Download Environmental Challenges

Environmental
Challenges
1.4
Environmental Challenges
 Many
early humans believed the earth
had unlimited natural resources
 Huge forests and oceans, fertile soil for
crops to grow, diversity of wildlife
 Today, people are using resources faster
than they can be replenished
 Pollution and overuse are harming many
of the world’s ecosystems
Ecosystems
 An
ecosystem is all the living and nonliving things found in an area
 When part of an ecosystem is harmed,
the entire system is affected
 Protecting ecosystems and creating
sustainable societies are the goals of
environmental sciences
Sustainable Society
A
society is a group of people who share
a common culture
A
sustainable society is a society where
current needs are met while preserving
natural resources and systems for future
generations
Major Environmental
Challenges
 Global
affects the whole world; such as
rising temperatures
 Regional affects several places in a
certain area; such as an oil spill near a
coast
 Local affects specific areas; such as
polluting a local lake or trash littering in a
nearby park
Categories of Environmental
Challenges
 Population
Issues
 Resource Use
 Pollution and Climate Change
 Biodiversity
 Unequal Division of Resources
Population Issues
 In
2007, more than 6.4 billion people lived
on the earth
 Each year, that population increases by
85 million people
 By 2050, the population will exceed 9
billion (China and India exceed 1 billion each)
 Increase in population puts pressure on
the environment
Resource Use
 Population
growth is directly connected
to overconsumption
 Overconsumption is using more resources
than can be replaced
 When people use natural resources, they
consume them
 Water, air, wood, food, coal, oil, gas,
minerals, and metals
Pollution and Climate Change
 The
use of resources produces waste
 Burning trash, chemical spills, overflowing
dumps, etc.
 Cannot always see waste, but may see
the harmful effects that it causes (health
problems for humans and animals)
 Amount of pollution has increased with
human population (Industrial Revolution)
Pollution and Climate Change
 Global
temperatures are rising
 Global Warming is an increase in Earth’s
average surface temperature
 Partly caused by increased amounts of
carbon dioxide escaping into the air
Biodiversity
 Biodiversity
is the variety of life on Earth
 It includes all living things on the planet
 Many species have already become
extinct
 Today, many more species and
ecosystems are in danger
Unequal Division of Resources
 Earth’s
natural resources are not spread
out evenly
 Some countries have many, while others
have few
 Some countries have larger populations
than others
 This leads to some countries having more
wealth per person than others
Values
 Scientists
do not tell people what to do
 Decisions about environment often
involve values
 A value is what is important to a person
 Values are shaped by people’s view
 Values play an important role in creating
a sustainable global society
 They help people decide what to do
Vocabulary
 Diversity
 Ecosystem
 Sustainable
Society
 Overconsumption
 Global Warming
 Biodiversity