Environmental Problems and Their Causes Population, Resources, Environmental Degradation, and Pollution

What is The “Environment”? Environment - all external conditions and factors (living and non-living) that affects all organisms

What is The “Environment”? Two Major Components of the Environment Biotic - living organisms Abiotic - non-living (chemicals, energy)

What is “Environmental Science”? Environmental Science - the study of how we and other species interact with one another and with the abiotic environment of matter and energy

Sustainable Living All life on earth depends on two forms of capital: Solar Capital - energy from sun Earth Capital - air, water, soil wildlife, minerals, natural recycling

Sustainable Living The “Environment” is comprised of solar and earth capital Sustainability - the ability of a system to survive for some specified (finite) time

Sustainable Living Sustainable Society - a society that manages its economy and population size without depleting earth capital and thereby jeopardizing the prospects of current and future generations of humans and other species

Sustainable Living Sustainable Living - living off the income without depleting the capital that supplies the income $1 million capital @ 10% annual interest = $100,000 annual income

Growth and Wealth Gap Linear (Arithmetic) Growth - growth in which a quantity increases by a constant amount per unit of time Example: an automobile accelerates by 1 mph every second

Growth and Wealth Gap Exponential (Geometric) Growth - growth in which a quantity increases by a fixed percentage of the whole per unit of time Example: an automobile doubles its speed very second (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, …)

Growth and Wealth Gap 2n where n = time Formula for Exponential (Geometric) Growth 2n where n = time

Doubling Time = 70 ÷ percentage growth rate Growth and Wealth Gap Doubling Time - the time it takes for a quantity growing exponentially to double Rule of 70 Doubling Time = 70 ÷ percentage growth rate

Growth and Wealth Gap Example of Doubling Time Annual global population growth rate = 1.47% 70/1.47 = 48 years Population will double in 48 years

Growth and Wealth Gap Human Population Growth Global Population Time (yrs) 1 billion 1 million 2 billion 130 3 billion 30 4 billion 15 5 billion 12

Growth and Wealth Gap Environmental Impacts of Exponential Human Population Growth 73% of the habitable area of the earth has been altered by human activities

Growth and Wealth Gap Economic Growth An increase in the ability of an economy to provide goods and services The increase in the real value of all final goods and services produced by an economy

Growth and Wealth Gap Gross National Product - market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced by an economy for final use during a year Increasing GNP indicates economic growth

Growth and Wealth Gap Economic growth achieved by increasing throughput of matter and energy resources used to produced goods and services Increased throughput achieved through population growth and/or increased consumption per person

Growth and Wealth Gap Per Capita GNP - GNP divided by total population United Nations Classification of World’s Countries Developed (MDCs) Developing (LDCs)

Growth and Wealth Gap MDCs 20% world’s population Highly industrialized High per capita GNP (>$4,000) 85% of world’s wealth Consume 88% of world’s natural resources

Growth and Wealth Gap MDCs Generate 75% of world’s pollution U.S., Germany, Japan account for > 50% of world’s economic output

Growth and Wealth Gap LDCs 80% world’s population Low to moderately industrialized Low to moderate per capita GNP 15 to 20% of world’s wealth Consume 12% of world’s natural resources

Growth and Wealth Gap LDCs Account for 9 of every 10 babies born Account for 98% of all infant and childhood deaths 1 million people added every 4 days 35% of population is under age 15

Growth and Wealth Gap Development - change from a society that is rural, agricultural, illiterate, and poor with a rapidly growing urban population to one that is mostly urban, industrial, educated, and wealthy

Growth and Wealth Gap The Wealth Gap Widening gap since 1960 Environmental Impacts High population growth rates Widespread urbanization Resource depletion Famine (~20 million people annually)

Resources and Environmental Degradation Resource - anything we get from our environment to meet our needs and wants Classification of Resources Renewable Potentially Renewable Nonrenewable

Resources and Environmental Degradation Renewable Resource - a resource that is virtually inexhaustible on a human time scale

Resources and Environmental Degradation Potentially Renewable Resource - a resource that can be replenished fairly rapidly (hours to decades) through natural processes Sustainable Yield - the highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used without reducing its available supply

Resources and Environmental Degradation Potentially Renewable Resource - a resource that can be replenished fairly rapidly (hours to decades) through natural processes Environmental Degradation - depletion or destruction of a potentially renewable resource by using it faster than it is naturally replenished

Sustainable Yield The Sustainable Yield “Teeter-Totter” Use Renewal

Environmental Degradation Use Renewal

Resources and Environmental Degradation Nonrenewable Resource - a resource that exists in a fixed amount in various places in the earth’s crust and has the potential for renewal only by geological, physical, and chemical processes taking place over hundreds of millions to billions of years

Resources and Environmental Degradation Nonrenewable Resource Economical Depletion - occurs when the cost of exploiting the resource exceeds it economic value

Resources and Environmental Degradation Nonrenewable Resource Options to deal with economical depletion Recycling Reuse Waste less Use less Develop a substitute

Resources and Environmental Degradation Nonrenewable Resource Recycling - collecting and processing a resource into new products Reuse - using a resource over and over in the same form

Pollution Pollution - an undesirable change in the characteristics of air, water, soil, food that can adversely affect health, survival, and activities of living organisms

Pollution Sources of Pollution Point Sources Non-point Sources

Pollution Factors Determining the Harmfulness of Pollutants Chemical Nature Concentration Persistence

Pollution Solutions to Pollution Input Pollution Control Pollution prevention strategy based on: Reduce Reuse Recycle

Pollution Solutions to Pollution Output Pollution Control Pollution cleanup strategy Problems: Often a temporary bandage Removes pollutant from one area and transfers it to another area Often too expensive to reduce pollutants to acceptable levels