final presentation - capstone

IS EARTH capable of sustaining

A U.S. LIFESTYLE FOR ALL?The University of Oklahoma

Department of Biology

QUESTIONTHE :Can Earth sustain enough resources to keep up with

the demands of humanity?

More specifically: The demands of a U.S. Lifestyle

Influences of Consumption Unsustainable Development Misuse of Land

Conclusion: Ecological Footprint

The Earth is not capable of sustaining a U.S. lifestyle for all due to a variety of factors, but those of main concern are the following:

RESEARCHobjectives

Misuse of Land

ConsumptionUnsustainable Development

Ecological Footprint

method&venue Presentation Polls & Significance Putnam City North HS: AP Environmental Science

Taylor Upchurch Amanda Pierce

PUTNAM CITY NORTH

METHOD&VENUE

Goods & Services Food Mobility Shelter Waste

poll to measure impactA 14-question quiz covering:

POTENTIAL Poll questions answered untruthfully

Data might be as recent as we might want in order to make a convincing argument

Sources containing skewed data that favors major companies

PROBLEMS

CONSUMPTIONinfluences of

Fossil Fuel RelianceU.S. Lifestyle choices

HousingMeat and poultry

Paper waste Individual Choices: Global influence

RELIANCEfossil fuel

U.S. uses 25% of total, global fossil fuel resources. Including coal, oil and natural gas. US is only 5% of the global population.

Since 1975, the average US household size has increased 38%. With increased size comes increased reliance on energy.

EXCESS! In the 60s, Americans consumed an average

of 145 lbs. of meat and poultry per year. By 1999 this number reached 190 lbs. per person. A 31% increase!

In general, Americans consume around 815 billion calories of food each day. That’s 200 billion more than needed, or enough to feed an additional 80 million.

US throws away 200 tons of edible food daily.

WASTEPAPER The US consumes nearly a third of all global

paper resources. (5% of global population) North Americans consume an average of

more than 500 lbs of paper annually. Paper production requires high amount of

energy. 12% of energy cost in industrial sector for paper alone.

Production creates large amount of greenhouse gases.

Drives forest destruction.

by continentPAPER WASTE

CHOICESthe consumer’so ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH: batteries from Japan, plastics from central Europe, circuit board from China.

o Individual choices can have global impacts.

the misuse

Municipal Solid Waste Forest Removal Meat Breeding Nuclear Waste

OF LAND

municipal Our amount of MSW has been rising as the EPA said from

88.1 million tons in 1960 to 250.4 million tons by 2011 By increasing our amount of recycling, 7.5 million tons of

metal was reused eliminating 20 million metric tons of CO2 in the air a year. That is equivalent to removing the emissions of 4 million cars each year!

HDPE bottles and Soda bottles are the types of materials that are least recycled.

These bottles are found in your vending machine!

SOLID WASTE

forestationDE-o The United States makes up about 5%

of the worlds population but uses about 28% of the Earth's wood products.

o In1630, 1,023 million acres was forest in the US and was down to 766 million acres by 2012.

o This destroys habitats for many types of animals and threatens their extinction.

BIOCAPACITYbalancing negative effects

meatBREEDING 1 pound of beef needs 7 pounds of feed, only 3

pounds for pork, and less than 2 pounds of feed per pound of chicken.

2014 the US exported 5.6 billion pounds of beef to Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

Water is affected by adding nitrates and phosphates from the cattle's waste.

Last year we consumed 26.5 billion pounds of beef, that is 185.5 billion pounds of feed needed.

nuclearwaste Up until 2011 nuclear waste was deposited in the

Yucca Mountain depository on federal land until funding stopped.

Now nuclear waste is all over the United States in separate holding facilities.

The radioactive material is harmful to us.Using nuclear power is much more efficient than oil or coal but the waste needs to be disposed of properly.

UNSUSTAINABLEdevelopment

URBAN SPRAWLo Transportation

o A commuter living an hour's drive from work annually spends 500 hours in a vehicle.

o Deforestation

WASTE MANAGEMENTo In 2010 Americans generated over 250 million

tons of trash, about 4.6 pounds per person, per day.

o Almost 70% of trash in landfills is made of recyclable material i.e. plastic, paper, metals.

