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MILLER/SPOOLMAN ESSENTIALS OF ECOLOGY 6TH Core Case Study: A Vision of a More Sustainable World in 2060 • Sustainability: the capacity of the earth’s natural systems and human cultural systems to survive, flourish, and adapt into the very long‐term future CHAPTER 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections in Nature (1) • Environment: • Everything around us • “The environment is everything that isn’t me.“ • Environmental science: interdisciplinary science connecting information and ideas from • Natural sciences: ecology, biology, geology, chemistry… • Social sciences: geography, politics, economics • Humanities: ethics, philosophy Fig. 1-1a, p. 5 Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections in Nature (2) Nature’s Survival Strategies Follow Three Principles of Sustainability • How nature works 1. Reliance on solar energy • How the environment affects us 2. Biodiversity • • • How we affect the environment • How to deal with environmental problems • How to live more sustainably The sun provides warmth and fuels photosynthesis Astounding variety and adaptability of natural Astounding variety and adaptability of natural systems and species 3. Chemical cycling • • Circulation of chemicals from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment Also called nutrient cycling 1 From Simple Cell to Homo Sapiens Solar Energy First simple cells appear (about 3.5 billion years ago) First multicellular life appears (about 1 billion years ago) First major land plants appear (about 475 million years ago) Dinosaurs disappear (about 65 million years ago) Homo sapiens arrives (about 200,000 years ago) Chemical Cycling Fig. 1-2, p. 7 • Natural capital: supported by solar capital Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services Air • Natural resources: useful materials and energy in nature • Natural services: important nature processes such as renewal of air, water, and soil Renewable energy (sun, wind, water flows) Air purification Climate control UV protection (ozone layer) Life (biodiversity) Population P l ti control Water • Humans degrade natural capital Water purification Pest control Waste treatment • Scientific solutions needed for environmental sustainability Fig. 1-3, p. 8 Natural Capital Solar energy Sustainability Has Certain Key Components Biodiversity Soil Nonrenewable minerals (iron, sand) Soil renewal Land Food production Nutrient recycling Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels) Natural resources Natural services Nutrient Cycling Fig. 1-4, p. 9 Natural Capital Degradation Fig. 1-5, p. 10 Fig. 1-6, p. 10 2 Some Sources Are Renewable and Some Are Not (1) • Resource Some Sources Are Renewable and Some Are Not (2) • Renewable resource • Anything we obtain from the environment to meet our needs • Some directly available for use: sunlight • Some not directly available for use: petroleum • Several days to several hundred years to renew • E.g., forests, grasslands, fresh air, fertile soil • Sustainable yield • Highest rate at which we can use a renewable resource without reducing available supply • Perpetual resource • Solar energy Some Sources Are Renewable and Some Are Not (3) Reuse • Nonrenewable resources • Energy resources • Metallic mineral resources • Nonmetallic mineral resources • Reuse • Recycle Fig. 1-7, p. 11 Recycle Countries by Gross National Income per Capita Fig. 1-8, p. 12 Supplement 8, Fig 2 3 1‐2 How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth? • Concept 1‐2 As our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earth’s natural capital. Natural Capital Degradation Degradation of Normally Renewable Natural Resources Climate change Shrinking forests Decreased wildlife habitats Air pollution Soil erosion Species extinction Water pollution Aquifer depletion Declining ocean fisheries Fig. 1-9, p. 13 Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources (1) • Sources of pollution Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources (2) • Pollution cleanup (output pollution control) • Point sources • E.g., smokestack (chimney; vent) • Pollution prevention (input pollution control) • Nonpoint sources • E.g., pesticides blown into the air • Main type of pollutants • Biodegradable • Nondegradable • Unwanted effects of pollution Point‐Source Air Pollution Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Fig. 1-10, p. 14 Fig. 1-11, p. 14 4 Patterns of Natural Resource Consumption Ecological Footprints: A Model of Unsustainable Use of Resources • Ecological