Exam 1

Environmental Ethics

Two ways of conceptualizing the role of the environment and resources. Keep in mind that there are many variations within and across these two views of nature. 1. The nature-centered view 2. human-centered view of natural resource management

Human-Earth Relationships

Humans have a multidimensional relationship to the environment. We influence the environment and the environment influences us. This theme is the primary focus of this course

Human ecosystem -> LA example

Metropolitan area (many cities) City (many neighborhoods) Neighborhood (many components, residences, shopping, parks, manufacturing) Factory (many parts, each with a different function) Division (many people and machines) Worker (turtle)

Traditionally, geography is divided between two broad areas of study, __________ and __________

Physical Geography(natural systems and processes) and Human/Cultural Geography(human systems and processes)

Rwanda and Rwandan genocide

Rwanda has the highest population density in Africa (and has among the highest population densities in the world). ~90% of Rwandans are farmers who grow most or all of their own food.2/3rds of Rwandans live below the UN poverty line. Rwanda is of course infamous for the 1994 genocide during which ~11% of the population (~1 million people) were killed by their countryman. This genocide (the third worst of the 20th century) is usually described as the culmination of decades of ethnic conflict between Hutu and Tutsi peoples. Background to the genocide: Hutu are assumed to have settled Rwanda first, and they were later invaded and ruled over by the Tutsi. Hutu were originally farmers, and are members of a Bantu language family. Tutsi were originally cattle herders, and are members of a Nilo Hamitic Language family (the two groups have different cultural origins). When Europeans (Germans then Belgians) invaded and forced labor on Rwanda's population they found an 84% Hutu majority and a 14% Tutsi ruling minority(the other 2% are ethnic Twa, which most people refer to as pygmies). To impose colonial rule, both European nations found it advantageous to leave the ruling Tutsi in place as their bureaucratic class (affecting great colonial privilege on the Tutsi) to oversee the forced cultivation of sugar, coffee and other commodities by the Hutu for export to Europe. It is often pointed out (greatly so by Rwandans themselves, in the recent past themselves) that Hutu and Tutsi look different. Hutu are assumed to be shorter, more broadly statured, darker complexioned, with wider noses... Tutsis are assumed to be taller, thinner, lighter complexioned, with thinner noses....(more European looking, hence the German assumption Tutsis are superior). Truth of the matter is -after centuries of intermarriage, these external differences are shared with and across Hutu and Tutsi lineages. A Tutsi looking child is just as likely to be born to a family claiming to be Hutu as a family claiming to be Tutsi. Rwanda gained independence in 1962, at which time the Hutu majority was able to rest power from the Tutsi minority, upon which the Hutu government turned a blind eye toward Hutu on Tutsi violence for decades. Genocide: The Rwandan genocide is usually interpreted as a violent reprisal perpetrated by Hutu on Tutsi for a two hundred year history of Tutsi minority rule -but Malthus seems to have played a grim role. In April 1994 a plane carrying the Moderate Hutu president of Rwanda was shot down shortly after taking off from Kigali airport. Within an hour Hutu extremists began carrying out a carefully thought out plan to kill Tutsi (still minority wealthy land and business owners), seize their property, and also kill any moderate Hutu who opposed them. To accomplish this, the Hutu extremists had imported and stockpiled hundreds of 1000s of machetes, and upon the death of the Hutu moderate president, strategically took control of Rwanda's TV and Radio stations and began broadcasting hate messages. The extremists blamed the death of the president (who as a moderate was well liked) on the Tutsi. Within 6 weeks 11% of the population of Rwanda was murdered, about 75% of which were Tutsi (800,000 Tutsi). The other 25% of the murders defy political explanation.2% of the 11% of Rwandans murdered were nearly all the Twa, who were greatly segregated and had nothing to do with Hutu-Tutsi politics.......but the Twa did occupy land.

Additionally, human uses of materials can put

constraints on the timing and flow of materials -effectively making renewable resources finite (as opposed to the concept of infinite renewable resources-availability of freshwater).

Nonrenewable (stock) resources

exist in finite supply. We use them faster than earth's natural processes can generate them.Examples are fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and metals (iron, copper, ...)

Subsistence-No surplus

exported outside local areas.

This duality is paralleled in society by the tendency of we who live in developed countries to ______ ourselves from our supportive life-sustaining environment and to think of ourselves as exempt from the physical functions of the earth. Conversely, many people in developing countries live ______ to nature and are acutely aware of its importance in their daily lives

distance; closer

Classifications are oversimplified

do not adequately account for time, and our ability to manage resources. Sunlight may be perpetual, but we haven't done well on the management side. Water, though persetual, is subject to overuse and disruption of the hydrologic cycle

One of these non living components is the

economy, which is necessarily interrelated with plants, animals, other living components, and natural processes

It took ____ million years for human population to reach its present size of __ billion, while the current forecasted doubling time (time to reach __ billion) of our present population is just ___ years

2-5 million years for human population to reach its present size of 6 billion, while the current forecasted doubling time (time to reach 12 billion) of our present population is just 45 years -This is not so much a function of individual, generational, or cultural behavior patterns as it is a function of numbers

Keep in mind that humans currently utilize ___ of all energy reaching the earth's surface for _____

40% of all energy reaching the earth's surface for agricultural production, and material (particularly carbon) which was trapped for long periods of time is being released at levels natural cycles cannot channe

Kanama what happened to its people.

5.4% of Kanama's residents died (an underestimate since Andrécouldn't track everyone down

Matter

an entity that assumes a physical shape and takes up space(stuff).

