AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE - APES

Environmental Science is the study of how the earth works, how we interact with and affect the

environment, and how to deal with environmental problems.

Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

Chapter 1

Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections in Nature

Interdisciplinary science connecting information and ideas from• Natural sciences, with an emphasis on ecology,

but also earth science, chemistry, physics, astronomy

• Social sciences such as economics, politics, ethics

• Humanities such as history, law, philosophy

A main theme in this class is Sustainability

How the earth’s systems and humans adapt and survive the ever changing environment.

A report released in 2005 reported that human activities are putting a strain on the sustainability of our planet. Earth’s population reaches 7 billion this year. How many people can our planet support? And at what quality?

5 Subthemes

1. Natural capital – supported by solar capital (Fig 1-3)

• Natural resources- materials and energy needed to sustain life •Air, water, soil, renewable/nonrenewable

• Natural services – functions of nature•Recycling of nutrients

2. Human activities can degrade natural capital

3. Finding solutions

4. Trade-offs

5. Individuals matter

What Is an Environmentally Sustainable (durable) Society?

Our lives and economies depend on energy from the sun (solar capital) and on natural resources and natural services (natural capital) provided by the earth.

Living sustainability means living off the earth’s natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it.

Living Off Earth’s Capital

Do Not eat the goose that lays the golden eggDo Not eat the goose that lays the golden egg If you have one million in the bank at 10% interest, If you have one million in the bank at 10% interest,

you earn $100,000 year. If you spend just $110,000 you earn $100,000 year. If you spend just $110,000 per year you will be bankrupt in 18 yearsper year you will be bankrupt in 18 years

Natural cycles will provide for us if we do not destroy Natural cycles will provide for us if we do not destroy our natural capitalour natural capital

Don’t Eat me

Do all Societies Use Natural Capital Equally?

Who do you think uses natural capital wisely? Who tends to degrade natural capital?

What are some contributing factors?

There is a Wide Economic Gap Between Rich and Poor Countries

Country’s economic growth: measured by gross domestic product (GDP)- annual market value of all goods and services produced within a country

Changes in economic growth: measured by per capita GDP- GDP divided by total population at midyear (US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, China)

Purchasing power parity (PPP) plus GDP are combined for per capita GDP PPP- (US, China, Japan, India, Germany, France)

Compare developed with developing countries

The Gap Between These is Widening Economically and Socially

Developed Countries• 1.2 billion people• Us, Canada, Japan,

Australia, New Zealand, most European countries

Developing Countries• 5.4 billion people• Most in Africa, Asia

and Latin America• China, India, Brazil,

Mexico

The Wealth Gap

The gap between per The gap between per capita GNP or the rich capita GNP or the rich and poor has greatly and poor has greatly widened since 1980.widened since 1980.

20% high income, 25% 20% high income, 25% moderate income, 30% moderate income, 30% low income $2-3 / day, low income $2-3 / day, 25% very low income of 25% very low income of less than $1.00/day.less than $1.00/day.

1 in 5 is hungry, 1 in 5 is hungry, malnourished, lacks malnourished, lacks access to clean water, access to clean water, decent housing and decent housing and health care.health care.

Resources

Resource- anything obtained from the environment to meet our needs.• Directly available for use like air, wind, water and

wild edible plants

• Not directly available for use would be petroleum, copper, groundwater and modern crops.

Perpetual resource• Solar energy

Some Sources Are Renewable

Renewable resource- resources that can be renewed through natural processes. Examples are forests, grasslands, fresh air, fertile soil.

Sustainable yield -the highest rate at which a renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply

Environmental degradation – when the supply

of a resource is reduced because we have exceeded the replacement rate.

Some Resources Are Not Renewable

Nonrenewable resources – exist in fixed quantities• Energy resources – oil, coal

• Metallic mineral resources – Al, Cu

• Nonmetallic mineral resources- sand, salt

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Resources

Perpetual Nonrenewable

Renewable

Freshair

Freshwater

Fertilesoil

Plants andanimals

(biodiversity)

Directsolar

energy

Winds, tides,

flowing water

Fossilfuels

Metallic minerals

Non- metallic

minerals

(iron, copper,

aluminum)

(clay, sand,

phosphates)

Common Resources- think about it!

What are some common resources that must be shared?

Are resources distributed equally around the world?

Are resources shared equally? Do resource-rich countries

have an obligation to share

with resource-poor countries?

Overexploiting Shared Renewable Resources: Tragedy of the Commons

Three types of property or resource rights• Private property

• Common property (1/3 of all land in US is owned by the people and managed by the government)

• Open access renewable resources- use is regulated by government (open oceans /fish and clean air)

Garrett Hardin and the Tragedy of the Commons

Overuse of common property resources, which are owned by no one but available to everyone free of charge.

Examples are clean air, oceans, fish, Antarctica. This leads to exploitation and then no one can use

the resource. “ If I don’t use this resource then someone else will,

the little bit I pollute is not enough to matter”

Footprints

What is an ecological footprint?

Is the world’s footprint growing or shrinking?

What happens to the resources as the footprint changes?

What is an ecological footprint?

Amount of productive land and water needed to supply the people in an area with resources to live and the community’s ability to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution they produce by using resources.

Per capita ecological footprint - the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given area.

How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?

As our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earth’s natural capital.

How is the planet’s ecological footprint?

