Transcript Document 7194543

Chapter 1:
Environmental Problems,
Their Causes, and Sustainability
Dr. Wesam Al Madhoun
Core Case Study: Exponential Growth (1)
 Exponential growth – a quantity increases at a
fixed percentage per unit of time.
 Slow start, rapid increase
 Human population
• 2007 ~ 6.7 billion people
 Projections
• 225,000 people per day
• Add population of U.S. < 4 years
• 2050 ~ 9.2 billion people
Core Case Study: Exponential Growth (2)
 Resource consumption, degradation, depletion
 Possible results
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Huge amount of pollution and wastes
Disrupt economies
Loss of species, farm land, water supplies
Climate change
Political fallout
Living in an Exponential Age
Industrial revolution
Black Death—the Plague
Hunting
and gathering
Agricultural revolution
Industrial
revolution
Fig.Fig.
1-1,
1-1,p.
p. 15
Solutions
 Understand our environment
 Practice sustainability
1-1 What Is an Environmentally
Sustainable Society?
 Concept 1-1A Our lives and economies
depend on energy from the sun (solar capital)
and natural resources and natural services
(natural capital) provided by the earth.
 Concept 1-1B Living sustainably means living
off earth’s natural income without depleting or
degrading the natural capital that supplies it.
Studying Connections in Nature
 Environment
 Environmental science
 Ecology
 Environmentalism
Environmental Science
Philosophy
Ethics
and
religion
Political
science
Biology
Ecology
Economics
Chemistry
Demography
Physics
Anthropology
Geology
Geography
Fig. 1-2, p. 7
Living More Sustainably
 Sustainability – central theme
 Natural capital
• Natural resources
• Natural services
Natural Resources
 Materials
• Renewable
• Nonrenewable
 Energy
• Solar capital
• Photosynthesis
Natural Services
 Functions of nature
• Purification of air, water
• Nutrient cycling
Key Natural Resources and Services
Fig. 1-3, p. 8
Nutrient Cycling
Organic
matter in
animals
Dead
organic
matter
Organic
matter in
plants
Decomposition
Inorganic
matter in soil
Fig. 1-4, p. 9
Environmental Sustainability
 Trade-offs (compromises)
 Sound science
 Individuals matter
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Ideas
Technology
Political pressure
Economic pressure
Sustainable Living from Natural Capital
 Environmentally sustainable society
 Financial capital and financial income
 Natural capital and natural income
 Bad news: signs of natural capital depletion at
exponential rates
1-2 How Can Environmentally Sustainable
Societies Grow Economically?
 Concept 1-2 Societies can become more
environmentally sustainable through economic
development dedicated to improving the quality
of life for everyone without degrading the earth’s
life-support systems.
Economics
 Economic growth
 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
 Per capita GDP – PPP
 Economic development
 Developed countries
 Developing countries
Global Outlook
Percentage of
World's:
18%
Population
82%
Population 0.1%
growth
1.5%
Life
expectancy
Wealth and
income
Resource
use
Pollution
and waste
77 years
66 years
85%
15%
88%
12%
75%
25%
Fig. 1-5, p. 10
1-3 How Are Our Ecological Footprints
Affecting the Earth?
 Concept 1-3 As our ecological footprints grow,
we are depleting and degrading more of the
earth’s natural capital.
Natural Resources (1)
 Perpetual – renewed continuously
• Solar energy
 Renewable – hours to decades
• Water, air
• Forest, grasslands
Natural Resources (2)
 Sustainable yield
• Highest use while maintaining supply
 Environmental degradation
• Exceed natural replacement rate
Natural Resources (3)
 Nonrenewable – fixed quantities
• Energy (fossil fuels)
• Metallic minerals
• Nonmetallic minerals
 Recycling
 Reuse
Natural Capital Degradation
Fig. 1-6, p. 12
Reuse and Recycling
Fig. 1-7, p. 12
Measuring Environmental Impact
 Ecological footprint
• Biological capacity to replenish resources and
adsorb waste and pollution
 Per capita ecological footprint
• Renewable resource use per individual
Ecological Footprint
Fig. 1-8, p. 13
Total Ecological Footprint (million hectares)
and share of Global Ecological Capacity (%)
Per Capita Ecological Footprint
(hectares per person)
Projected footprint
Earth’s
ecological
capacity
Ecological footprint
Stepped Art
Fig. 1-8, p. 13
Case Study: China
 Rapidly developing country
• Middle-class affluent lifestyles
 World’s leading consumer in:
• Wheat, rice, meat, coal, fertilizers, steel, cement
• Televisions, cell phones, refrigerators
 Future consumption
• 2/3 world grain harvest
• Twice world’s current paper production
• Exceed current global oil production
1-4 What Is Pollution and What Can We
Do about It?