Potential resources

are not resources, yet. Depending on environmental cognition, and economic and technological developments, potential resources may become future resources. Materials we put in landfills today may become scarce enough we are re-mining them tomorrow

Ecosystems

are open systems in which matter and energy are exchanged among organisms and with the larger environment (which is made up of many types of ecosystems)

Types of Economic Systems

commercial

A series of the dutch

By 1500 Europe faced a land shortage because the success of expanding agriculture resulted in the highest population densities in the world at the time.Intermarriage and various allegiance unified against the growing power of England and Spain (among others), and by the 1600s the Netherlands was a key European power. Second born and after male children of monarchs, who had no title to land but had access to considerable capital, became trade barons.With access to the military these trade barons explored the world in search of valued commodities like spices and precious metals.Where these valuable commodities were found the Dutch trade barons (among other European powers) took land by force from native peoples in North America (Manhattan), the Caribbean (Aruba, Bonair, and Caraciou), and especially Southeast Asia (present day Indonesia, all of which was a forcibly held Dutch colony).Because of the land shortage in the Netherlands, the Dutch monarchy offered many economic enticements (pay no taxes to the state for 10 yrs) if wealthy landowners would move to a colony and employ or otherwise bring some laborers with them.The Dutch were the foremost seafaring power for much of the 1600s, and considerable wealth was funneled into the Netherlands owing to Dutch navel primacy. The Dutch were also favorable situated geographically to control trade across much of Europe, and an ample amount of cheap energy in the form of windmills and peat (proto-coal) provided the Dutch with the means to take advantage of the innovations resulting from the industrial revolution.Trade dominance necessitated the development of the international system of banking and finance that formed the basis for today's globalized economy.Though lacking in many of the necessary commodities of the industrial revolution, trade dominance, colonial possessions to supply resources, and a growing wealthy class allowed the Dutch to seize and finance necessary industrial resources.Dutch Jews, many of which had previously fled religious oppression from other places around Europe, suffered greatly during the European genocideof World Ward II.After a longstanding policy of neutrality between Europe's great powers, the bitter experience of invasion and occupation during World War II led the Netherlands to become a leading supporter of international cooperation. Almost 20% of the total area of the Netherlands is water, and much of the land has been reclaimed from the North Sea in efforts which date back to medieval times and have spawned an extensive system of dykes. Large water projects, progressive taxation (redistribution of wealth from elites to labor), and publicly funded education are clear evidence of the cooperative spirit of the Dutch developed since unification of the Netherlands in 1568.It is one of the world's most densely populated nations. As in many European countries, over-65s make up an increasing percentage of that population, leading to greater demands on the welfare system. After two decades of strong growth and low unemployment, the economy ran into more troubled waters as global trade, in which the Netherlands is a major player, slowed in the early years of the new millennium.

Spatial Analysis

Because geography is about everything, geography is governed by a method rather than a specific body of knowledge. This method of inquiry is spatial analysis.

Trade agreements and trade barriers

Tariffs are trade barriers which provide 'unfair' competition in favor of domestically produced goods

Technological and economic factors:

Technological factors are related to a culture's knowledge and skill at exploiting a resource (so affluence becomes an obvious advantage). *Example:* Deserts are not generally considered viable agricultural land, unless a society can afford to irrigate the desert soils (as is the case in oil-rich Middle Eastern nations and Southern California)

Energy

The capacity to change the motion of, or to do work on, matter.

Location

The actual position of a place on the globe (absolute or site location), and its relationships to surrounding places (relative or situation location)

Geography is not the systematic memorization and listing of___________ and ________. Place names and map locations are only the ________, and we use this alphabet the same way writers use the alphabet to create literature

geographic place names for the physical (mountains, seas, deserts...) and human (names of countries......); geographic alphabet

Produces a surplus of

goods.

It takes time for material to flow from one step in the cycle to the next, and human uses (or reductions in the form of pollution) of this material can

greatly change the timing of these material flows(carbon in the atmosphere).

Human alterations to biogeochemical cycles can

have an influence on areas far from where a particular human activity takes place (interconnectedness-mercury pollution).

Along any pathway in a biogeochemical cycle, much of the material will be

held in storage in different parts of the environment.

Geography is about everything, because everything must occur in some place or space. The only other discipline like this is ________, (everything must occur at some time)

history

Global ozone depletion

in the upper atmosphere that allows increasing amounts of ultraviolet radiation to reach earth‟s surface. Most people are familiar with the ozone „hole‟ over Antarctica. In 1997 an ozone hole the size of the contiguous United States was detected over the Arctic for the first time. Global climate change through human-caused increases of, among other elements, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Minimum (summer) Arctic sea ice extent, 1979 to 2007; NASA

Food chains are another way

in which energy is transformed from one part of ecosystems to another

Supplies of natural resources over short periods of time are

inelastic because of the costs associated with production (exploration, extraction, manufacturing, labor) and distribution (transportation). Volume of supply cannot be increased instantly (elasticity) upon demand

Geography is the only discipline that is practiced as both a ________ and _________

liberal art (social science) and a science (so called 'hard' science)

In Subsistence, environmental costs are

low, but external. With resources held in a 'commons' the incentive is to use resources quickly before others use them first (ownership creates an incentive to preserve)

Natural resources (raw materials) have a

lower value (price) per unit than other commodities. Value added by human labor and modes of production increase the value of raw materials as they become manufactured goods. Adding value requires inputs of material, energy, and labor. 100 lbs corn=$6.00> 100 lbs cornmeal=$65.00> 100 lbs corn flakes cereal= $400.00-the price of a natural resource can fluctuate based on its absolute scarcity.

Environmental cognition is the process of

making sense out of the environment that surrounds us

Use and allocation of natural resources are governed by

many forces (among them, comparative advantage, the idea places should produce what they are best suited to produce), but mostly market competition and profit maximization.

Economic systems derive ____ from _____, therefore

natural resources from different types of ecosystems, therefore economic and ecological systems are necessarily interrelated

Increasing numbers of human-caused plant and animal species introductions which threaten to reduce the number of

naturally occurring species to a few overabundant „alien‟ species in many places around the world

Embargos

often take the form of banning importation of goods produced in environmentally unfriendly ways

Because of these two characteristics of natural resources, a high degree of substitutability among raw materials is desirable, meaning, ______________ with _______ to the producer

one raw material can be exchanged for another little or no additional cost

Conservation can mean limited

or no use, of a resource. Environmentalists are usually implying some form of this when they use the word conserve. Non-human entities are seen as having rights independent of values assigned to them by humans.

Residuals management

pollution regulations (govt. imposed) and pricing mechanisms (price of controlling pollution included in final price)

Trace mercury particles are first absorbed by ____ then travel _____, concentrating ____

primary producers (single cell algae) then travel up through the food chain, concentrating at greater parts per million in each creature along the way (bioaccumulation) Mercury is linked to birth defects, as in this famous case from a massive mercury spill in Minamata, Japan Biogeochemical cycles outlined in the text include carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water. We will focus on the hydrologic cycle in relation to the first and second laws of thermodynamics

Diversification

to help guard private companies guard against inelasticity. Conversely, national economies are still urged to produce under the principle of comparative advantage -Nestle

Sustainable development is usually defined something like

"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."--United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development

Now, the need to account for environmental limits placed upon the economy is being expressed through the idea of

'sustainable development'

Subsistence

(Barter economy), Natural resources held as common property

The First Law of Thermodynamics

(the law of conservation of energy) In any energy transfer the total amount of energy is unchanged, or, "you can't get more out than you put in.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

(the law of entropy) Any time energy is converted from one form to another, the conversion is inefficient.

