1. CHAPTER 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

2. Core Case Study: A Vision of a More Sustainable World in 2060
Sustainability: the capacity of the earth’s _________ systems and human _______________ systems to survive, flourish, and adapt to changing environmental conditions into the very long-term future
natural
cultural
Many transformations of lifestyles and economies are needed

3. What are these parents doing to help create a more sustainable world?
Figure 1.1: These parents—like Emily and Michael in our fictional vision of a possible world in 2060—are teaching their children about some of the world’s environmental problems (left) and helping them to enjoy the wonders of nature (right). Their goal is to teach their children to care for the earth in hopes of passing on a better world to future generations.
Teaching about
environmental problems
and enjoying the outdoors
Fig. 1-1a, p. 5

4. 1-1 What Are Three Principles of Sustainability?
Concept 1-1A Nature has sustained itself for billions of years by using _____________ energy, __________________, and nutrient _____________.
Concept 1-1B Our lives and economies ___________ on energy from the sun and on natural resources and natural services (natural capital) provided by the earth.
solar
biodiversity
cycling
depend

5. Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections in Nature
Environment: simply put is everything _____________ us
Albert Einstein said, “the environment is everything that isn’t me.“
Involves __________________ and _______________ things and their complex web or relationships
Environmental science: _____________________ science connecting information and ideas from
Natural sciences: biology, geology, chemistry…
Social sciences: geography, politics, economics
Humanities: ethics, philosophy
around
living
nonliving
interdisciplinary

6. Environmental science has three main goals…
Learn how nature _____________
Understand how ______ interact with the environment
To find ways to __________ with environmental problems
works we
deal

7. A key component of environmental science is ___________________: the biological science that studies how organisms ________________ with one another and their environment
Every organism is a member of a certain ________________…a group of organisms that have a unique set of characteristics and, for organisms that reproduce sexually, can mate and produce fertile offspring
ecology
interact
species

8. As a result, horses and donkeys are classified as _______
Example: Horses and donkeys can mate…but their offspring, the mule, is almost always infertile
As a result, horses and donkeys
are classified as _______
_______________ species
(they also have different
chromosome #s, different
characteristics, etc.)
two
separate

9. A major focus of ecology is the study of ecosystems…set of organisms within a defined __________ that interact with one another and their environment
Ex: Forest ecosystem
Plants
Animals
Decomposers
Solar energy
Chemicals in the ecosystem’s air, water, and soil
area

10. Try not to confuse environmental science with environmentalism: a social _________________ practiced more in the political and ethical arenas than in the realm of science
movement

11. From Simple Cell to Homo Sapiens
According to our fossil record, nature has been dealing with significant changes in environmental conditions for at least 3.5 billion years
Figure 1.2: Here, the span of Homo sapiens sapiens’ time on earth is compared with that of all life beginning about 3.5 billion years ago. If the length of this time line were 1 kilometer (0.6 miles), humanity’s time on earth would occupy roughly the last 3 one-hundredths of a millimeter. That is less than the diameter of a hair on your head—compared with 1 kilometer of time.
“wise man”
Fig. 1-2, p. 7

12. How has nature been so successful?
So when we face an environmental change that becomes a problem for us or a different species, environmental experts think that we should _______________ nature’s solutions
How has nature been so successful?
By following three ______________________ of sustainability
mimic
principles

13. Three Principles of Sustainability
The sun provides warmth and fuels photosynthesis
Astounding variety and adaptability of natural systems and species
Circulation of chemicals back and forth from the environment to organisms
“Nutrient
Cycling”
Figure 1.3: Three principles of sustainability.
We derive these three interconnected principles of sustainability from learning how nature has sustained a huge variety of life on the earth for at least 3.5 billion years, despite drastic changes in environmental conditions (Concept 1-1a).

