1. Human Impacts and Sustainability 8/22/11

2. What is sustainability? A way of living which balances meeting our own needs, without limiting the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

3. What are the 3 components of sustainability? Economic Ecological (Natural Capital) Societal/Social

4. What is Environmental Degradation? Wasting, Depleting and degrading the earth’s natural capital.

5. What is pollution? A chemical, noise, heat or other agent in the environment that is harmful to the health, survival or activities of humans or other organisms.

6. How is pollution categorized? Point sources= single identifiable sources – i.e. smokestack, coal burning plant Non-point sources = disperse, difficult to identify – i.e. runoff fertilizers in a river, pesticides blown in the wind

7. What are the 2 ways we deal with pollution? Output control= clean up Input control = prevention

8. What is an ecological footprint? A measure of how much a person consumes resources and produces waste and pollution, expressed in area of land.

9. How is an ecological footprint a measure of sustainability? If a country’s total ecological footprint is greater than its biological capacity to replish renewable resources and absorb pollutants and waste = ecological deficit – NOT sustainable

10. Summary