Now

-Increased pressure for parklands and preserves. Rapid growth of suburban use. Reclamation of degraded lands. Rapid deforestation of tropics continues. Land use debates constantly in the news (landfills, wetland conservation,free access to federal land)

100 years ago

-North American Prairie almost entirely turned over to cropland. Federalization of arid, semi-arid, and mountainous areas of the US west. Federal lands are subject to landscape changes via contracts to private forestry and mining companies.

30 years ago

-Rise of environmentalism, resulting from oil spills, soil loss, and earth as seen from space. Land management becomes critical. The Cuyahoga River near Cleveland on fire in 1952. This river regularly caught on fire from 1950 to 1970 (9 times in 1968),when public opinion forced environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act. A poster from the first Earth Day in 1970.

10,000 years ago

-agricultural (neolithic) revolution, land brought into cropland and pasture, increasing amounts with increase in human population, cities bring about urban uses. Agriculture results in food surpluses and higher population densities, and necessarily result in dramatic landscape changes.

First 2 million years

-hunting and gathering in 'pristine' biomes. 2-10 million people/ doubling time ~100,000 years

First 2 million years

-hunting and gathering in „pristine‟ biomes. Use of fire in Africa. Peoples living the hunter-gatherer way of life necessarily lived at low population densities

300 years ago (1700s/18th Century)

-industrial revolution, population increases rapidly, more land brought into cropland and pasture, rise of „other‟ uses like mining, transportation, and industrial sites. Cities grow rapidly, increasing land brought into urban and suburban use. Machines produce greater food surpluses than manual labor. This results in labor requirement decreases in rural agriculture, and cities grow as labor moves from farm to factory. Entirely human landscapes arise.Some arid areas brought into cropland and pasture. Rapid deforestation in temperate areas.

Human alterations to biogeochemical cycles have resulted in broad impacts on natural ecosystem functions. These effects include:

-introduction of toxic substances in proportions not normally found in nature, -bioaccumulation of these toxic substances,-biomagnification of toxic substances in higher trophic levels of food chains, -increasingly widespread transport of toxic substances All this when little is known about harmful concentrations of many harmful substances -this makes it difficult and costly to control pollutants. Example: Mercury pollution from coal burning power plants. Burning coal releases mercury into the atmosphere at abnormal concentrations. A ton of coal contains several thousand years worth of natural „background‟ mercury, but burns in a power plant in ~10 minutes

50 years ago (1950s)

-the green revolution results in more land (semi arid, arid) brought into cropland. Higher agricultural yields in response to population growth. Rapid growth of cities continues, rise in suburbanization. Rapid deforestation of tropics begins. Higher yield crop varieties were accompanied by an increase in irrigated land during the Green Revolution.

Ecological Concepts in ResourceManagement: Four Principles

1) Any given environment has finite carrying capacity Example: the biodiversity debate 2) Be aware of limiting factors Example: including toxic substances as limiting factors (just like temperature or water) 3) Minimize disruption by „mimicking‟ nature Example: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 4) Close the loops (work within limits of biogeochemical cycles) Example: limit resource use to those that can be replaced, recycled, or reused

The human-centered view of natural resource management

1. Emphasis should be placed on improving the quality of life for all humans. 2. Human culture is so diverse that quality-of-life views vary from person to person, culture to culture, and over time. Conversely, material goods are universally important. 3. Quality of life is determined by the ability of people to create material goods out of the natural resources that surround them. This ability depends on human factors more than any inherent qualities of natural resources. 4. There is a large gap in quality of life between rich and poor people. The poor countries (people) of the world have more to gain from economic development than from improvement in environmental quality.

The nature-centered view of natural resource management

1. Nature, including organisms, species, and ecosystems, has inherent value. Because we are more intelligent than other species, we are morally obligated to not damage the environment's ability to support ecosystems and species. 2. Nature (environment)includes the resource base that supports humans and other species. We need food, water, and air, and we are obligated not to change the biological systems that function to maintain food, water, and air resources. 3. We are obligated to future generation of humans to leave them with the same or better environmental quality we enjoy today. We cannot assume that the technology of future generations of humans will enable them to solve the environmental problems we are creating today. 4. Humans are using natural resources at rates unprecedented in earth's history (we now use over 40% of all energy entering earth's biochemical cycles). We have altered most natural resource systems to the point where many of these systems will lose their utility if we continue our current trend in resource use and population growth into the future.

Questions stemming from views of conservation:

1. What is the most beneficial use of a resources, and how does this relate to what is an efficient use of a resource? Corn (ethanol or food) 3. Do non-human entities have rights? When we have so many human-centered problems in the world today, can we afford to consider the rights of the non-human?

Place

All places are unique, and no two places are exactly alike

Biogeochemical Cycles

As energy flows through different part of a system, so do materials necessary for life (the building blocks

Scarcity:

As natural resources become scarce (or people think they might become scarce), the value of the resource may change. The term absolute scarcity implies that the supply of a resource will not meet present and future demand(which often leads to greater valuation). Relative scarcity implies there are imbalances (bottlenecks) in the supply of a resource rather than an insufficient supply. *Example:* Caviar is expensive because sturgeon (the species that produce caviar eggs) are over exploited and increasingly scarce. Beluga caviar is ~$450 an ounce (and nearly entirely sold on the 'black' market. *Example:* In 2000, when Enron controlled 50-70% of natural gas flows into California, the price of natural gas was $59.12 a dekatherm. Neighboring states like Arizona and New Mexico (with greater numbers of gas providers) were paying $10.12 (today's price is ~$2.05

Structuralist/Marxist Case Study:

Comparative Case Study on Population perspectives: Rwanda and the Netherlands(after the work of Catherine André and Jared Diamond) Rwanda Facts: Population: 10 million (UN, 2008) Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq miles) Population density:379 ppkm2 Major languages: Kinyarwanda (official), French (official), English (official), Swahili Major religions: Christianity Life expectancy: 45 years (men), 48 years (women) (UN) Main exports:Coffee, tea, hides, tin ore GNI per capita: US $320 (World Bank, 2007