footprint: the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to provide the people in a region with indefinite supply of renewable resources, and to absorb and recycle wastes and pollution • Per capita ecological footprint • Unsustainable: footprint is larger than biological capacity for replenishment Fig. 1-12a, p. 15 Patterns of Natural Resource Consumption Total Ecological Footprint (million hectares) and Share of Global Biological Capacity (%) United 2,810 (25%) States 2,160 (19%) European Union United States European Union China India Japan Per Capita Ecological Footprint (hectares per person) China 2,050 (18%) 780 (7%) India 9.7 4.7 1.6 0.8 Japan 540 (5%) 4.8 Number of Earths s 2.5 Unsustainable living 2.0 1.5 Projected footprint 1.0 Ecological footprint 0.5 0 1961 1970 1980 1990 Sustainable living 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Year Fig. 1-12b, p. 15 Global Human Footprint Map Fig. 1-13, p. 16 IPAT is Another Environmental Impact Model I = P x A x T • • • • I = Environmental impact P = Population P = Population A = Affluence T = Technology Supplement 8, Fig 7 5 Case Study: China’s New Affluent Consumers Less-Developed Countries • Leading consumer of various foods and goods • Wheat, rice, and meat • Coal, fertilizers, steel, and cement Population (P) Consumption per person (affluence, A) Technological impact per unit of consumption (T) Environmental impact of population (I) • Second largest consumer of oil Second largest consumer of oil • Two‐thirds of the most polluted cities are in China • Projections for next decade • Largest consumer and producer of cars More-Developed Countries Fig. 1-14, p. 17 Cultural Changes Have Increased Our Ecological Footprints • 12,000 years ago: hunters and gatherers • Three major cultural events Tipping point • Agricultural revolution Agricultural revolution • Industrial‐medical revolution • Information‐globalization revolution • Current need for a sustainability revolution Fig. 1-15, p. 19 Experts Have Identified Four Basic Causes of Environmental Problems 1. Population growth Human population Information-globalization revolution 2. Wasteful and unsustainable resource use 3. Poverty Industrial-medical revolution Agricultural revolution 12,500 yrs ago 275 yrs ago 50 yrs ago Present 4. Failure to include the harmful environmental costs of goods and services in market prices Time (not to scale) Fig. 1-16, p. 19 6 13 12 11 10 9 8 Causes of Environmental Problems 7 6 5 4 Population growth Unsustainable resource use Poverty 3 Industrial revolution Excluding environmental costs from market prices 2 Black Death—the Plague 2–5 million years 8000 6000 Hunting and gathering 4000 2000 Time B. C. 1 2000 0 2100 A. D. Agricultural revolution Industrial revolution Fig. 1-17, p. 20 Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial Environmental Effects • Harmful environmental impact due to Billions of people ? Fig. 1-18, p. 21 Poverty Has Harmful Environmental and Health Effects • Population growth affected • High levels of consumption • High levels of pollution • Unnecessary waste of resources • Malnutrition • Premature death • Affluence can provide funding for developing technologies to reduce • Pollution • Environmental degradation • Resource waste • Limited access to adequate sanitation facilities and clean water Lack of access to Extreme Poverty Adequate sanitation facilities Fig. 1-19, p. 22 Number of people (% of world's population) 2.6 billion (38%) Enough fuel for heating and cooking 2 billion (29%) Electricity 2 billion (29%) Clean drinking water 1.1 billion (16%) Adequate health care 1.1 billion (16%) Adequate housing 1 billion (15%) Enough food for good health 1 billion (15%) Fig. 1-20, p. 22 7 Effects of Malnutrition Prices Do Not Include the Value of Natural Capital • Companies do not pay the environmental cost of resource use Goods and services do not include the harmful and services do not include the harmful • Goods environmental costs • Companies receive tax breaks and subsidies • Economy may be stimulated but there may be a degradation of natural capital Fig. 1-21, p. 23 Environmentally Unfriendly Hummer Case Study: The Environmental Transformation of Chattanooga, TN • Environmental success story: example of building their social capital • 1960: most polluted city in the U.S. • 1984: Vision 2000 • 1995: most goals met • 1993: Revision 2000 Fig. 1-22, p. 24 Chattanooga, Tennessee Wind Power I One of the best and most sustainable places to live in the US Fig. 1-23, p. 26 Fig. 1-24, p. 27 8 Planting a Tree Fig. 1-25, p. 27 9