1. Miller & Spoolman Living in the Environment 16th edition
a.p. environmental science CHAPTER 1: ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS, THEIR CAUSES, AND SUSTAINABILITY
Miller & Spoolman
Living in the Environment
16th edition

2. Living in an Exponential Age
Exponential Growth: a quantity increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time, such as 2% per year.
Because of exponential growth in the human population, there were 6.7 billion people on Earth in 2008 (7.04 billion as of September 2012).
How many people can Earth support, and at what level of resource consumption?

3. How would you improve your school so that it prepares future leaders to protect the planet?.

4. Some Terms You Need to Know
environment
ecosystem
natural capital
environmental science
exponential growth
natural services
ecology
environmentalism
nutrient cycling
organism
sustainability
solar capital
species
natural resources
natural income
GDP – gross domestic product
per capita GDP
economic development
developed country
developing country
resources
conservation
perpetual resource
renewable resource
sustainable yield
environmental degradation
ecological footprint

5. What is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?
Our lives and economies depend on the sun (solar capital) and on natural resources and natural services (natural capital) provided by the earth.
Living sustainably means living off the earth’s natural income without depleting the natural capital that supplies it.

6. Goals of Environmental Science are to learn how:
nature works
the environment affects us
we affect the environment
to deal with environmental problems and live more sustainably.

7. How Can Environmentally Sustainable Societies Grow Economically?
Societies can become more environmentally sustainable through economic development dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone without degrading the earth’s life support systems.

8. How are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?
As our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earth’s natural capital.
What’s your ecological footprint?
Discuss and determine how we can look at our class data and create a graphic representation

9. What is Pollution and What Can We Do About It?
Preventing pollution is more effective and less costly than cleaning up pollution
Types of pollution
Point sources
Nonpoint sources
Biodegradable pollutants
Nondegradable pollutants
Pollution prevention = input pollution control
Pollution cleanup = output pollution control

10. Tragedy of the Commons Set Up
Arrange yourselves in groups of 3-4
Materials:
1 plate for each person, plus 2 extra for the group
1 spoon for each person
“Bank” of goldfish crackers (they live on one of the “extra” group plates)
Start with 4 fish per group member on the last “extra group plate which represents your pond, and place this plate in the middle of the group
Everyone starts with four family members (2 parents, 2 kids)
In your notebook, keep track of how many fish you catch each season, the number of family members remaining in your family

11. Tragedy of the Commons Game
During a hunting season, you may not communicate with any of the group members
A hunting season lasts 30 seconds
You can only catch fish with your spoon, one at a time
If a fish falls off the plate, it dies (think fish out of water)
If you catch:
0 fish, your whole family starves to death. You do not get to play in future rounds
1 fish, 1 family member dies
2 fish, everyone lives
Each fish beyond 2 can be sold for 5 points

12. Tragedy of the Commons
To prepare for the next hunting season, each fish left in the pond reproduces once, basically doubling your fish population
You may only participate in the hunting season if you have at least one member left in your family

13. Why Do We Have Environmental Problems?
Major causes of environmental problems are
population growth
wasteful and unsustainable resource use
Poverty
exclusion of environmental costs of resource use from the market prices of goods and services
attempts to manage nature with insufficient knowledge.
People with different environmental worldviews often disagree about the seriousness of environmental problems and what we should do about them.

14. What Are the Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability?
Nature has sustained itself for billions of years…without human interference
Solar energy
Biodiversity
Population control
Nutrient cycling
Lessons from nature that we can apply to our lifestyles and economies.