The Shrinking Aral Sea Results

Cotton agriculture requiring intense irrigation is diverting water away from the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea is shrinking 1. destruction of a once vibrant fishing industry (and a local source of protein). 2. decreases in rain due to less water available for evaporation 3. build up of toxic salts and spent fertilizers on the edge of the Aral Sea (carried by winds)

Major land-uses(Globally, be aware of relationships, not %s):

Cropland (smallest) Pasture (twice as much as cropland) Forests and woodland (largest, and three times that of cropland) Other uses (urban, suburban, transportation, industrial, arid areas, arctic and antarctic areas; almost as large as forests and woodlands)

Factors which influence the ways we think about the environment can be grouped into 5 broad categories

Cultural background, Our cultures view of nature, Social conditions, Scarcity, Technological and economic factor

Deliberate destruction of earth's tropical forests beyond levels which would allow forests to regenerate

Deforestation in Brazil from 2002 to 2006; Increasing loss of plant and animal diversity as habitats change or disappear.

Cost effectiveness analysis

Designed to determine the least costly and most efficient (profitable) strategy for exploiting a resource -Determines return on investment for a single plan to exploit a resource

Recent Trends in Market Economics

Diversification, Multinational corporations, The greening of business, Deregulations

Conservation can mean efficient use of a resource

Economists view conservation as using resources in a manner by which the greatest possible human good is produced.

Components of the environment are arranged in related hierarchies:

Environment (Biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere Biomes (major ecological units like temperate forests, tropical savannas...) Temperate forest (consisting of ecosystems like upland and lowland forests, ponds...) Pond (consisting of many plants, animals(turtle), fungi, sun energy, water inputs, and flooding [process]) Turtles (dependent on plants, animals, fungi, and other parts of the ecosystem

Environmental Kuznets curve

Environmental quality worsens with growing industry, then is assumed to improve when industrial nations can afford to implement pollution controls and environmental laws

Cost benefit analysis

Evaluates alternative uses of a resource within a social context -Determines return on investment for many plans, then arrives at plan that is most profitable and creates greatest benefit to societal stakeholders (least disruptive).

Theoretically infinite.

Even though there are few places where minerals are found in high enough concentrations to allow lower cost mining, if we are willing to pay a high enough price for more, the costs of mining lower concentrations becomes allowab

The geographic continuum

Geography is eclectic, integrating a wide range of subject matter from diverse fields of study; any subject can be examined geographically

Examples of environmental concerns that are integral to the study of human-environmental relationships

Global ozone depletion, Human-induced hazards, Deliberate destruction of earth's tropical forests, loss of plant and animal diversity, invasive species

Social conditions

Levels of education; ethnic group; gender; age (experience); income (social class). *Example:* Poor people generally cannot be as environmentally minded as affluent people (who might decide to purchase more expensive, recycled toilet paper). Conversely, poor people oftentimes make less of an environmental impact because they may consume less by necessity (less likely to leave lights on or run water when brushing teeth?

Because of the great breadth of geographic study, it is useful to simplify the complicated supporting framework of the discipline into five key themes:

Location, Place, Movement, Region, and Human-Earth Relationships

Two important characteristics of natural resources supplying market economies:

Natural resources and Supplies of natural resources

Main arguments for nature centered

Nature-centered thinking demands that we minimize our changes to natural systems. Resource use should be sustainable, meaning everything we use from nature must be recycled and replaced at rates equal to out use. Nonrenewable resources (for example fossil fuels) should not be used. Technology creates as many problems as it solve

The Greening of Business

One of the fastest growing industrial sectors in the global economy is the environmental clean-up/environmental consulting sector. These businesses are profitable

Commercial (Capitalist; market oriented)

Prices are set by the producers who sell goods and services.

Movement

Processes of formation, movement (diffusion), and dissipation can be studies geographical

Our cultures view of nature

Resource ethics; whether the human-centered or nature centered view prevails; consideration of obligations to future generations. In general more affluent societies have greater proportions of people more sympathetic to environmental conditions (but there are many exceptions to this)

Cultural background

Resource use, habits, and traditions; cultural preferences; levels of materialism. *Example:* American culture is generally sympathetic to the plight of the great whale species, many of which were reduced to dangerously low numbers for their long-term survival by industrial (mechanized) hunting. In Japanese culture whale meat is generally considered a cultural right (regardless of numbers of whales remaining), and there is little sympathy for the whales themselves

Region

The human predisposition toward dividing the world, sub-regions, states, and cities into discrete areas defined by uniform characteristics

Originally, the idea of sustainable development was meant to operate under the following three principles:

The human species is a part of nature, economic activity must account for the environmental cost of production, and the maintenance of a livable global environment depends on the sustainable development of the entire human family

Ecology

The interrelationship between plants, animals, living and nonliving components, and processes constituting the environment.

Spatial

The term used to describe the nature and character of physical space and to measurements, relations, and the distribution of things

Geography

The science that studies the relationships among geographic areas(differences and similarities), natural systems, society, cultural activities, and the interdependence of all these over space

Traditional definitions of resources can be harmful

These classifications tell us little about the complicated nature of many resources. Forests are technically renewable, but can be greatly reduced or lost over a single human generation

Main arguments for human centered

This does not mean we should destroy all other species, only that, when we decide about our impact on a species or environment, we should only be concerned with that species' or environment's value to us -not its inherent value. We cannot possibly anticipate society's needs and abilities in the future. Technological change will create resources that are not important today, and decrease the importance of resources we now depend on. It is not reasonable to think we can make decisions about resource needs 100 years from now. It is not responsible to ignore improving the quality of life for people living now, only to conserve a resource that might or might not be important in the future

Types of Resources

Ways to classify resources by asking how renewable they are, and who (present and future generations) benefit from them, 1. Perpetual resource 2. Renewable (flow) resource 3. Nonrenewable (stock) resource 4. Potential resource

Questions relevant to our course (questions geographers ask about natural resources):

What portions of the earth have people found of value and why? World population density per square kilometer, 2000 How do these values arise, how do conflicts over resources arise, and how are these conflicts resolved? Government and rebel controlled areas in relation to strategic minerals in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. Locations of surface and ground waters in Israel. Access to water is an underlying source of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. How does neutral stuff, when brought into the context of politics, culture, and economics, become resources? Cellulosic ethanol?

