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Environmental Problems, Their
Causes, and Sustainability
G. Tyler Miller’s
Living in the Environment
14th Edition
Chapter 1
Sections 1 and 2
Key Concepts Sections 1 and 2
1) What keeps us alive? What is
an environmentally sustainable
society?
2) How fast is human population
growing? What are economic
growth, economic development
and globalization?
Living More Sustainably Key Terms
Environment: is everything that affects
living organisms.
Ecology: biological science that studies
the relationships between living organisms
and their environment.
Environmental Science: an
interdisciplinary study that uses information
from physical sciences and social sciences to
learn how the earth works, how we interacts with
the earth and how to deal with environmental
problems.
What is environmentalism?
A social movement
dedicated to
protecting the earth’s
environment.
Can include:
• Ecologists
• Biologists
• Geologists
• Environmentalists
What Keeps Us Alive? Capital
Solar Capital: without the sun there would
be no life. (What is the difference between direct
and indirect solar energy?
Natural
Resources:
Air, water, soil
ect.
Fig. 1-2, p. 7
What is an environmentally
sustainable society?
Meets the basic needs of its people
indefinitely without compromising future
generations ability to meet those same
needs?
Population Growth
 Exponential
Growth: a
quantity
increases at
a constant
rate per
unit of time
 Between
1950 and
2004 the
world
population
increased
exponential
ly from 2.5
B to 6.4 B.
Each year your college raises tuition 6%, does that mean
every year the tuition goes up the same amount?Fig. 1-4, p. 8
World Population Growth
1950: 2.5 billion
2004: 6.4 billion
2100: 8-12 billion
Current avg. growth rate
1.25%/year = 219,000 people
per day or 80 million per
year. (6.4 billion X 0.0125)
Despite a 22 fold increase in
worldwide economic growth,
almost one of every two
survive on less than $3/day.
World Population
Compare hunter/gathering, agriculture, and industrial revolution time
Fig. 1-1 p. 5
period.
Where is most population growth
occurring?
Economic Growth
An increase in the capacity of a country to
provide its people with goods and services.
 Gross Domestic Product (GDP): annual
market value of all goods and services
produced within the country.
 Per Capita (GNP): GDP divided among
the population of the country.
Economic Development: improving
living standards by economic growth
Worldwide Per Capita GDP
Economic Development
 Developed Countries: US, Canada,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand and
most of Europe. High Per Capita GDP.
(1.2 billion people)
 Developing Countries: 5.2 billion people
living with very little. 97% of
population growth.
Example: Mexico Daily Minimum Wage is about $4-6
dollars a day.
Percent of
World’s
19
Population
81
Population
growth
0.1
1.6
85
Wealth and
income
Resource
use
15
88
12
75
Pollution
and waste
25
Developed
countries
Developing
countries
Trade-Offs
Economic Development
Good News
Bad News
Global life expectancy doubled
since 1950
Life expectancy 11 years less in
developing countries than in
developed countries
Infant mortality cut in half since
1955
Infant mortality rate in developing
countries over 8 times higher than
in developed countries
Food production ahead of
population growth since 1978
Harmful environmental effects
of agriculture may limit future
food production
Air and water pollution down in
most developed countries since
1970
Air and water pollution levels in
most developing countries too
high
Number of people living in
poverty dropped 6% since 1990
Half of world’s people
trying to live on
less than $3
(U.S.) per day
Globalization
We live in a world that is increasingly
interconnected through economic, cultural
and environmental interdependence.
What does that mean for our environment?
Globalization: A Few Pros/Cons
Pros
Cons
• Sharing ideas and
technology around
the world.
• Access to materials
once unthinkable
(example: fresh fruits
and vegetables year
round)
• Wealth not shared
equally.
• Pollution now worst
in poor countries.
• Loss of local
identities.
Sections 1 and 2 Review
• List 3 pros and cons
related to economic
development.
• List several differences
between developed and
developing countries?
• Describe exponential
growth as it related to
population.
