Environmental Systems

Goals, History and Background

What is an “environmental issue”? What are the basic causes of current

environmental problems What does it mean to be an environmentally

sustainable society? What is your impact or your “ecological

footprint”?

Overview

____________ study organisms in their natural environment, their home

Who studies this stuff?

Environmentalism is NOT the science of anything, it is a political movement

E___________ P___________ A___________

◦ Was constructed originally by ______________in 1970

We study the Earth with help from organizations like ________________

NASA stands for ◦ _____________________◦ AERONAUTICS◦ (and) _______________◦ ADMINISTRATION

To learn how nature works To learn how the environment affects us and

how we affect the environment To learn how humans can live sustainably

on Earth

Why study this stuff?

Habitat destruction and degradation

Key Environmental Concerns

Depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources

Pollution Climate change Loss of species biodiversity

Human population growth Wasteful use of resources Poverty Poor environmental accounting Lack of environmental education

Popular Theories on Causes

Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social economic and other requirements of present and future generations.

-from EPA website

What is Sustainability?

“an environmentally sustainable society meets the basic resource needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without degrading or depleting the natural capital that supplies these resources” –Living in the

Environment by Miller

How would this be achieved?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NiTN0chj0

What is a Sustainable Society?

An ecological footprint is a measure of the demand of a human on the Earth’s ecosystem.

The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply an individual with the renewable resources he/she uses and to absorb or dispose of the wastes from such resource use

What is an Ecological Footprint?

History

NOPE◦ Crop Rotation

History of it in Roman Literature In Greek Literature

So…this is a new thing right?

1962◦ DDT

Rachel Carson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipbc-6IvMQI

1969 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlHiaZFvcXA

Cuyahoga River Catches Fire

April 1970, First Earth Day

1970, Nixon creates EPA Clean Air Act Clean Water Act Endangered Species Act

1984◦ Pesticide gas leaked from aplant exposing >500,000 people

3,787 immediately killed >8,000 within two weeks

◦ Caused premature death for thousands more◦ Light shown on need for environmental safety standards

Bhopal, India

1986◦ Largest ever recorded uncontrolled radioactive release for any civilian Operation-32 died immediately-~5,000 have died fromcancer and radiation exposure◦ Released in air for 10 days-Contaminated millionsof acres of farmland

Chernobyl, Ukraine