Land grab in Kanama

While it's true that many of the victims of the genocide that were non Tutsi were in fact moderate Hutu who did not approve of a Tutsi genocide....The majority of these 200,000 victims have been demonstrated to really have had little to do with anything....Other than being unfortunate in living in areas of very high population density (Kanama). Kanama is in a volcanic area of Northern Rwanda. Volcanic soils are very fertile and around the world support dense populations of farmers. In Kanama, as is the case in many places, farmland is handed down to male children and subdivided between them over successive generations. Per capita food production rose in Kanama between 1966 and 1981 (introduction of Green Revolution farming techniques), but between 1981 and 1990 had dropped back to 1960 levels.The population density of Kanama was 4,506 ppkm2in 1988, and by 1993 had reached 5,283 ppkm2. This meant very small farms in 1988 of ~0.86 hectares, and 0.72 hectares in 1993.Family farms of this size might typically be divided up in 10 parcels (for a father, his sons, and their sons) -leading to absurdly small farms plots per family of 0.036 hectares in 1988, and0.028 in 1993.All the land in Kanama was occupied, so young people found it difficult to marry (you need land for that), leave home for their own farm, and set up their own households.The rate of young women 20-25 yrs of age, unmarried and living at home supported by their parents rose from 39% in 1988 to 67% in 1993, and for young men from 71% in 1988 to 100% by 1993 (no available vacant farm plots). All these young people at home meant the average number of people trying to feed themselves from a farm plot rose from 4.9 in 1988 to 5.3 in 1993 (just before the genocide). The average household got only 77% of caloric needs from its farm plot, and had to somehow make up the rest. 2/3rds of households made up this gap in calories by performing off farms labor like brick making, carpentry, sawing lumber, and other types of work (1/3rd had no extra income).The percentage of the population in Kanama consuming <1,600 calories a day (the famine line) was 9% in 1981, 40% in 1990, and some unknown increase by 1993 (just before the genocide).These are all average numbers for Kanama (after a well reviewed study by French sociologist Catherine André) -for some people is was not as bad, but for many people the situation was far worse.Very large farms (for Kanama) of ~1 hectare increased from 5% in 1988 to 8% in 1993, the percent of very small farms 0.25 hectares for 10 person households) increased from 36% to 45% (the wealthy were getting more so and the needy the same).Older heads of households (> 50 yrs, average farm size 0.82 hectares) tended to be more wealthy and had larger farms, which they needed to support more dependents. Because these older people had more dependents they tended to have more dependents earning wages in off farm labor. Younger heads of households (20-25yrs, average farm size 0.14 hectares) tended to be less wealthy and had decreased chances of their fewer dependents acquiring off farm income.

Example of how different groups of people value resources differently

You might view a pine forest in Northern Minnesota as a place to go hiking or hunting. To a forester or logger -it's paper and building material.

Energy is always converted to

a less concentrated form, or is dissipated as heat. Not only is it impossible to get more out than output in, but you can't even break even. Examples: Photosynthesis and a car

Energy in a food chain is either stored as

biomass (living tissue and dead tissue) or used for respiration

Renewable (flow) resources

can be depleted in the short term, then (ideally) replace themselves in the long term. The key to maintaining renewable resources is to keep the rate of harvest below the rate of natural replacement (controversial).Forests and foods (plants and animals) are renewable resource

Resource classifications are limited because

classifications are oversimplified, traditional definitions can be harmful,

Economic factors

determining whether or not something is valued as a natural resource or not have to do with pricing systems in capitalists economies. *Example:* Oil in deep oceans is not seen at a viable resource when the price is $70 dollars a barrel. If the price of oil rises to $200 a barrel, the supposedly scarce resource called oil will be viably recovered from deep ocean basins

Energy passes through a series of storages in any system, before finally being returned to space as

radiant heat

Natural resources

resources derived from the earth (its biosphere and atmosphere) that exist independently (neutral stuff) from human activity

Resources do not exist without

someone to use them

Additional Terms: Terms which reflect geographic inquiry via spatial analysis include ____________________. All of these are terms use to analyze the differences and similarities among places and locations

space, territory, zone, pattern, distribution, place, location, region, sphere, province, and distance

Only a small portion of energy in a food chain is

stored as biomass. The analogies to industrial energy use are startling

Energy in natural (ecological) and human (economic) systems ultimately comes from the

sun (ok....mostly)

Switchgrass is a common, native prairie plant

that's grown mostly in areas not fit for commercial agriculture.

Carrying Capacity

the number of organisms that can be sustained by an ecosystem over the long-term without environmental degradation (a harmful change in a biogeochemical cycle) -If the population of an organism grows exponentially, the organism might overuse resources past some carrying capacity of that resource, and a population crash could occur. -Humans have pushed this limit several times in their short history.

Resources

things that have utility for people, (resources are human centered)

Human-induced hazards

threaten the sustainability of earth‟s life-support systems, such as the disposal of hazardous waste, radiation added to the environment, settlement in hazardous places, the worsening problem of air, water, and ocean pollution, and the emerging patterns of global environmental change.The shrinking Aral Sea in Central Asia, 2000 to 2008; NASA

Most of the energy consumed at any level in a food chain is

used for respiration (organism metabolism), with an associated energy loss at each step in the chain

Perpetual resources

will always exist in relatively constant supply. The sun is a perpetual resource. We used to regard rain (fresh water) and air as perpetual resources -now we are not so sure

-8% of the world's total freshwater is ______ -most of this is ____ -on continents, 6% of water that once recharged groundwater and streams is ____

withdrawn for human use. -most of this is returned, with wastes added. -on continents, 6% of water that once recharged groundwater and streams is intercepted for human uses (100% in some arid areas).

