GE 10 Environmental Science CHAP 1 PDF

GE 10 – Environmental Science Environmental Science Is a Study of Our Interactions with the World Environmental Science an interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the living and nonliving parts of their environment Three goals of environmental science: (1) to learn...

GE 10 – Environmental Science Environmental Science Is a Study of Our Interactions with the World Environmental Science an interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the living and nonliving parts of their environment Three goals of environmental science: (1) to learn how life on the earth has survived and thrived, (2) to understand how we interact with the environment, and (3) to find ways to deal with environmental problems and live more sustainably Ecology the biological science that studies how living things interact with one another and with their environment Species a group of organisms that has a unique set of characteristics that distinguish it from other groups of organisms Ecosystem is a set of organisms within a defined area of land or volume of water that interact with one another and with their environment of nonliving matter and energy Environmentalism a social movement dedicated to trying to sustain the earth’s life-support systems for all forms of life Three Scientific Principles of Sustainability 1. Solar energy provides energy that plants use to produce nutrients necessary for their own life processes and for those of most other animals, including humans 2. Biodiversity the variety of genes, organisms, species, and ecosystems in which organisms exist and interact provides ways for life to adapt to changing environmental conditions Three Scientific Principles of Sustainability 3. Chemical cycling The circulation of chemicals necessary for life from the environment (mostly from soil and water) through organisms and back to the environment waste = useful resources “interdependence, not independence, is what sustains life” Sustainability Has Certain Key Components A. Natural capital the natural resources and ecosystem services that keep us and other species alive and support human economies Natural resources are materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans. classified as inexhaustible resources (solar energy and wind), renewable resources (air, water, topsoil, plants, and animals) or nonrenewable or depletable resources (copper, oil, and coal). Ecosystem services are processes provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human economies at no monetary cost to us. e.g. purification of air and water, renewal of topsoil, nutrient cycling, pollination, and pest control. Figure 1. Natural capital consists of natural resources (blue) and ecosystem services (orange) that support and sustain the earth’s life and human economies B. Degradation of natural capital using normally renewable resources such as trees and topsoil faster than nature can restore them and by overloading the earth’s normally renewable air and water systems with pollution and wastes. C. Solutions Combination of both scientific and political solutions to address problems such as the degradation of forests and other forms of natural capital Other Principles of Sustainability Come from the Social Sciences 1. Full-cost pricing the inclusion of the harmful environmental and health costs of producing and using goods and services in their market prices 2. Win-win solutions working together in dealing with environmental problems by recognizing our interdependent connections with others and with our life-support system 3. A responsibility to future generations appreciate the importance of environmental conservation and preserving planet’s life-support systems Figure 2. Three social science principles of sustainability Resources Are Inexhaustible, Renewable, or Nonrenewable Resource is anything that we can obtain from the environment to meet our needs and wants Classifications of Resources: 1. Inexhaustible resource (e.g. Solar energy, because its continuous supply is expected to last for at least 6 billion years until the sun dies) 2. renewable resource is one that can be replenished by natural processes within hours to centuries (e.g. forests, grasslands, fishes, fertile topsoil, clean air, and freshwater) 3. Nonrenewable or exhaustible resources exist in a fixed quantity, or stock, in the earth’s crust (e.g. oil, coal, copper, aluminum, salt, sand) Figure 3. Classifications of Natural Resources  HOW ARE OUR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS AFFECTING THE EARTH? We Are Living Unsustainably Environmental degradation also known as natural capital degradation unsustainable living by wasting, depleting, and degrading the earth’s natural capital According to Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) human activities have degraded or overused about 60% of the earth’s ecosystem services mostly since 1950. Figure 4. Natural capital degradation: Examples of the degradation of normally renewable natural resources and natural services  Pollution is contamination of the environment by any chemical or other agent such as noise or heat to a level that is harmful to the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms. Types of sources for pollutants: A. Point sources are single, identifiable sources (e.g. smokestack of a coal- burning power or industrial plant) B. Nonpoint sources are dispersed and often difficult to identify (e.g. pesticides, particles of topsoil blown from the land into the air and the runoff of fertilizers, pesticides, and trash from the land into streams and lakes) Pollution can be dealt with either pollution cleanup and pollution prevention We Are Degrading Commonly Shared Renewable Resources: The Tragedy of the Commons Both open-access and shared renewable resources have been environmentally degraded due to the effect of large numbers of people trying to exploit them which eventually can exhaust or ruin it. In 1968, biologist Garrett Hardin (1915–2003) called such degradation the tragedy of the commons. Our Ecological Footprints Are Growing Ecological footprint—the amount of land and water needed to supply a population or an area with renewable resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution produced by such resource use. If the ecological footprint of a given country is larger than biological capacity to replenish its renewable resources and absorb the resulting wastes and pollution, it is said to have an ecological deficit.  WHY DO WE HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS? Experts Have Identified Several Causes of Environmental Problems The Human Population Is Growing at a Rapid Rate Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial Environmental Effects Harmful Effects Higher incomes results in higher levels of total and per capita resource consumption along with more environmental degradation, waste, and pollution. Wealth also allows affluent consumers to obtain their resources from almost anywhere in the world without seeing the harmful effects of their high consumption lifestyles. Beneficial Effects Affluence can allow for more widespread and better education Affluence can also make more money available for developing technologies to reduce pollution, environmental degradation, and resource waste Poverty Can Have Harmful Environmental and Health Effects Desperate for short-term survival, individuals who experiences extreme poverty do not have the luxury of worrying about long-term environmental quality or sustainability. Environmental degradation can have severe health effects on poor people (malnutrition - resulting from environmental degradation that interferes with food production) Another effect of poverty is illness caused by limited access to adequate sanitation facilities and clean drinking water, as well as exposure to polluted air. *Severe malnutrition caused by a lack of calories and protein Prices of Goods and Services Rarely Include Their Harmful Environmental and Health Costs Companies using resources to provide goods for consumers generally are not required to pay for most of the harmful environmental and health costs of supplying such goods. Governments (taxpayers) give companies subsidies such as tax breaks and payments to assist them with using resources to run their businesses. We Are Increasingly Isolated from Nature Artificial urban environments and the increasing use of cell phones, computers, and other electronic devices are isolating more and more people, especially children, from the natural world (nature deficit disorder) As a result, many people are unaware of the amounts of wastes and pollutants they produce, where these wastes and pollutants go, and how they affect the environment.  WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY? Environmentally Sustainable Societies Protect Natural Capital and Live Off Its Income Environmentally sustainable society one that meets the current and future basic resource needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their basic resource needs. “Protect your capital and live on the income it provides” Depleting or wasting your capital would lead to a significant shift from sustainable to an unsustainable lifestyle Living sustainably means living on natural income, the renewable resources such as plants, animals, soil, clean air, and clean water, provided by the earth’s natural capital. Thank You!