Download Sustainability

Sustainability
Learning outcome 1.4.1:
Describe the three pillars of sustainability
Resource: substance in the environment that is useful to people,
economically & technologically feasible to access, and socially
acceptable to use
ex. food, water, minerals, soil, plants, & animals
 renewable resource: produced in nature more rapidly than is
consumed by humans
Ex. wind, hydro, & solar power
 nonrenewable resource: produced in nature more slowly
than is consumed by humans
Ex. oil, coal, & natural gas
Sustainability
Two major misuses of resources:
a. Human depletion of nonrenewable resources such as fossil
fuels
b. Human destruction of renewable resources through pollution
Sustainability: use of Earth’s renewable and nonrenewable
resources in ways that ensure resource availability in the future
 Efforts to recycle, develop less pollution, & protect
farmland from suburban sprawl increase sustainability of
resources
 Requires curtailing the use of nonrenewable resources
and limiting the use of renewable resources to the level
at which the environment can continue to supply them
indefinitely
Sustainability
3 Pillars of Sustainability according to the United Nations:
UN report Our Common Future (Brundtland Report) argues
that sustainability can be achieved only by bringing together
environmental protection, economic growth, & social equity
1. Environmental Pillar:
 Conservation: sustainable use and management of Earth’s
resources to meet human needs such as food, medicine, &
recreation
 Preservation: maintenance of resources in their present
condition, with as little human impact as possible
ex. hunting is prohibited in certain areas or times of
the year
Sustainability
2. Economy Pillar:
 natural resources acquire a monetary value through exchange in the
marketplace
 Price of a resource depends on society’s technological ability to
obtain it and to adapt it to that society’s purpose
Ex. tourism
3. Society Pillar:
 Humans need shelter, food, and clothing to survive, so they make use
of resources to meet their needs
 Consumer choices can support sustainability when people embrace
it as a value
Ex. buying organic foods instead of foods that may be
grown with pesticides or using cloth grocery bags instead of
plastic bags
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
Climate – long-term average weather condition at a
particular location
– Koppen System => divides world into 5 main regions
– Influences human activities  food production
Vegetation
4 MAJOR BIOMES
1. FOREST – trees form continuous canopy; covers large % of
Earth’s surface
2. SAVANNA – mixture of trees & grasses
3. GRASSLAND – grass rather than trees; low precipitation
(American prairies)
4. DESERT – essentially no vegetation; dispersed adaptive plants
World Climate Regions
Fig. 1-14: The modified Köppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
• Soil
– Contains nutrients necessary for successful growth of
plants
– 2 basic problems: (1) Erosion; (2) Depletion of
nutrients
• Landforms
– Vary from relatively flat to mountainous
– Topographic maps – show detail of physical features
and cultural features; geographers use to study relief
& slope
CULTURAL ECOLOGY
• Geographic study of human-environment relationships
• Humboldt & Ritter urged the adoption of scientific inquiry;
concentrated on how physical environment caused social
development => Environmental Determinism
• Possibilism  physical environment may limit some
human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their
environment
– People can choose a course of action from many alternatives in the
physical environment
Modifying the Environment: Netherlands
 The Dutch have modified their environment in 2 ways: polders &
dikes
 Polder: piece of land that is created by draining water from an
area
Dutch have reserved most of the land for agriculture to
reduce dependence on imported food
 Dikes prevent the North Sea from flooding much of the country
Ex. Zuider Zee project & Delta Plan
 Use of insecticides and fertilizers on Dutch farms has
contributed to contaminated drinking water, acid rain, and
other environmental problems
Dutch have become world leaders in reducing the causes of
global warming by acting to reduce industrial pollution and
increase solar and wind power use
Environmental
Modification in
the Netherlands
Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for extensive environmental
modification in the Netherlands.
Modifying the Environment: Florida
 The Everglades was once a very wide and shallow freshwater river
w/ a sensitive ecosystem of plants and animals in which much as
been destroyed by human action
 U.S. Army Corps built a levee around Lake Okeechobee during
the 1930s, drained 1/3 of the Everglades during the 1940s,
diverted the Kissimmee River into canals during the 1950s, &
constructed dikes & levees near Miami and Ft. Lauderdale in
the 1960s
Used the land for growing sugarcane & growing population
Polluted water from cattle grazing flowed into Lake
Okeechobee, which was the source of fresh water for ½ of
Florida’s pop.
Plants & animals began to become endangered
½ of the Everglades has been lost to development
Environmental
Modification in
Florida
Fig. 1-16: Straightening the Kissimmee River has had many unintended side effects
C-38 Canal
Florida
The canal has carried water
with agricultural runoff and
pollution into Lake
Okeechobee
Other Examples of HEI
Desalinization
Three Gorges Dam