The victims fell into 6 categories:

1. Of thousands killed in Kanama -only one was a Tutsi (the only Tutsi in Kanama was a wealthy widowed land owner who had married a Hutu). 2. Hutu men over 50 with large farms (prime targets for father and son disputes over land). 3. Young people who had acquired off farm labor and been able to use the money to buy land (thus arousing much jealousy). 4. 'Troublemakers' with reputations for becoming embroiled in many land disputes and family conflicts. 5. Young men from poor households who had been pushed by desperation into joining rival extremist groups and began killing each other and other people. 6. The largest number of victims were especially malnourished and poor people without land or off farm income, who consequently couldn't not afford the price soldiers were demanding to pass roadblocks and flee to safety in Tanzania

Henderson's resources:

14 square mile coral island (coral reef pushed up out of the ocean by plate tectonic geologic forces).No streams or reliable freshwater sources on land, but springs dripping in coastal caves and a freshwater spring that bubbles from the ocean floor about 20 feet offshore.No good quality stone for making tools.Though 14 square miles, only 100 feet in elevation and made of sharp limestone coral formations (difficult to walk on). Only small pockets of soils in between the limestone ridges (difficult for farming only a very limited amount of sweet potatoes).Covered in stunted trees too small for making canoes (but fine for firewood andother limited used.Some coastal caves for shelter.What Henderson did have is -abundant birds (the island is a bird rookery of hundreds of thousands of birds, enough where each of the estimated 24 people who inhabited Henderson could eat one large birdevery day, forever, and never decrease the bird population) and a sea turtle nesting beach (sea turtle meat and eggs are still highly sought after foods in many places).Abundant birds and eggs in a cormorant rookery -a turtle egg poacher in Mexico.Henderson's carry capacity is estimated at about 24 residents, who would have been greatly valued as providers and guardians of the Polynesian equivalent of scarce culinary delicacies caviar and truffles.Extensive archeological excavation reveals several centuries of trade from each island to the other two.For example, items that are absent on Mangareva, like obsidian stone (Pitcairn) and sea turtle bones (Henderson) are found in considerable abundance there at archeological dig sites (and so on, each island's unique set of resources being found in digs at the other two).Mangareva was particularly important because it was situated between Pitcairn and Henderson and large Polynesian societies of hundreds of thousands of people to the north (The Marquesas) and west (TheSociety Island/Tahiti), from which many valuable items originated.Exchanges of raw materials and manufactured items were not the only reasons for transoceanic trade and travel between the three islands.Even after Pitcairn (~100 people) and Henderson (~24) reached their maximum populations, numbers of people at marriageable ages would have been so low they would have had to seek mates on opposite islands, and in Mangareva (~3,000 people).Thus, transoceanic trade between the three islands was in material goods and family relationships, and was mutually beneficial to the three populations. Mangareva, with the most available resources, was transformed by its growing population.People cleared the forests to make room for more and more cultivated crops.This resulted insoil erosionand a decreased capacity for Mangareva to supportseveral thousand people.Loss of large trees resulted in decreased abilityto fish (smaller and smaller canoes, finally being reduced to grass rafts when European found them in 1797)Too many people and too little food meant Mangareva lapsed into civil warfare and ritualized cannibalism (which is what Europeans found when they landed there in 1797)After a time the traders of Mangareva no longer went to Pitcairn and HendersonDeforestation and soil loss also occurred on Pitcairn, where people were eventually stranded without foodstuffs and manufactured goods from Mangareva and Henderson. Pitcairn islanders begin trying to make fishhooks out of obsidian when oyster shell is no longeravailable from MangarevaBird bones eventually dropped out of the archeological record on Pitcairn, which was seemingly reduced to sweet potatoes and some seafood for protein.There were no signs of cannibalism, but there were also no Pitcairn Islanders when the mutineers from the Bounty arrived in 1790 -what happened?The people on Henderson were the most reliant on the other two islands.Without imports of vegetable foods from Mangareva, the archeological record shows Henderson Islanders trying more andmore to grow crops in the limited pockets of soil available.Without imports of stone tools, giant clam shells were used as adze heads. These quickly wear out when used in thin rocky soils, so there were lots of them. The easiest species of birds to catch became extinct (more difficult to catch species necessitated weapons from the other islands) and other bird species became scarce as the Henderson Islanders expanded their gardens.Several species of shellfish dropped out of the archeological record, suggesting overexploitation of the shellfish resource.Henderson Islanders did not completely deforest their island, but the trees there were too small to make canoes fit for long distance travel.The Spanish landed on Henderson in 1606, and found no one.What happed to the last remaining Henderson Islanders.Populations on Mangareva, Pitcairn, and Henderson all damaged their environments and destroyed many of the resources they needed to survive. Mangareva Islanders survived until European contact, but under terrifying conditions and with drastically reduced standards of living.From the beginning, populations on Pitcairn and Henderson were dependent on imports from other islands, but were willing to live in isolation to maintain control over strategic materials (stone and turtles)

Up until the _____, the neoclassical view of economics was one of an __________ by environmental limits, whether these limits be availability of natural resources (scarcity) or residual disposal (pollution). A _____ environment was seen as too ______ due to the inability of economic principles to account for environmental health

1970s, open system unrestrained, clean, expensive,

Since the ____, the idea that an economic system can operate _____ consideration for environmental limits has been increasingly question

1970s, without

Monopolies

A single buyer or seller dominates supply, thereby raising prices

Economics of Natural Resources

All goods are derived from natural resources.A mechanism must exist for the exchange of goods and services. In most places this mechanism is price (the value society places on an item). Some natural resources are easy to price, others defy normal market pricing mechanisms

Quote by Gérard Prunier (Frenchman present in Kanama during the genocide)

All these people who were about to be killed had land and at times cows. And somebody had to get these lands and those cows after the owners were dead. In a poor and increasingly overpopulated country this was not a negligible incentive." Gérard Prunier (Frenchman present in Kanama during the genocide

If you put everyone in the world (6 billion)in the same place, then gave each person 4 square feet to stand on, how large of an area would everyone cover?

Everyone in the world would fit into a square of about 29 mi X 29 mi (841 mi2)

Deregulation

Greater reliance on the private sector, and less reliance on government policies to promote economic development. *Positive:* deregulation of electricity producers (from a few to many) could result in alternative sources of energy entering into the mainstream market place. *Negative:* deregulation of National Forest timber stocks resulted in short-term exploitation (to pay debt resulting from buying public timber) as opposed to long-term harvesting guidelines under government regulation

Oligopolistic competition

Groups of buyers and sellers agree to fix prices higher than under competition (cartels)

Netherlands Facts:

Population: 16.5 million (UN, 2008) Area: 41,864 sq km (16,164 sq miles) Population density: 394 ppkm2 Major languages: Dutch Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 78 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN) Main exports: Metal manufacturing, chemicals, foodstuffs GNI per capita:US $45,820 (World Bank, 2007) During medieval times the Netherlands was much like any other place in Europe. It was comprised of a patchwork of kingdoms held by force by a wealthy landowning class of monarchs that controlled,by force,labor for agriculture.

