Introduction to Environmental Science Fall 2022 PDF

Introducing Environmental Science and 1 Sustainability Overview of Chapter 1  Human Impacts on the Environment  Population, Resources and the Environment  Sustainability  Environmental Science  Addressing Environmental Problems © 2015 John Wiley &...

Introducing Environmental Science and 1 Sustainability Overview of Chapter 1  Human Impacts on the Environment  Population, Resources and the Environment  Sustainability  Environmental Science  Addressing Environmental Problems © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Food as a Lens for Environmental Study  Chicken sandwich requires wheat, chicken, other ingredients, energy to manufacture and transport to table, energy to treat generated wastes and packaging.  Our choices matter and affect the environment  What do you think about when you make your food choices? © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  The Environment (Earth)  Life has existed on earth for 3.8 billion yrs.  Earth well suited for life  Water over ¾ of planet  Habitable temperature, moderate sunlight  Atmosphere provides oxygen and carbon dioxide  Soil with essential minerals for plants © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Human Impact on the Environment  Satellite view of Earth at night © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Human Impacts on Environment- Population  Modern humans appeared ~300,000 years ago in Africa and quickly expanded  Now, human population is ~8 billion (2022)  Growing exponentially  Estimates of ~ 10 billion by 2050  We are the most significant agent of environmental change © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. https://worldpopulationreview.com/  What is your country?  What is its population in 2020?  What is its area in km2?  What is its density?  Is its population growing? © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Population  About 40% of people live in extreme poverty  Cannot meet basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, health 2.50 US dollars/day  Difficult to meet population needs without exploiting earth’s resources © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Gap Between Rich and Poor  Countries differentiated based on wealth  Highly Developed Countries (HDC)  Complex industrialized bases, low population growth, high per capita incomes  Ex: US, Canada, Japan  Less Developed Countries (LDC)  Low level of industrialization, very high fertility rate, high infant mortality rate, low per capita income  Ex: Bangladesh, Mali, Ethiopia © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. World Bank classification Gross national income (GNI) per capita in 2021 Low Income Economies $1,085 or less Lower-Middle Income Economies between $1,086 and $4,255 Upper-Middle Income Economies between $4,256 and $13,205 High Income Economies $13,205 or more 1. Guess in which category your country is? 2. Check in the file provided on Moodle whether you are correct. 3. Did your country change category during the timeline provided by WB? Improvement or regression? © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Gap Between Rich and Poor  Rising income disparity in many countries  Large gap between wealthy and poor citizens Differential access to electricity, cars, modern medicine  Ex: China, India, Brazil, Mexico © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Population and Resource Use  Essential resources for individual survival are small  Rapidly increasing population can quickly overwhelm or deplete, especially locally  Resource consumption can far outweigh needs of survival  Affluent nations use larger portions and can exhaust resources globally © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. What are natural resources?  Natural resources are substances or materials that people obtain from nature and use to survive and thrive.  Examples? © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Two types of natural resources Natural resources Renewable Nonrenewable resources resources Resources that Resources that can be replaced cannot be replaced within 100 years. within 100 years. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Types of Natural Resources Fertile soil © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Consumption  Consumption: Human use of materials and energy  People in HDCs are big consumers  Unsustainable Consumption  Occurs when the level of demand on a country’s resources damages or depletes the resource enough to reduce the quality of life for future generations  Caused by overpopulation and/or overconsumption © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Ecological Footprint  The average amount of land, water and ocean required to provide that person with all the resources they consume Earth’s Productive Land and Water 11.4 billion hectares Amount Each Person is Allotted (divide 1.8 hectares Productive Land & Water by Human (1.62 in Pop.) 2011) (1.52 in 2017) … in 2022? Current Global Ecological Footprint of© 2015 John 2.7 Wileyhectares & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Ecological Footprint  Humans have an ecological overshoot 2022: X1.75 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Ecological Footprint Comparison Populations: India France USA 1,38 millions 67,4 millions 329.5 millions Taiwan 6.52 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. World map of countries by ecological footprint (2016) © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  What is the ecological footprint of your country? © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Taiwan © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. IPAT Model  Measures 3 factors that affect environmental impact (I) Environmental Affluence: good consumption Impact per person I=P A T Number Environmental effect of of people technology = Pollution / good consumption © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Story of stuff (2007)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gorqroigq M  Fill in the story of stuff worksheet © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Environmental Sustainability © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Environmental Sustainability  The ability to meet the current human need for natural resources without compromising the needs of future generations  Requires understanding:  The effects of our actions on the earth  That earth’s resources are not infinite © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Tragedy of the Commons  Garrett Hardin (1915–2003)  Solving environmental problems is the result of the struggle between:  Short term welfare  Long term environmental stability and societal welfare  Common Pool Resources (CPR)  Garrett used common pastureland in medieval Europe to illustrate the struggle  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxC161GvMPc ‘markets vs. states’? (i.e., private or government ownership) © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Tragedy of the Commons  Elinor Ostrom (1933–2012) (Nobel of Economics)  Collective self-governance  Common-pool resources can be effectively managed collectively, without government or private control. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Sustainable Development- Systems Concept  Economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising future generations © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Millenium Goals- 2000 then 2015 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Environmental Science  An interdisciplinary study of human relationship with other organisms and the earth  Biology  Physics  Ecology  Economics  Geography  Sociology  Chemistry  Demography  Geology  Politics © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Earth System and Environmental Science  System  A set of components that interact and function as a whole  Global Earth Systems  Climate, atmosphere, land, coastal zones, ocean  Ecosystem  A natural system consisting of a community of organisms and its physical environment © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Earth Systems  Most of earth’s systems are in dynamic equilibrium or steady state  Rate of change in one direction equals that in other © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Feedbacks  Negative feedback  Change triggers a response that counteracts (reverses) the changed condition © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Feedbacks  Positive feedback  Change triggers a response that intensifies the changing condition  Ex: polar and glacial ice melt, color change leading to more rapid melting © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Scientific Method © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Controls and Variables in Experiment  Variable  A factor that influences a process  The variable may be altered in an experiment to determine its effect on the outcome  Control  The variable is not altered  Allows for comparison between the tests of when we alter the variable and when we do not alter the variable © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Scientific knowledge and theory  Theory: Integrated explanation supported by large body of observations and experiments, and evaluated by peer review  Simplifies, clarifies, and predicts new relationships within the natural world  Absolute truth is not possible in science  Knowledge evolves as new evidence is found © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Five Steps to Addressing An Environmental Problem  Five steps represent ideal Scientific assessment, risk analysis, public education and involvement, political action, long-term evaluation  Reality is untidy  Often, public pushes for a solution © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Assessing Environmental Problem Case Study: Lake Washington  Large, deep freshwater lake  Suburban sprawl in 1940’s  10 new sewage treatment plants dumped treated effluent, high in nutrients, into lake  Effect = excessive growth of cyanobacteria  Bacterial decomposition of cyanobacteria depleted O2 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Assessing Environmental Problem Case Study: Lake Washington  Scientific Assessment  Scientists from University of Washington studied problem and collected data  Study informed Washington Pollution Control Commission (1955) Commission concluded that effluents added nutrients, particularly phosphorus Nutrients caused growth of cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria decomposed by bacteria depleting O 2 Low O2 reduced fish and small invertebrates  If pollution stopped, lake would recover © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Assessing Environmental Problem Case Study: Lake Washington  Recovery Plan  Many political hurdles in passing a plan  Accepted bill was most ambitious and expensive pollution control project in U.S. at the time Treated sewage was diverted into trunk sewer that ringed lake (starting in 1963) Eventually discharged into Puget Sound, where it would have less effect By 1975, lake was healthy and water was clear Today, work to reduce waste generation in view of greater population around lake © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Assessing Environmental Problem Case Study: Lake Washington  Data shows recovery plan working © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. ENVIRONEWS  Green roofs or eco-roofs  Vegetation and soil on impervious roofs that act as a mini-ecosystem that: Insulates buildings reducing energy costs Filters out pollutants from rainwater Reduces storm water runoff into sewers Provides habitat for wildlife or food for humans © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.