14. Sustainability Has Certain Key Components
All of the natural resources and natural services that keep life forms alive and support human economies are called our natural __________________
Natural resources: useful _______________ and energy in nature
Natural services: important nature _________________ such as renewal of air, water, and soil
capital
materials
processes

15. Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services
Figure 1.4: These key natural resources (blue) and natural services (orange) support and sustain the earth’s life and human economies (Concept 1-1a).
Fig. 1-4, p. 9 15

16. Nutrient Cycling One vital natural service is nutrient cycling…
Without nutrient cycling in our topsoil, life as we know it could not exist
Figure 1.5: Nutrient cycling: This important natural service recycles chemicals needed by organisms from the environment (mostly from soil and water) through those organisms and back to the environment.
Fig. 1-5, p. 10

17. Natural Capital Degradation
Many human activities __________________ natural capital by using normally renewable resources faster than nature can restore them
degrade
Figure 1.6: Natural capital degradation.
This was once a large area of diverse tropical rain forest in Brazil, but it has now been cleared to grow soybeans. According to ecologist Harold Mooney of Stanford University, conservative estimates suggest that between 1992 and 2008, an area of tropical rain forest larger than the U.S. state of California was destroyed in order to graze cattle and plant crops for food and biofuels.
Fig. 1-6, p. 10

18. Finding solutions to environmental problems involves making ________________, or compromises
Example: Scientists may want to protect a natural area, but a timber company may be planning to harvest the trees
Solution?
trade-offs
The timber company may use a portion of
land if they replant fast-growing trees

19. Shifting Towards Sustainability
A shift towards sustainability must begin at __________________ and local levels
Individuals matter…
Some people are good at thinking of new scientific solutions
Others are good at dealing with and influencing the government and business
Others are good at implementing ideas and taking action
personal

20. Some Sources Are Renewable and Some Are Not
Resource
Anything we obtain from the environment to meet our _________ and wants
Some are __________________ available for use: (sunlight, edible wild plants, topsoil)
Some are _______ directly available for use: (iron, petroleum, cultivated crops)
Perpetual resource – ________________ supply
Solar energy…expected to last at least six billion years
needs
directly
not
continuous

21. Sustainable ______________
Renewable resource….Several days to several ________________ years to renew
E.g., forests, grasslands, fresh air, fertile soil
Sustainable ______________
Highest rate at which we can use a renewable resource without reducing available supply
hundred
yield 21

22. Nonrenewable resources
Several million to billion years to renew
Exist in a fixed quantity or ____________ in the earth’s crust
Energy resources (coal and oil)
Metallic mineral resources (copper and aluminum)
Nonmetallic mineral resources (salt and sand)
We can recycle or reuse some nonrenewable resources to extend their supply
Reuse – using over and over in the ________ form
Recycle – ___________________ waste materials into new materials
“stock”
same
process

23. Reuse vs. Recycle
Figure 1.7: Reuse: This child and his family in Katmandu, Nepal, collect beer bottles and sell them for cash to a brewery that will reuse them.
Fig. 1-7, p. 11

24. Countries Differ in Levels of Unsustainability
Growing national economies sometimes lead to environmental problems
Economic growth: increase in output of a nation’s ____________ and ________________
Gross domestic product (GDP): ____________ ______________ __________ of all goods and services produced by all businesses, foreign and domestic, operating within a country
Per capita GDP: changes in a country’s economic growth _______ person
goods
services
annual
market
value
per

25. _____ of the population – use _____ of our resources
Economic development: an effort to use economic growth to raise _______________ __________________
More-developed countries (MDC): North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, most of Europe
Higher average incomes
______ of the population – use _____ of our resources
Less-developed countries (LDC): most countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America
Lower average incomes
_____ of the population – use _____ of our resources
living
standards
19%
88%
81%
12%

26. Countries by Gross National Income per Capita
Figure 2 This map shows high-income, upper-middle income, lower-middle-income, and low-income countries in terms of gross national income (GNI) PPP per capita (U.S. dollars) in (Data from World Bank and International Monetary Fund)
Supplement 8, Fig 2

27. Review Questions What are the three principles of sustainability?
Group Table
Review Questions
What are the three principles of sustainability?
What is the equation for natural capital?
Which type of resource are the trees in a forest considered: perpetual, renewable or nonrenewable?
What is the main difference between economic growth and economic development?
Solar energy, chemical cycling, biodiversity
Nat. Capital = Nat. Resources + Nat. services
renewable
goods and services vs. standard of living