Multinational Corporations:

Private firms which have production facilities in many countries, allowing them to shift resources, production, and marketing activities to places with the greatest potential profit. *Advocates:* investment in pollution control without outside regulation will be based on minimizing present and future investment costs (internalizing environmental costs). *Criticism:* MNCs deliberately shift production to places with less strict pollution regulations. MNCs have greatly increased global economic integration, leading to price shocks from inelasticity in global markets

Land disputes within families became ____, ____, and _____ broke down as the _____ of the population of Kanama became more and more ____

commonplace, theft rampant, and family loyalties broke down as the majority of the population of Kanama became more and more desperate

Centrally planned

environmental costs are external (communist countries have most of the worst environmental records)

Human population growth is ____

exponential (geometric), increasing at some percentage every year, as opposed to increasing in discrete numbers

The older heads of households with the larger farms were in the _____

favorable position of having poor heads of households with small farms sell them parcels of land when emergencies arose.

Open system

inputs of energy and matter flow in and out of the system

Goal of Subsistence

is individual self sufficiency

The human species

is part of nature. Human existence is dependent on our ability to draw sustenance from a finite world. Our continued existence depends on our ability to abstain from destroying the natural systems that regenerate world resources.

Subsistence-Producers

use most of goods produced(consume what you produce)

Any surplus in Subsistence

used to exchange (locally) for goods and services not produced.

Quote from Jared Diamond, Collapse

"Many centuries ago, immigrants came to a fertile land apparently blessed with inexhaustible natural resources. While the land lacked a few raw materials useful for industry, these materials were readily available by overseas trade with poorer lands that happened to have deposits of them. For a time, all lands prospered, and their populations multiplied."

Quote by Catherine Andre

"The 1994 events provided a unique opportunity to settle scores, or to reshuffle land properties, even among Hutu villagers. . . . It is not rare, even today, to hear Rwandans argue that a war is necessary to wipe out an excess of population and to bring numbers into line with the available land resources."

A Rwandan school teacher who survived the genocide

"The people whose children had to walk barefoot to school killed the people who could buy shoes for theirs."

Centrally planned

(Communist, Socialist, oriented by government objectives) Government controls resources-Producers sell goods and services to central government.

Common property resources

(air and water are natural resources with no formal ownership): -Resources are public, but exploited by private interests. -Usually results in overexploitation (Tragedy of the Commons). -The current trend is toward taxing forms of environmental degradation resulting from exploitation of commonly held resources

environmental costs

(degrading environment) can be internalized(considered in the cost of producing the good)

cost theory of value

(prices are set by competition among sells to capture buyers), both (consumer theory of value and cost theory of value) of which are types of market forces.

Labor theory of value

(prices are set by the value of the labor necessary to produce goods a break even, non profit approach)

Social Costs

(pricing that reflects the cost of production and disproportionate costs of production affecting society). -Production results in 'spillover effects' (pollution) termed externalities, which have a negative effect on society. -Producers try to minimize costs and maximize profits, and this type of production results in residuals(pollution) which are absorbed by society

Polluter pays principle

(residual tax): Internalizing externalities by forcing producers to pay for prevention and clean up via a ta

Market forces

(supply and demand) determine price and quantity of goods produced

Consumer theory of value

(the price of goods is set by the consumer's willingness to pay)

Neo-Malthusian

-As above, but strongly supportive of birth control measures, rather than waiting for catastrophic checks. -Strong belief of incompatibility of geometric population growth and linear development of resource base. -Excessive resource use results in decreased standard of living. -Assumption that poverty leads to environmental degradation, and humans must control population in rapid growth areas (less developed countries) before environmental degradation will decrease.

Cornucopian

-Population growth is good. More people results in more humans working to produce food (more intense use of land), goods, and services. -Larger populations produce greater numbers of bright people, and more technological innovations. -More technological innovations mean greater ability to find resources (resources are theoretically infinite). -Resources are not scarce, they are merely distributed poorly. -Assumption that poverty leads to environmental degradation, and humans must rely on economic growth to decrease poverty before environmental degradation will decrease

Malthusian

-Population will grow until supporting resources (food) become scarce, then environmental (famine) and economic (wars, social collapse) will check human population to a finite carrying capacity.

Economics of the Individual firm/business(microeconomics):

-Private firms tend to maximize rate at which resources are used. -This is because variable costs (labor, energy, transportation) tend to increase over time. -and because fixed costs (the cost of owning the factory) can rise over time because of interest rates and inflation -So, the faster resources are exploited, the greater the profit. -This tends to result in environmental degradation because the environmentally friendly way is rarely the quickest way

Now

-Rapid growth of urban areas in less developed countries. Rapid deforestation of tropics continues. Environmentalism in developed countries. Huge debt burden in less developed countries. Great debate between population and consumption. 6 billion people / doubling time ~47 years.

100 years ago

-Shift of rapid population growth from industrialized to less developed countries (colonies). Hyperconsumption begins in developed world. 1.5 billion people/ doubling time ~65 years

Structuralist/Marxist

-There is no single theory related population growth and resource use. -Poverty is not caused by rapid population growth, poverty is caused by flaws in the economic system. -The problem is not numbers of people, but undemocratic economic systems of labor and resources extraction. -The economic system exploits labor for the benefit of the elite, which benefits from overexploitation of resources. -Population growth in less developed countries is a small problem compared to the consumption patterns of developed nations. -Carrying capacity should be redefined from 'the limited capacity of the earth to support greater numbers of people' to 'the limited capacity of the earth and economy to support inequality and injustice.

