Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability G. Tyler Miller’s Living in the Environment 14th Edition Chapter 1: An Environmental Science Overview Spruce and Fir forest affected by pests, disease, and acid rain, near Clingman's Dome (6643 feet), Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

Essential Questions (Objectives) What is exponential growth? Describe the connection between exponential growth and environmental problems. Distinguish between solar capital and natural capital. Evaluate the significance of these forms of capital in the development of human societies. Distinguish between living on principal and living on interest. Analyze which of these behaviors humans are currently illustrating. Evaluate the possibility of continuing to live in our current style. Distinguish between developed countries and developing countries. Describe changes in the wealth gap between these groups of countries. What is globalization? What factors affect globalization? Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of globalization.

Define sustainable yield Define sustainable yield. Describe the relationship between sustainable yield and environmental degradation. Describe the tragedy of the commons. Summarize how most environmentalists alleviate this type of tragedy. Distinguish between the following terms: (1)physically depleted and (2)economically depleted resources; (3)nonrenewable, (4)renewable, and (5)potentially renewable resources; (6)reuse and recycle. Draw a depletion curve. Explain how recycling and reuse affect depletion time.   Distinguish between the following terms: point source of pollution and nonpoint source of pollution; nonpersistent, persistent, and nondegradable pollutants. Distinguish between pollution prevention and pollution cleanup. Evaluate the effectiveness of these two approaches in decreasing pollution.

Summarize underlying causes of environmental problems Summarize underlying causes of environmental problems. Describe a simple model of relationships among population, resource use, technology, environmental degradation, and pollution. Evaluate which model is most useful to you. Assess which model would be most useful in explaining these relationships to young children and which more closely resembles reality.   Summarize strategies humans can use to work closely with the earth.

World Population and Exponential Growth “Rule of 70” Doubling Time As the human population grows what might be the impact on resources use and waste poverty loss of biodiversity Global Climate Change 2008 Fig. 1-1 p. 5 return

What Keeps Us Alive? Natural Capital: Solar Energy Resources Services Fig. 1-2, p. 7 return

Living on interest vs. Living on principal Living on Interest (Sustainably) Imagine you win $1,000,000 in the lottery Invest the capital (1 million) at 10% interest. You will have a sustainable income of $100,000 per year. Without depleting your capital (1 million) Living on Principal If you spent $200,000 per year, your 1million would be gone early in the 7th year If you spent $110,000 per year, you would be bankrupt early in the 18th year. How would you prefer to live? How do we live now? return

Population Growth Who is Overpopulated? Are we living Sustainably? Is the problem we face population size or resource use? Fig. 1-4, p. 8 return

Developed Countries vs. Developing Countries Gross domestic product (GDP), also called gross national income (GNI), is the market value for goods and services produced within a country Economic development is improving living standards through growth. Most developed countries have high industrialization and high per capita income. Developing countries have moderate to low income; they represent about 97% of the projected increase in world population

Developed Countries vs. Developing Countries Developed countries enjoy a higher standard of living, including: a longer life expectancy a decrease in infant mortality greater food production than food needs decreased air and water pollution a decrease in poverty overall Developing Countries Poverty produces harmful environmental effects Soil, water, and forests are depleted Pollution levels are high. Infant mortality rate is 8 times higher than in developed countries Wages are very low with poor working conditions as the norm

Ecological Footprint What is an ecological footprint? Age of Consumption – Examples of over consumption

Globalization Globalization leads to a world socially, economically, and environmentally more interconnected Technology, international trade, and human mobility allow people to interact with others Environmentally sustainable development rewards sustainable activities and discourages harmful activities Where are your shoes made? Why? Where is your computer made? Where does your food come from? If we stopped buying Chinese products what would happen to China’s economy? How would that impact the United States? How does a global economy impact cultural diversity? Back to Essential Questions

Resources Natural capital/natural resources are those in the environment or those obtained from the environment: food, water, air, shelter, petroleum, etc Perpetual resources are renewed continuously, like solar energy Renewable resources must not be used up faster than they are able to be replaced, like grasslands, fresh water and air, fertile soil, etc Non-renewable resources are those that exist in fixed quantity or stock in the earth’s crust. Environmental degradation occurs when the use of resources exceeds the rate of replacement. sustainable yield is the highest rate of use on an indefinite scale without degradation or depletion

Tragedy of the Commons describes the overuse or degradation of freely available resources such as ocean pollution, abuse of national parks, air pollution, etc. No one individual owns these free-access resources Limiting access to these resources is one possible way to protect them Reducing the population might also allow these resources to be used below estimated sustainable yields Converting free-access resources to private ownership is another possible means to protect them Private owners may not actually protect the resources Global resources such as oceans, air, and migratory birds cannot be divided up and made private property Access to the resources is eliminated/reduced for many people Governments have laws and treaties that regulate access to commonly owned resources

Non-Renewable Resources Energy Resources (oil, coal, natural gas, etc.) Metallic Resources (copper, iron, aluminum, etc.) Non-Metallic Resources (salt, clay, sand, phosphates, etc.) Physically Depleted - when a resources completely exhausted Economically Depleted – when the resource costs too much to obtain what is left Solutions: To prevent economic depletion include: recycle, reuse, and conserve Back to Essential Questions

What is pollution? Pollutants are chemicals at high enough levels in the environment to harm people or other living organisms Where do pollutants come from, and what are their harmful effects? Pollutants may enter the environment naturally (for example, volcanic eruptions) or through human activities such as burning coal; pollution tends to occur in or near urban and industrial areas Sources: Point sources of pollutants are single, identifiable sources, such as automobiles or industrial plants. They are easier to identify and control than non-point sources Non-point sources are dispersed, such as pesticides in the air and water runoff. They are difficult to identify. Pesticides sprayed into the air may be carried from their source. Fertilizer runoff enters streams away from the source. Effects of Pollution: They can disrupt or degrade life-support systems of any organism They damage human health, wildlife, and property They can produce nuisances in noise, smells, tastes, and sights

Dealing With Pollution Prevention (Input Control) reduces or eliminates the production of pollutants Cleanup (Output Control) cleans up or dilutes pollutants after they have been produced It is a temporary bandage without long-term pollution control technology (like the catalytic converter) The pollutant is removed but may cause pollution in another place (for example, burning garbage/burying it) It is expensive to reduce pollution to an acceptable level. Prevention is less expensive in the long run Three factors determine the severity of a pollutant’s harmful effects: chemical nature, concentration, and persistence. Pollutants are classified into four categories based on persistence: degradable, biodegradable, slowly degradable, and non-degradable Persistent is how long a pollutant stays in the air , water or soil. Nonpersistent (degradable) Nondegradable – does not breakdown in the environment

What is Our Greatest Environmental Problem? Disease Overpopulation Water Shortages Climate Changes Biodiversity Loss Poverty Malnutrition “The Big Five” State of the Planet

Environmental Interactions Ideas must make environmental sense and economic sense in order to be successful Fig. 1-14 p. 15 Environmental Interactions I=PAT

Some of the Harmful Effects of Poverty

Solutions Current Emphasis (Reactive) Sustainability Emphasis (Proactive) Back to Essential Questions Fig. 1-16, p. 18