C H A P T E R 1 S E C T I O N 2

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY

LEARNING TARGETS

• Students will understand the big idea behind “The Tragedy of the Commons.”• Students will have an understanding of the law of

supply and demand.• Students will know the differences between

developed countries and developing countries.• Students will have an understanding of

“SUSTAINABILITY.”

SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

•How does society use common resources?

•How do we decide to share common resources?

“THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS”

• This is what your fish activity was based off of, and was written in an essay by ecologist Garret Hardin!• The main difficulty in solving problems is the

conflict between short-term interests of individuals and long-term welfare of society• Hardin used commons (shared pieces of land) to

illustrate how humans often consider personal interest over society’s welfare.• The point someone must take responsibility for

maintaining resources so they are not depleted.• Our natural resources are our modern commons.

ECONOMICS AND ENVIRONMENT

• Supply and Demand

• Costs and Benefits

• Risk Assessment

• Developed vs. Developing Countries

• Populations and Consumption

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

• The law of supply and demand- The greater the demand for a limited supply of something, the more that thing is worth

• Consider Oil-• If supply decreases, we have three choices:• Pay more, use less, find new energy source

COSTS & BENEFITS

• The costs of solutions can be high

• Cost- Benefit Analysis• Balances costs of action against the benefits one expects

from it

• It is often cheaper to produce a product with less environmental safeguards

RISK ASSESSMENT

• A tool that helps us create cost-effective ways to protect our health and the environment

• To come up with effective solutions the public must perceive the risk accurately, which doesn’t always happen

COUNTRIES CONSUMPTION

Developed

• Have higher average incomes, slower population growths, diverse economies, strong social support systems

Developing

• Lower average incomes, simple agricultural based economies, rapid population growth

SUSTAINABILITY

•The condition in which human needs are met in such a way that a human population can survive indefinitely

SUSTAINABILITY

• Currently does NOT exist• Standards of living are too high• The problem is not insurmountable• Requires everyone’s participation

“We must find solutions that allow people on all parts of our planet to live in a clean,

healthy environment and have the resources they need for a good life”

CONSUMPTION

• Ecological footprint- the productive area of Earth needed to support one person in a particular country

•Guess what citizens of Earth have the highest ecological footprint.