10,000 -8000 years ago

-agricultural (neolithic) revolution, land brought into cropland and pasture, increasing amounts with increase in human population. 200-400 million people/doubling time ~several thousand years

development of third world countries is done by

-devaluation of currencies to make exports more attractive(decrease price of export products) -structural adjustment programs emphasizing decentralization of government services (more private business-friendly economy/deregulation to spur industrial investment) -large development projects designed to increase $ earnings and industry(hydro dams, industrial 'parks'

300 years ago (1700s/18th Century)

-industrial revolution, population increases rapidly, more land brought into cropland and pasture, rise of 'other' uses like mining, transportation, and industrial sites. Cities grow rapidly, increasing land brought into urban and suburban use. Some arid areas brought into cropland and pasture. Rapid deforestation in temperate areas. 750 million people/doubling time 150 years

50 years ago (1950s)

-the green revolution results in more land (semi arid, arid) brought into cropland. Higher agricultural yields in response to population growth. Rapid growth of cities continues, rise in suburbanization. Rapid deforestation of tropics begins. 3 billion people / doubling time ~ 40 years

Systems (Human Economies)

An entity consisting of parts that work together to form a whole. The parts making up the whole are ordered, interrelated sets of things and their attributes, linked by flows of energy and matter Examples:Economies are systems with inputs and outputs of energy and matter -Ecosystems (natural environments) are also systems (as is the entire Earth

Globalization and InterdependenceCase Study: Lessons from Mangareva, Pitcairn,and Henderson

As part of their eastward population expansion across the Pacific Ocean, sometime around 800 AD the Polynesians settled the islands of Mangareva, Pitcairn, and Henderson. The history of Polynesian settlement of the Pacific Islands was one of exploration, settlement. exploitation of resources (wherein they would reach the carrying capacity of an island), and farther exploration.The first islands inhabited, and by far the island group most capable of supporting human population, was Mangareva.Mangareva's resources: ~ two dozen extinct volcanic islands surrounding a lagoon about 15 miles in diameter.The lagoon is filled with abundant fish and shellfish. The black-lipped pearl oyster was especially abundant and valuable because it was used to carve fishhooks (Polynesians had no metal), cooking tools (peelers and graters for working taro and sweet potatoes), and ornaments.The ~ten square miles of land was originally densely forested, especially important for a supply of canoes, which are cut from the whole trunks of palm trees and eventually crack and fall apart with use.The larger Islands were high enough in altitude to receive ample rainfall and had intermittent streams and permanent freshwater springs.Flat land around the coasts of the islands were planted with sweet potatoes and yams, land near springs was planted in taro, and slopes were planted with breadfruit and bananas. Chickens, pigs, and dogs were easy to raise on the ample food sources.Mangareva had everything exceptgood quality stone (fine grained for working into a sharpedge) for making durable farming tools like adzes and plows. Mangareva's stone was fit for building fences and houses only. A Polynesian fine basalt adze used for cultivating crops in rows, cutting down palm trees, carving out canoes, and combat.When exploring 300 miles to the southeast the Polynesians came across Pitcairn (modern name -nobody knows what the Polynesians called it).Pitcairn's resources:Steep volcanic island, 2.5 square miles (small).The island does have intermittent streamsand large trees (canoes), but a very steep coast (one landing beach), which meant steep drops offs in the ocean (little opportunity for fish and shellfish).The small total land area of Pitcairn meant a very small, level area at the middle of the island for cultivating crops. Pitcairn had a carrying capacity of about 100 people.Most importantly -Pitcairn had ample deposits of both fine-grained basalt (adzes and ploughs) and obsidian, volcanic glass that can be made into very fine cutting tools and weapons. Stone tools made from obsidian.Henderson Island was found by exploration 100 miles to the northeast of Pitcairn. Although the largest in land area of the three, Henderson is the most marginal for human survival.

The influence of economics on resource management decisions can be grouped into three broad categories

Common property resources, social costs, Economics of the individual firm/business

Human population growth rates, which is different from raw numbers of additional people, ___. The reasons for this are not entirely clear, but increased use ____

are declining. The reasons for this are not entirely clear, but increased use of contraceptives, increased migration to urban areas, and increased educational and economic opportunities for women are contributors to declining growth rates

Within the dominant economic system, mainstream thought assumes

lower-income peoples cause more environmental degradation than higher-income peoples -This is because of the reasonable assumption that lower income peoples must live more directly from the land (subsistence farming, hunting/gathering, use of open water supplies, use of wood for cooking fuel) than do higher income peoples

Commercial-Profits and efficiency are balanced by

market forces

Commercial-Producers operate under the

motivation to maximize profits and minimize costs

The natural resources on which we depend are produced by

natural processes

Neoclassical (market driven) economics assumes

perfect competition, complete information availability among producers and consumers, and unhindered access to the market. This is almost never the case

Non-renewable resources (metals, fossil fuels) are produced by

processes which take millions of years -the quantities of these resources are fixed.

Most of the natural resources we depend on (food, fiber, oxygen, fresh water...) are continually being

produced and replenished(renewable).

Throughput tax

producers charged a fee (by govt.) Reflecting social costs of disposing of residuals -costs of this are passed on to consumer

Centrally planned-Objectives include

profit (China), and social and economic equality (ideally; Cuba).

The focus of 'third world' development is on

raising gross domestic products (GDPs) in less developed countries as a way of addressing environmental issue (economic development is supposed to decrease numbers of people farming to eat, and put them in an industrial economy [factories or otherwise] where they will buy food from 'more efficient', mechanized producers)

Sustainable resource use (use which allows time for replenishment) must, eventually, be based on

renewable resources.

The current trend is toward including _____ in cost benefit analyses

residuals

This philosophy is based on ________, rather than _______ - This philosophy is also based on

role of natural processes in sustaining human life, rather than on the human ability to control natural processes - on a nature-centered view of resources management

Closed system

shut off from surrounding space; self contained

Core countries control many international programs to slow environmental degradation. These programs are premised on the idea that population growth and poverty are the main causes of environmental degradation. The idea that increasing income will lead to decreased population growth, and less environmental pressure is often illustrated by relationships graphs of one type or another. Here is the most often cited of these graphs:Environmental Kuznets curve

slow environmental degradation. These programs are premised on the idea that population growth and poverty are the main causes of environmental degradation. The idea that increasing income will lead to decreased population growth, and less environmental pressure is often illustrated by relationships graphs of one type or another.

Commercial-Minimizing costs usually leads to

specialization

Centrally planned-Government controls

supply and pricing of goods according to government objectives.

The maintenance of a livable global environment depends on the

sustainable development of the entire human family. Problems arise because the language used in defining sustainable development can mean many different things to many different groups of people(for traditional neoclassical economists, sustainable development simply means sustained economic growth with little consideration for environmental health).

Economic activity must account for

the environmental cost of production.