1. Key Themes in Environmental Sciences
Chapter 1
Key Themes in Environmental Sciences
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

2. Environmental Science 5e
Learning Objectives
People and nature are intimately connected
Rapid human population growth is the fundamental environmental issue
Human beings affect the environment of the entire planet
Urban environments need attention
Solutions to environmental problems involve making value judgments based on scientific knowledge.
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

3. Major Themes of Environmental Science
Human population growth
An urbanizing world
Sustainability of our population and all of nature
People and nature
A global perspective
Science and values
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

4. Human Population Growth
The human population grew at a rate unprecedented in history in the twentieth century.
Population growth is the underlying environmental problem.
Famine is one of the things that happen when a human population exceeds its environmental resources. An example is African Famine.
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

5. Human Population Growth
John Eli Miller Family (p.3-4)
1 man (and wife presumably)
7 children (5 survived)
63 grandchildren (61 survived)
341 great-grandchildren (338 survived)
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

6. Environmental Science 5e
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

7. Environmental Science 5e
Fig 1.3
Population change since 1950 projected to the year 2150 for major areas of the world, medium fertility scenario. The population of Africa will nearly quadruple. The only major area whose population is projected to drop over time is Europe – from 728 million to 595 million, a decline of 18% over 155 years.
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e
© 2005 John Wiley and Sons Publishers

8. Environmental Science 5e
An Urban World
When the impact of technology is combined with the impact of population, the impact on the environment is multiplied.
In an increasingly urban world, we must focus much of our attention on the environments of cities and on the effects of cities on the rest of the environment.
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

9. Environmental Science 5e
An Urban World
Technology
How people modify the modern world to suit their own purposes
Survival
Comfort
Advancement
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

10. Using Common Resources Activity
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

11. Sustainability and Carrying Capacity
What is the maximum number of people the Earth can sustain?
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

12. Environmental Science 5e
Sustainability
Sustainability
Management of natural resources and the environment w/ goals of allowing harvest of resources to remain at or above some specified level, and the ecosystem to retain its functions and structure.
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

13. Environmental Science 5e
Carrying Capacity
The maximum abundance of a population or species that can be maintained by a habitat or ecosystem without degrading the ability of that habitat or ecosystem to maintain that abundance in the future.
Maximum # of individuals that can be SUSTAINED
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

14. Environmental Science 5e
Sustainability
Sustainable resoruce harvest
An amount of a resource that can be harvested at regular intervals indefinitely
Sustainable ecosystem
An ecosystem that is subject to some human use, but at a level that leads to no loss of species or of necessary ecosystem functions
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

15. Environmental Science 5e
Tragedy of the Commons
Commons
Any resource used as if it belongs to all. A resource used simply because people want or need it. Public.
Tragedy of the Commons
Usually occurs when the use of a commons is not regulated.
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

16. Environmental Science 5e
Tragedy of the Commons
Aristotle (384BC-322BC)
“That which is common to the greatest number, has the least care bestowed upon it”
Garret Hardin’s Essay: Tragedy of the Commons (1968)
Public land use for grazing cattle
Every man for himself
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

17. Environmental Science 5e
People and Nature
Ways of thinking
Humans are separate from nature
Simply stop human actions that cause environmental problems
Humans are inextricably tied to nature
Use science to analyze environmental problems and come up with cooperative, long lasting solutions
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

18. Environmental Science 5e
A Global Perspective
Local Problems are Global Problems
Ranking Environmental Challenges Activity
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

19. Environmental Science 5e
Science & Values
Environmental Value:
Utilitarian
Ecological
Moral
Asthetic
Recreational
Inspirational
Creative
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

20. Environmental Science 5e
Science & Values
Environmental Science:
Provides knowledge and understanding of environmental issues through scientific data
Cause and effect
Provides possible solutions
Values must be considered when implementing solutions
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e

21. Major Themes of Environmental Science
Human population growth
An urbanizing world
Sustainability of our population and all of nature
People and nature
A global perspective
Science and values
Botkin & Keller
Environmental Science 5e