One Man's Trash: Dumps and Landfills." Nat Geo TV Blogs. N.p., 27 July 2012. Web. Accessed 19 Feb. 2015.

Debatin, Bernhard. "Industrialized Landscapes." Slow Down Fracking in Athens County. SDFRAC. N.p., 07 May 2012. Web. Accessed 13 Apr. 2015.

shockwaves ofFRACKING

WATER500,000 active wells, 8 million gallons per fracturing, with18 fracks per well.Chemicals- over 600 including lead, mercury, hydrochloric acid, radium, uranium, methane, and formaldehyde. More than 40,000 gallons used per fracturing.

EARTHQUAKESBefore 2008, an average of 21 m3 or larger in Central and Eastern U.S. From 2009-13 the average was 99. In 2014 there were 659 earthquakes.

ECOLOGICAL

How Nations Differ: US vs. INDIA Calculating our footprints:

The Global Footprint Network’s Quiz PCN “PANTHER TRACKS”

FOOTPRINTS“The measure of humanity’s demands on nature – everything has consequences that the planet must endure.”

ECOLOGICALFOOTPRINTS

Ecological Footprint: The measure of humanity’s demands on nature (biocapacity).

Biocapacity: The planet’s biologically productive land areas.

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ECOLOGICAL

FOOTPRINT

BIOCAPACITYAVAILABLE

If everyone lived the lifestyle of the average American we would need 4 planets!

AMERICA’Sfootprint

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ECOLOGICAL

FOOTPRINT

BIOCAPACITYAVAILABLE

INDIA’SfootprintIf everyone lived the lifestyle of the average

Indian citizen we would need 0.5 planets!

FOR YOUnumber people, again

WORLD

(If everyone lived this lifestyle)

NATION AVERAGES 

USA INDIA

Total Footprint (gha) 2.7 gha 6.8 gha 0.9 gha

Number of Earths 1.5 earths 4 earths 0.5 earths

Available Biocapacity (gha) 1.8 gha 3.7 gha 0.5 gha

Population Size (millions) 7,000 mil. 310 mil. 1,200 mil.

AMERICA’SfootprintWhy is our footprint so high ?

The problem lies in our reliance on energy and resources from the convenience of money and infrastructures that other

countries do not have.

INDIA’Sfootprint“…in the low income countries,

natural wealth in the form of agricultural land, timber, mineral

deposits and other natural resources constitute 26% of the

total wealth.”

THE AVERAGEpanther’s footprint

If everyone lived the lifestyle of the average PCN Panther we would need 5 planets!

COMPARING:the world, 2 nations, and the panthers

WORLD

(If everyone lived this lifestyle)NATION AVERAGES

USA PCN INDIA

Total Footprint (gha) 2.7 gha 6.8 gha 8.7 gha 0.9 gha

Number of Earths 1.5 earths 4 earths 5 earths 0.5 earths

Available Biocapacity (gha) 1.8 gha 3.7 gha 3.7 gha 0.5 gha

Population Size (millions) 7,000 mil. 310 mil. - 1,200 mil.

22.2 tons of CO2

answering

o Earth cannot sustain a US Lifestyle for all.o Earth also cannot sustain a PCN Panther lifestyle for

all.

THE QUESTION…

NO!

intellectual“… Non-sustainable production and consumption levels are primarily a result of our desire to do more, experience more, see more, and to put it briefly, consume more,” (Holden 2004).

SIGNIFICANCE

CAN WE HELP AWARENESS

Campus and community action “Young people make up 40-50% of

our global population.”

SOLUTIONS Eco-system clean-up projects Lifestyle choices

make changes?

WHAT IF… ?

THEN… !

You saved resources covering an area the size of 484 million football fields.

You saved resources covering an area the size of 391 million football fields.

Thanks for Listening!Bryce Armstrong

Kevin Brandon

Leah Parker

Spencer Rice