Chapter 1 The Environment and Sustainability

Impact ( I ) =

Population ( P ) × Affluence ( A ) × Technology (T)

Sustainability

The ability of Earth's natural systems and human cultural systems to survive, flourish into the long-term future

Three Major Types of World views

human-centered, Life-centered, Earth-centered

An ecological deficit indicates that...

humans are living unsustainably.

Globally, humans are running up a huge ecological deficit

that is expected to keep growing.

In the early 1970s, a new environmental model called________ was developed to determine the environmental impact of human activities

the IPAT model

Environmental Conservation and Protection in the United States: 1980s and After

•Backlash against environmental laws/regulations •Corporations, some lawmakers seek to weaken environmental laws -"Disinformation" campaigns •Call for United States to once again take lead on environmental issues

Affluence Can Have Positive Environmental Impacts

•Better education •Scientific research •Technological solutions resulting in improvements in environmental quality (e.g., safe drinking water)

Social Factors of Sustainability

•Economics -Full-cost pricing to include environmental and health costs of producing goods/services •Political Science -Win-win solutions to environmental problems •Ethics -A responsibility to protect Earth for future generations

Affluence Can Have Negative Environmental Impacts

•High levels of consumption and waste of resources •More air pollution, water pollution, and land degradation •Acquisition of resources without regard for/awareness of the environmental effects of consuming them

Many People Have a Better Quality of Life

•Humans have learned to transform raw materials into useful goods and services. •Globally, life spans are increasing; infant mortality is decreasing. -Improved food supply, air/water quality, access to education, disease prevention •Some species and ecosystems are being successfully protected. Technology is improving communication

How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting Earth?

•Humans have the power to degrade or sustain Earth's life-support system. •Over time, growth of ecological footprints depletes and degrades Earth's natural capital.

What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?

•In order to live sustainably, one must live off the natural resources without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies these natural resources.

What Are Some Key Factors of Sustainability?

•Life on Earth: -Has been sustained for 3.8 billion years by solar energy, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling -Depends on energy from the sun and natural capital provided by Earth -Can been preserved by shifting toward full-cost pricing and win-win solutions

People Are Increasingly Isolated From Nature

•More than half the world's population lives in urban areas. •Technology (cell phones, computers) adds to isolation from nature. • "Nature deficit disorder" -Symptoms: stress, anxiety, depression •Benefits of getting outdoors: exercise, improved health, brain function, creativity, sense of wonder

Sustainability and Natural Capital

•Natural capital = Natural resources + Ecosystem services •Natural resources -Natural materials and energy sources essential or useful to humans -Inexhaustible, renewable, or nonrenewable •Ecosystem Services -Free natural services provided by healthy ecosystems; support human life/economies

An Environmentally Sustainable Society

•Natural income is the portion of renewable resources that can be used sustainably. •By living only on Earth's natural income and not depleting the natural capital, society moves from an unsustainable lifestyle to a sustainable one.

Scientific Factors of Sustainability

•Solar Energy -Supplies nutrients, directly and indirectly •Biodiversity -Provides ecosystem services and adaptability •Nutrient cycling -Cycling of life-giving nutrients/chemicals between organisms and environment

What Are the Goals of Environmental Science?

•Study the ecology of organisms in their ecosystems. •Learn how life on Earth has survived and thrived. •Understand how humans interact with the environment. •Find ways to deal with environmental problems and live more sustainably.

•Current government subsidies often increase environmental degradation. -Change subsidies to promote sustainability:

•Tax pollution and waste •Shift from environmentally harmful to environmentally beneficial subsidies

Countries Differ in Resource Use and Environmental Impact •More-developed countries

-17% of world's population (United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Western Europe)

•Early conservation efforts

-1864: First conservation efforts (Marsh) -Early 20th century •Preservation: Fully protect wilderness (Muir) •Conservation: Manage public lands wisely for their natural resources (Roosevelt, Pinchot) •Blending of preservation/conservation (Leopold) -Mid-20th century •Industrialization leads to air/water pollution •Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

•The human population is growing.

