INTRODUCTIONChapter 1Advance Placement

Environmental Science (affectionately called APES)

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The 3 Fingers of Sustainability[A sustainable society] is one

that shapes its economic and social systems so that natural resources and life-support systems are maintained.

-Lester Brown (1990)

(italics are mine)

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Outline• Invasive species• Island Earth• Human impact• Consumption• Sustainability• Environmental science• Addressing environmental problems• Working together

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INVASIVE SPECIES

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Zebra mussels

Aral Sea

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• USSR in 1960s diverted the inbound water for farming.

• Salinity changed from about 10g/L to 100g/L.

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Water budget: inflow from the rivers, evaporation, precipitation rates, and groundwater inflow.

Caspian Sea

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Easter Island

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ISLAND EARTH

• Resources– Finite– Boundaries– Nonrenewable– Renewable

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Types of Resources

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Renewable, but only when managed in a sustainable way

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FACES W

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

• Population growth• Increasing resource use• Global climate change• Loss of biodiversity• Pollution• Poverty

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HUMAN IMPACT

Most populous countries:

1) China 1,361,500,0002) India 1,251,700,0003) United States 321,530,0004) Indonesia 256,000,0005) Brazil 204,000,000

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7.3 billion as of August 16, 2015

Rich Countries

• Highly developed countries – HDCs or industrial nations

• 20% of the world’s population• High resource use per capita (person)

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Poor Countries

• Moderately developed countries (MDCs)• Developing nations

• Less developed countries (LDCs)• Third World

• 80% of the world’s population• Rapidly increasing population

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The contrast between less developed and highly developed countries is great (India vs. Texas)

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Global Atmospheric Changes

• Greenhouse effect• H2O and CO2

• Natural• Greatly increased by people• Can change climates

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Loss of Biodiversity

• How many different types of species in a given area

• Habitat alteration• Loss of:– future crop food choices– medicines

• Who decides what’s important?

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Pollution

• Anything that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.

• 5Rs: refuse (to use); replace (with a less harmful substitute); reduce (use less); reuse; and recycle .

• “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” –Benjamin Franklin

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Poverty• Poverty leads

to ecosystem degradation

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Poverty

• 1.2 billion – 2.8 billion people• Per capita income of less than $1 a day

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Leads to . . .

Inadequate health care

Unsanitary water

Poor nutrition

Lower life expectancy

Lights of the World

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Increasing Human Numbers

400 million

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CONSUMPTION

• 1 U.S. child has the environmental impact of 12+ children in less develop countries

• 1.9 hectares needed per capita• 2.3 hectares currently using (average)• 9.6 hectares for Americans

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People Overpopulation

• When excess number of people causes environmental damage

• Poor nations

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Consumption Overpopulation

• When people consume enormous amounts of natural resources

• Rich countries• Uses ½ the planet’s resources• Creates 75% of the waste

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Ecological footprint

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IPAT Model

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I = P A T

Environmental Impact

Number of people

Affluence per person

Environmental effect of

technologies

SUSTAINABILITY

• Stewardship of natural resources leading to their perpetual availability for successive generations

• Individual, community, regional, national, and global

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“Live simply so others may simply live”

• Earth’s resources are not infinite• In order to satisfy the basic needs of

everyone:– Using only the air, water, plants, and soil that can

be replenished – Saving the planet for future generations

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Sustainability of:

• Resource harvest -- taken year after year• Ecosystem -- keeping a balance• Economy -- maintaining a certain

standard of living• Development -- keep improving as a

civilization

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Sustainability and the Tragedy of the Commons

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Garrett Hardin

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

• Interdisciplinary study of the interconnected problems associated with the environment

• Heavily leans upon ecology

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The Process of Science

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Problem recognition or question

Hypothesis development

Experimentation

Analysis

Share knowledge

Make predictions

Hypothesis supported? YESNO

Other scientistsNew knowledge

ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Case in Point: Lake Washington

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Background:

•Treated sewage dumped in lake from 1941 - 1954

•Cyanobacteria grows out of control

Lake Washington: Environmental Problem

• Scientific assessment: gather info, run experiments, and use reason– Treated sewage was adding unwanted nutrients

(phosphorus and nitrogen), allowing cyanobacteria to grow

– Bacteria feeding on the cyanobacteria used up too much oxygen thus depriving the other organisms

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Lake Washington: Environmental Problem

• Risk analysis: potential effects of doing nothing or of intervention – More treatment of sewage or– Discharge into Puget Sound

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Lake Washington: Environmental Problem

• Public education and involvement: Explain the problem, present alternatives, probable costs and results– Articles in newspapers

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Lake Washington: Environmental Problem

• Political action: Elected officials select a course of action and implement it– Formation of a regional government to deal with

the problem

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Lake Washington: Env. Problem• Evaluation: Results of action are monitored – By 1975 the lake was back to normal

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Lake Washington: Env. Problem

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Evaluation

WORKING TOGETHER

• Confrontation over env. problems • Scientists don’t always agree • Politicians take a “wait and see” approach

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Direction of Environmental Science?

• Business as usual

»OR• Long-lasting, successful solutions to

our problems

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