Introducing Environmental Science and Sustainability
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Transcript of Introducing Environmental Science and Sustainability
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Introducing Environmental Science and Sustainability1
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© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Question of the day:
Define environmental sustainability.
List three things you do in your life that might be considered a sustainable practice.
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Overview of Chapter 1
Human Impacts on The Environment Population, Resources and the Environment Sustainability Environmental Science Addressing Environmental Problems
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The Environment (Earth)
Life has existed on earth for 3.8 billion yrs
Earth well suited for life Water over ¾ of planet Habitable temperature,
moderate sunlight Atmosphere provides
oxygen and carbon dioxide
Soil with essential minerals for plants
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Human Impacts on Environment- Population
Expected to add several billion more people in 21st century
Earth’s Human Population is at 6.9 billion Growing exponentially
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World Population Clock
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
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Population
1 in 4 people live in extreme poverty Cannot meet basic
need for food, clothing, shelter, health
Difficult to meet population needs without exploiting earth’s resources
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Gap Between Rich and Poor
Highly Developed Countries (HDC) Complex industrialized bases, low population
growth, high per capita incomes Ex: US, Canada, Japan
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Gap Between Rich and Poor
Less Developed Countries (LDC) Low level of industrialization, very high fertility
rate, high infant mortality rate, low per capita income
Ex: Bangladesh, Mali, Ethiopia
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Types of Natural Resources
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Overpopulation
People overpopulation Too many people in a given geographic area Problem in many developing nations
Consumption overpopulation Each individual in a population consumes too
large a share of the resources Problem in many highly developed nations, US in
particular
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Consumption
Consumption Human use of materials and energy People in HDCs are big consumers
Unsustainable Consumption Occurs when the level of demand on a country’s
resources damages or depletes the resource enough to reduce the quality of life for future generations
Caused by overpopulation and/or overconsumption
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Ecological Footprint
The average amount of land, water and ocean required to provide that person with all the resources they consume
Earth’s Productive Land and Water 11.4 billion hectares
Amount Each Person is Allotted (divide Productive Land & Water by Human Pop.)
1.8 hectares
Current Global Ecological Footprint of each person
2.7 hectares
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Ecological Footprint
Humans have an ecological overshoot
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Ecological Footprint Comparison
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IPAT Model
Measures 3 factors that affect environmental impact (I)
I = P A TI = P A T
Environmental Impact
Number of people
Affluence per person
Environmental effect of
technologies
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Questions of the day:
What was your ecological footprint?
Why do you think it was high or low?
What factors may have significantly affected your number?
What are commons?
What point is Hardin trying to get across with his piece?
What topics/concepts is this related to in ES?
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Environmental Sustainability
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Environmental Sustainability
The ability to meet current human need for natural resources without compromising the needs of future generations
Requires understanding: The effects of our
actions on the earth That earth’s
resources are not infinite
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Tragedy of the Commons
Garrett Hardin (1915–2003) Solving Environmental Problems is result of
struggle between: Short term welfare Long term environmental stability and societal
welfare Common pool resources Garrett used Common Pastureland in medieval
Europe to illustrate the struggle
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Sustainable Development- Systems Concept
Economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising future generations
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Environmental Science
An interdisciplinary study of human relationship with other organisms and the earth Biology Ecology Geography Chemistry Geology
Physics Economics Sociology Demography Politics
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Earth System and Environmental Science
System A set of components that interact and function as
a whole Global Earth Systems
Climate, atmosphere, land, coastal zones, ocean Ecosystem
A natural system consisting of a community of organisms and its physical environment
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Earth Systems and Environmental Science
Negative feedback Change triggers a
response that counteracts the changed condition
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Feedback
Positive feedback Change triggers a
response that intensifies the changing condition
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Scientific Method
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Controls and Variables in Experiment
Variable A factor that influences a process The variable may be altered in an experiment to
see its effect on the outcome Control
The variable is not altered Allows for comparison between the altered
variable test and the unaltered variable test
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Five Steps to Addressing An Environmental Problem
Five steps are idealistic
Case Study: Lake Washington
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Assessing Environmental ProblemCase Study: Lake Washington
Large, freshwater pond Suburban sprawl in 1940’s
10 new sewage treatment plants dumped effluent into lake
Effect = excessive cyanobacteria growth that killed off fish and aquatic life
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Scientific Assessment Aquatic wildlife assessment done in 1933 was
compared to the 1950 assessment Hypothesized treated sewage was introducing
high nutrients causing growth of cyanobacteria Risk Analysis
After analyzing many choices, chose new location (freshwater) and greater treatment for sewage to decrease nutrients in effluent
Assessing Environmental ProblemCase Study: Lake Washington
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Public Education/Involvement Educated public on why changes were necessary
Political Action Difficult to organize sewage disposal in so many
municipalities Changes were not made until 1963!
Evaluation Cyanobacteria slowly decreased until 1975
(gone)
Assessing Environmental ProblemCase Study: Lake Washington
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Results
Assessing Environmental ProblemCase Study: Lake Washington