-2015 world population: 7.3 billion; more than 89 million people added each year -Projected 2050 world population: 9.8 billion

Countries Differ in Resource Use and Environmental Impact •Less-developed countries

-83% of world's population •Middle-income, moderately developed countries (China, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico) •Low income, least-developed countries (Congo, Haiti)

•What is an environmental worldview?

-A set of assumptions and values reflecting how one thinks the world works and what one's role in it should be

•Environmentalism:

-A social movement dedicated to sustaining Earth's life-support system

•Slowing population growth could limit severe environmental degradation.

-Aim to level off at 8 billion by 2050 -Promote economic development, family planning, elevated status for women

•Life-centered

-All species have value even if not valuable to humans, should be protected from extinction

Natural Capital: Challenges and Solutions •How do Humans Degrade Natural Capital?

-By using renewable resources faster than nature can restore them -By overloading natural resources with pollution and waste

•Pollution cleanup (post-production)

-Cleanup: dilution/reduction of pollutants

•Nonpoint Source pollution

-Dispersed sources, difficult to pinpoint -Examples: runoff from farm fields, trash in streams, deposition of air pollutants on land

•What is the environment?

-Everything around us, living and nonliving

•The American public demands action in response to environmental problems.

-First Earth Day (April 22, 1970) -Environmental Protection Agency (1970) -Most U.S. environmental laws passed -Establishment of environmental groups, college courses on environmental issues

Earth-centered

-Humans part of, dependent on, nature -Look to nature for ways to think and act

•What is environmental science?

-Interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the environment (draws on engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, ethics)

•Growth of ecological footprints:

-Leads to degradation of natural capital -Results in the creation of pollution and waste

Poverty Health effects

-Malnutrition, limited access to sanitation/clean drinking water, outdoor and indoor air pollution

•Human-centered

-Natural world is support system for human life -Divided into planetary/stewardship worldviews

Pollution examples

-Naturally occurring (volcanoes) -Contributed by humans (burning of fossil fuels)

•Ecological deficit

-Occurs when the ecological footprint is larger than the biological capacity to replenish resources and absorb wastes/pollution

Environmental and social scientists have identified five basic causes of the environmental problems society faces

-Population growth -Unsustainable resource use -Poverty -Lack of full-cost pricing for goods/services -Increasing isolation from nature

•Pollution prevention (before pollution occurs)

-Reduces or eliminates the production of pollutants

Natural Capital: Challenges and Solutions •Solutions can Protect Natural Capital

-Scientific vs. economic and political solutions -Trade-offs and compromises -Daily individual and local contributions matter

Poverty Harmful effects

-Short-term requirements for survival can lead to degraded forests, topsoil, grasslands, fisheries, wildlife populations

•Point Source pollution

-Single, identifiable source from which pollutants are discharged Examples: smokestacks, motor vehicles, chimneys, drainage pipes

•Ecological footprint:

-The amount of land and water needed to supply an individual or a population with renewable resources and to absorb/recycle wastes and pollution such resource use produces

Given enough time, most degraded environments can recover, but many will take hundreds and even thousands of years to recover

-Time is our most scarce resource. -However, 5-10% of a population that changes can make a difference. -Changes can occur in a shorter time than previously thought.

Humans Are Living Unsustainably •Environmental Degradation

-Waste, depletion, degradation of natural capital Tragedy of the commons: large numbers of people exploit a shared/open access resource unsustainably

•Some environmental ethics questions:

-Why care about the environment? -Are humans the most important species? -Must we protect Earth for future generations? -Should everyone live more sustainably?

Pollution: contamination of the environment by any polluting substance (pollutant)— —at levels considered harmful to...

-such as chemicals, noise, heat- ... health, survival, activities of organisms

Consumers are unaware of the damage caused by...

...their consumption due to lack of full-cost pricing.

Humans Are Living Unsustainably - Human activities have overused about

60% of Earth's ecosystem services, mainly since 1950.