• How may globalization
impact the worlds
environment?
• What does
environmentally
sustainable society
mean?
• List 3 types of solar
capital and natural
capital.
• What is the current
worldwide population?
How is that expected to
change?
Chapter 1 Sections 3,4 and
5 Main Ideas
• What are earth’s main types of resources?
How can they be depleted or degraded?
• What are the principle types of pollution?
What can we do about pollution?
• What are the basic causes of today’s
environmental problems? How are the
causes connected?
Resources
 Perpetual: renewed
continuously on a
human scale.
 Renewable: can be
replenished fairly
quickly.
 Non-renewable: exist
only in fixed
quantities. (once they
are gone they are
gone.)
Fig. 1-6 p. 9
Renewable Resources
Can be depleted or degraded.
Sustainable Yield: the
highest rate at which a
renewable resource can
be used without
reducing its supply.
Environmental
Degradation: when we
exceed the natural
replacement rate of the
resource.
Example: over-farming the land
leading to soil erosion, clearcutting forests.
Example: groundwater depletion,
water pollution.
Tragedy of the Commons
1968 Garrett Hardin
Degradation of renewable
free-access resources.
“If I do not use this
resource, someone else
will. The little bit I use
or pollute is not enough
to matter, and such
resources are renewable
anyway.”
Solutions????
Ecological Footprint
Measure of the biologically productive land
and water needed to support each person.
1 hectare = 100 acres or 10,000 square meters (about 100 football fields)
Fig. 1-7 p. 10
Non-Renewable Resources
Exist only in fixed quantities on earth.
Energy Resources: such as coal, oil and natural gas.
Metallic Resources:
such as iron, copper, aluminum
Non-Metallic
Resources:
Such as salt, clay, sand
Economic Depletion
Fig. 1-8 p. 11
When 80% is gone it may be too costly to get the last 20%.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Saving Nonrenewable resources
Reduce: Use less resource
Reuse: To use the resource
more than once to
conserve.
Recycle: collecting
resource, processing it
into new products.
Pollution: What is it?
Pollution is the presence
of substances at high
enough levels in air,
water, soil or food to
threaten humans or
other living organisms.
Most pollution are unintended by
products of useful activities.
Example: driving cars gives of
pollutant.
Effects of Pollution
1) Disrupt or degrade
life-supporting
systems for humans or
other species.
2) Can damage wildlife,
human health or
property.
3) Can by a nuisance
such as noise, smell,
sights.
Sources of Pollution
Point Source:
pollutants that come
from one single,
identifiable source
such as a pipe.
Nonpoint Source:
pollutants that are
dispersed and often
difficult to identify
such as farm or street
runoff.
Dealing With Pollution
Prevention (Input Control):
Reduced or eliminates pollutants from production
EXAMPLE: driving more fuel efficient automobile
Dealing with Pollution
Pollution Cleanup (output control):
Cleaning up or diluting pollution once in the
environment.
What are the problems with pollution cleanup?
Environmental and Resource
Problems: 5 Root Causes
Environmental Impact
Fig. 1-13 p. 15
Environmental Interactions
Goal for environmental science is to learn
about these complex interactions.
Fig. 1-14 p. 15
Solutions
Fig. 1-16, p. 18
What is Our Greatest
Environmental Problem????
 Disease
 Overpopulation
 Water Shortages
 Climate Changes
 Biodiversity Loss
 Poverty
 Malnutrition
Sections 3,4,5 Review Questions
• List and describe several “root causes of
environmental problems.”
• Describe the differences between point and non-point
source pollution.
• What is an “ecological footprint?”
• Identify several perpetual, renewable and
nonrenewable resources.
• Analyze the differences between pollution
preventions and pollution cleanup.
• Describe the “Tragedy of the Commons.”
• Describe “reduce,” “reuse” and “recycle.”
Environmental Worldviews
Look up these worldviews for tomorrow
and write which one you fit into and why.
Hint: page 16
Planetary Management
Environmental Wisdom
Stewardship