In 2003, the World Wildlife Fund and Global Footprint Network estimated that the global ecological footprint exceeded the earth’s biological capacity by about 25% but it was

88% in the world’s high-income countries. American’s are the second largest consumers of

resources, and if everyone could use resources the way we do, the Earth could only support 1.3 billion people.

Case Study: China’s New Affluent Consumers Affluence- the rapid unsustainable consumption of

resources associated with lifestyles of citizens in developed countries.

Leading consumer of various foods

and goods• Wheat, rice, and meat• Coal, fertilizers, steel, and cement

Second largest consumer of oil (after the US)

As of June, 2011, the current population of China was 1,336,391,137 and they are adding 44,000 people every day!

(In 1950, the population in China was 562,579,779) (population #s found at geohive.com)

Case Study: China’s New Affluent Consumers- what happens?

Two-thirds of the most polluted cities are in China Projections, by 2020

• Largest consumer and producer

of cars• World’s leading economy in terms

of GDP PPP

China’s population is expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2033. If it reaches this number, then China will need two-thirds of the world’s current grain harvest, twice the world’s current paper consumption, and more than the current global production of oil. Could these needs be met?

Cultural Changes Have Increased Our Ecological Footprints

12,000 years ago: hunters and gatherers

Three major cultural events• Agricultural revolution- 10-12,000 ya

• Industrial-medical revolution- 275 ya – fossil fuels

• Information-globalization

revolution- 50 ya

Homework for tonight

Calculate your ecological footprint! Do you think you have a large or small footprint?

If everyone lived your lifestyle, how many earths would we need?

Find out by going to the following website: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GF

N/page/personal_footprint/ complete the quiz, and print out the last page where you learn how many earths you would need, and then answer the questions under assignments on my website.

What Is Pollution and What Can We Do about It?

Anything harmful in the environment Can be created naturally or by humans

Preventing pollution is more effective and less costly than cleaning up pollution.

Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources

Sources of pollution• Point

•E.g., smokestack

• Nonpoint •E.g., pesticides blown into

the air

Main type of pollutants• Biodegradable -harmful substances that can

be broken down naturally like sewage

• Nondegradable – cannot be broken down naturally

What are some effects of unwanted pollution?

Experts Have Identified Five Basic 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 their market prices

5. Insufficient knowledge of how nature works

In 2008, there were 6.7 billion people. It is projected that in 2050, there will be 9.3 billion and possibly 10 billion by the year 2100. The population increases by about 225,000 people every day. Exponential growth-

increasing at a fixed rate.

Poverty Has Harmful Environmental and Health Effects

Population growth affected – have more children to support the family

Malnutrition – lack of protein and other nutrients

Premature death – 7 million die each day, with 2/3 being children under the age of 5

Limited access to adequate sanitation facilities and clean water (38% lack access)

Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial Environmental Effects

Harmful environmental impact due to• High levels of consumption

• Unnecessary waste of resources Affluence can provide funding for

• Developing technologies to reduce •Pollution•Environmental degradation•Resource waste

Affluence plays a larger part in the degradation of the environment than poverty

Prices Do Not Include the Value of Natural Capital

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

Economy may be stimulated but there may be a degradation of natural capital

I = P x A x T Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology

Environmental impact is an estimate of how people are degrading natural capital.

Remember that some technologies increase impact (coal burning) while other technologies decrease the impact (fuel-efficient cars, wind turbines, pollution control)

In less developed countries, population size and degradation of renewable resources is a large influence while in developed countries, it is the high rate of per capita resource and pollution and resources depletion/degradation that has a larger effect on the impact.

Why Do We Have Environmental Problems?

People with different environmental worldviews often disagree about the seriousness of environmental problems and what we should do about them.

Different Views about Environmental Problems and Their Solutions

Environmental Worldview including environmental ethics• Planetary management worldview – nature

exists for our use and benefit. We are separate from nature.

• Stewardship worldview –we use nature for our benefit, but we must make wise decisions concerning the sustainability of the planet

• Environmental wisdom worldview - we are a part of nature and no more important than any other part. We must learn to integrate into the Earth systems.

Case Study: The Environmental Transformation of Chattanooga, TN

Environmental success story: example of building their social capital

1960: most polluted city in the U.S. 1984: Vision 2000 Involved community

meetings and input from all 1995: most goals met – set up recycling

program, reduced air pollutants to below standards and used electric buses, park and aquarium

1993: Revision 2000 – revitalize Southern Chattanooga for mixed use

Individuals Matter: Margaret Mead

Anthropologist (1901-1978)-

the study of the biological,

cultural, social and origin of

humanity. 5–10% of the population can

bring about major social change

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

Individuals Matter: Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold: (1887-1948) environmental ethics• A leader of the conservation and environmental

movements of the 20th century•Land ethic•Father of wildlife management

• Wrote: A Sand County Almanac• "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging

to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac"

What Are Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability?

Nature has sustained itself for billions of years by using solar energy, biodiversity, population control, and nutrient cycling—lessons from nature that we can apply to our lifestyles and economies.

It is estimated that we have 50-100 years to make changes in our lifestyles and economies in order to maintain sustainability. What changes do you think are necessary? Are we obligated to make these changes?

What’s the use of a house if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on?

-HENRY DAVID THOREAU

-

Power point adapted by Wendy Barber from Mrs. Sealy, J. Root and Miller power points.