 Concept 1-4 Preventing pollution is more
effective and less costly than cleaning up
pollution.
Pollution
 What is pollution?
 Point sources
 Nonpoint sources
 Unwanted effects of pollution
Point Source Air Pollution
Fig. 1-9, p. 15
Solutions to Pollution
 Pollution prevention (input control)
• Front-of-the-pipe
 Pollution cleanup (output control)
• End-of-the-pipe
Disadvantages of Output Control
 Temporary
• Growth in consumption may offset technology
 Moves pollutant from one place to another
• Burial
• Incineration
 Dispersed pollutants costly to clean up
1-5 Why Do We Have Environmental
Problems?
 Concept 1-5A Major causes of environmental
problems are population growth, wasteful and
unsustainable resource use, poverty, excluding
the environmental costs of resource use from
the market prices of goods and services, and
trying to manage nature with insufficient
knowledge.
 Concept 1-5B People with different
environmental worldviews often disagree about
the seriousness of environmental problems and
what we should do about them.
Causes of Environmental Problems
 Population growth
 Wasteful and unsustainable resource use
 Poverty
 Failure to include environmental costs of goods
and services in market prices
 Too little knowledge of how nature works
Five Basic Causes of Environmental
Problems
Fig. 1-10, p. 16
Population
growth
Unsustainable
resource use
Poverty
Excluding
environmental
costs from
market prices
Trying to manage
nature without
knowing enough
about it
Fig. 1-10, p. 16
Causes of Environmental Problems
Population
growth
Unsustainable
resource use
Poverty
Excluding
environmental
costs from
market prices
Trying to manage
nature without
knowing enough
about it
Stepped Art
Fig. 1-10, p. 16
Some Harmful Results of Poverty
Lack of
access to
Number of people
(% of world's population)
Adequate
sanitation facilities
2.6 billion (39%)
Enough fuel for
heating and cooking
2 billion (30%)
Electricity
2 billion (30%)
Clean drinking
water
1.1 billion (16%)
Adequate
health care
1.1 billion (16%)
Adequate
housing
Enough food
for good health
1 billion (15%)
0.84 billion (13%)
Fig. 1-11, p. 16
Global Connections
Fig. 1-12, p. 16
Environmental Effects of Affluence
 Harmful effects
• High consumption and waste of resources
 Beneficial effects
• Concern for environmental quality
• Provide money for environmental causes
• Reduced population growth
Evaluating Full Cost of Resources Use
 Examples
• Pay for Clear-cutting-forest, not for habitat loss
• Pay for Commercial fishing, not depletion of fish
stocks
 Governments give, tax breaks and subsidies to
support businesses but this will result in degradation
of natural resources.
Environmental Viewpoints
 Environmental worldview: a set of assumption and
values reflection how world work and what is your
role.
 Environmental ethics: our belief about what is right
and what is wrong and how we should deal with the
environment.
 Planetary management worldview: we are separate
from nature and nature exist to meet our needs.
 Stewardship worldview: we should manage the earth
for our benefits but we are ethically responsible to
be caring.
 Environmental wisdom worldview: we are
part of, and totally dependent on nature and
nature exist for all species not just for us.
 Social capital: to get people with different
views to work together and to find common
ground based on understanding and trust.
Case Study: Chattanooga, Tennessee (1)
 1960s
• Dirtiest air in the United States
• Toxic waste in Tennessee River
• High unemployment, crime
 1984
• Vision 2000 – grassroots consensus
Case Study: Chattanooga, Tennessee (2)
 1995
• Zero emission industries, buses
• Low-income renovations, downtown renewal
 Individuals matter!
1-6 What Are Four Scientific Principles
of Sustainability?
 Concept 1-6 Nature has sustained itself for
billions of years by using solar energy,
biodiversity, population regulation, and nutrient
cycling – lessons from nature that we can apply
to our lifestyles and economies.
Four Scientific Principles of
Sustainability
Reliance on
Solar Energy
Nutrient Cycling
Biodiversity
Population Control
Fig. 1-13, p. 20
Learning to Live More Sustainably
Current Emphasis
Sustainability Emphasis
Pollution cleanup
Pollution prevention
Waste disposal
(bury or burn)
Waste prevention
Protecting species
Protecting habitat
Environmental
degradation
Environmental
restoration
Increasing resource
use
Less resource waste
Population growth
Population stabilization
Depleting and
degrading natural
capital
Protecting natural
capital
Fig. 1-14, p. 20