesticides increased 81% during this period [http://www.pmac.net/use_increasing.html]
1999 US pesticide use
Data Source, EPA: http://www.epa.gov/oppbead1/pestsales/99pestsales/usage1999.html#3_3
Cancer
BRAIN CANCER DIAGNOSES PER YEAR PER 1000 PERSONS, UNITED STATES
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
YEAR
PE
RS
ON
S P
ER
100
0 W
ITH
BR
AIN
C
AN
CE
R
Human sperm count
• study of 61 reports between 1938 and 1991 found sperm counts worldwide have fallen by about 50%
• a few studies show stable counts but none show an increase
• Sperm counts in US agricultural areas are around 2/3 of the level in US cities
• laboratory studies prove that extremely common chemicals such as phthalates can cause a decrease in fertility
Endocrine Disrupters
• Many synthetic chemicals and industrial byproducts have powerful effects on mammalian endocrine systems
• They may act as synthetic estrogens, interfere with testosterone or otherwise interfere in the processes of sexual reproduction and maturation
• Earlier onset of human sexual maturation has been observed overall [Herman-Giddens et al., various studies]
• Near chemical incinerators, delayed puberty has been observed (95% certainty level) [Elly Den Hond et al., 2002]
• What are the chemicals? Dioxin, PCBs, phthalates (used in PVC plastics and “vinyl,” as well as pesticides and cosmetics), lead, and mercury
Common Thread?
• Postindustrial lifestyle– High consumption levels– Demand for variety and visual perfection in foods– Political culture opposed to environmental regulation
• Confidence in technology– Unwillingness to infringe on people’s “right” to market
any product– Unwillingness to infringe on people’s “right” to use any
innovation– Bias against the calculation of long-term and
aggregate impacts of individual actions– Overall: bias in favor of the diffusion of new products
Summary
• Our “postindustrial” lifestyle involves high environmental impacts
• some groups (particularly corporate interests and their affiliated “think tanks” (read public relations firms)) want to instill a false sense of complacency
• research proves complacency will only increase the cost of dealing with the impacts in the long run