ENVI 201- Chapter 1

Ecological Footprint (Textbook)

Amount of biologically productive land and water needed too provide a person or area w/ renewable resources and to recycle wastes and pollution -per capita

Pollution

Any presence in the environment that is harmful to health, survival, humans, or other organisms -Can have 3 kinds of effects: 1) they disrupt or degrade life-support systems for humans and other systems 2) they damage wildlife, human health, or property 3) create nusiances

The Tragedy of the Commons

Degrading commonly shared renewable resources due to overuse -open access and shared resources

Living Sustainably

Live off the earth's natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it

Dependence on Solar Energy

The sun provides warmth and fuels photosynthesis

Natural income

renewable resources

Inexhaustible resource

solar energy

Resources

-Anything we obtain from the environment to meet our needs -Some directly available for use [sunlight] -Some not directly available for use [petroleum]

The key to environmental solutions

-Apply the principles of sustainability to the design of our economic and social systems, and individual lifestyles

Biodiversity

-Astounding variety and adaptability of natural systems and species -Cultural and natural

Poverty Has Harmful Environmental and Health Effects

1) Unable to fulfill basic needs - Adequate food, water, shelter, health care, and education - Flint, MI? 2) Working to survive

Several causes of environmental problems

1) population growth 2) wasteful and unsustainable resource use 3) poverty 4) failure to include the harmful environmental costs of goods and services in market prices 5) increasing isolation from nature

Three Big Ideas

A more sustainable future will require that we: 1) Rely more on energy from the sun and other renewable energy sources 2) Protect biodiversity through the preservation of natural capital 3) Avoid disrupting the earth's vitally important chemical cycles

Case Study: A Vision of a More Sustainable World, 2005

A transition in human activities toward the environment, and a shift in behavior, can lead to a much better future for the planet in 2065

Sustainability

Acting as if tomorrow matters -The capacity of the earth's natural systems and human cultural systems to survive, flourish, and adapt into the very long-term future

Environmental Science

*A study of connections in nature* Interdisciplinary science connecting info and ideas from: 1) Natural Sciences 2) Social Sciences 3) Humanities

Environmentalism

*An advocacy* A social movement dedicated to protecting life support systems for all species

IPAT

*I = P x A x T* I- environmental impact P- population A- affluence T- technology

Natural Capital

*Keeps species alive* -natural resources -natural services __________ = Natural resources + Natural services

Anthropocene

*The human age* -A new epoch in our planet's 4.5 billion year history -Due to colossal changes humans have made Changed the surface of the earth due to the chemicals and activities: ->farming, coal prod., aluminum, concrete, plastic, nuclear fallout, landfill, urban structures, dams, rivers, mining *CO2 change results* ->forest composition shifts

Prices of Goods and Services Do Not Include the Harmful Environmental Costs

-Companies do not pay the environmental cost of resource use -Goods and services do not include the harmful environmental costs -Companies receive tax breaks and subsidies ->corporate welfare

We will benefit ourselves and future generations if we commit ourselves to:

-Finding solutions to our problems -Leaving the planet's life-support system in at least as good a shape as what we now enjoy

Nonrenewable

-Finite stock on Earth -Energy resources -Metallic mineral resources -Nonmetallic mineral resources -Anything mined, drilled, netted

Wasteful Practices causing Harmful Environmental Impacts

-High levels of consumption -High levels of pollution -Unnecessary waste of resources

Ecological Footprint: More developed countries

-Industrialized nations with increased average income [energy use higher than population] -17% of world's population

Why do we have environmental problems?

-Population growth, unsustainable resource use, poverty, avoidance of full-cost pricing, and increased isolation from nature -our environmental worldviews okay a key role in determining whether we live unsustainably or more sustainably

Poverty

-Poverty conditions in heavily populated areas can have significant environmental impacts -Pollution and environmental degradation can have severe impacts on the poor -Three significant health issues are: 1) Malnutrition 2) Inadequate sanitation and access to safe drinking water 3) Respiratory disease

Chemical Cycling

-Used and returned to the earth and systems -From the environment to organisms and then back to the environment

Natural Capital Degredation

-climate change -air pollution -soil erosion -shrinking forests -decreased wildlife habitats -species extinction -aquifer depletion -decreased ocean fisheries -water pollution

Human Population

-growing at rapid rate -exponential growth [population increases at a fixed percentage per unit time] -no one knows how many people the earth can support indefinitely

Affluence can provide funding for developing technology to reduce:

-pollution -environmental degradation -resource waste

Case Study: China's Growing Number of Affluent Consumers

-worlds largest population -2nd largest economy -2/3 of the most polluted cities found in China -projections for next decade: largest consumer and producer of cars

Shift toward living more sustainably by:

1) Applying full-cost pricing [provides feedback for sustainability], searching for win-win solutions 2) Committing to preserving the earth's life support system for future generations [what are minimum resources we need to survive]

Three Scientific Principles of Sustainability

1) Dependence on Solar Energy 2) Biodiversity 3) Chemical Cycling

Three major changes in human societies

1) Domestication and farming 2) Industrial-medical revolution 3) Information globalization *current need for a sustainability revolution*

We are increasingly isolated from nature due to:

1) Increasing pops in urban areas 2) Nature deficit disorder [not having enough contact with nature]

Sustainability: Key components

1) Natural Capital 2) Ecosystem Services

More sustainable future is possible:

1) Overall attitude that combines envi wisdom with compassion for all life 2) Individuals matter -social scientists suggest it only takes 5-10% of the pop to bring about major social change 3) Significant social change can occur more quickly than we often think

Units of Time on Earth

4.543 Billion years of history -Eons -Eras -Periods -Epochs *Currently in Holocene*

Ecological Footprint: Less developed countries

83% of world's population

Ecological deficit

Footprint is larger than biological capacity for replenishment

Other Principles of Sustainability that come from Social Science

Full cost pricing -include harmful health and environmental costs of goods and services Win-win Solutions -benefit people

Sustainable Yield

Highest rate at which we can use a renewable resource w/o reducing available suppy

Natural services

Important nature processes such as renewal of air, water, and soil

Planetary management worldview

Nature exists to meet our needs - we are separate from and in charge of nature

Principles of Sustainability

Nature has sustained itself for billions of years by using solar energy, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling -our lives and economies depend on the sun -everything is driven by the sun -we eat sunlight in the form of plants

Sources of pollution

Point Sources -single, identifiable source Non-point Sources -dispersed and difficult to identify

Ecosystem Services

Processes provided by healthy ecosystems

Ecological Tipping Points

Refers to an irreversible shift in the behavior of a natural system 1) Collapse of fish populations from overfishing 2) Species extinction from over harvesting and habitat destruction 3) Climate change from burning coal and oil

Renewable Resource

Several days to several yrs to renew -EX: forests, grasslands, fertile soil

Ecological Footprint

The area of land in the same vicinity as the population that would be required to provide all the populations resources -As our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earth's natural capital

Full-cost pricing

The inclusion of harmful environmental and health costs in the market prices of goods and services -major goal for becoming more sustainable

Natural resources

Useful materials and energy in nature

Environmental Degredation

Wasting, depleting, and degrading the earth's natural capital at accelerating rates

Environmental Worldview

We are connected to nature and nature exists for all species equally -we are a part of nature and must engage in sustainable use

Stewardship worldview

We manage the earth for our benefit, but we also have an ethical responsibility to be steward of the earth

Exhaustible resource

anything mined

Environmentally sustainable society

meets current needs in a just and equitable manner without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs