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What is Environmental Science?
Our environment is the
sum total of our
surroundings and how we
interact.
– Living and nonliving
How our world works
How the environment
affects us and how we
affect it, and how we can
live more sustainable
without degrading our life
support system.
Environmental Literacy
means having the ability
to understand
environmental problems
Knowledge is the
essential first step toward
devising solutions to our
most pressing
environmental problems.
You will realize that
everything relates to
everything.
Natural science
integrated with social
science. Extremely
interdisciplinary.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Earth's Life-Support System
Air
(atmosphere)
Water
(hydrosphere)
Soil and
rocks
(lithosphere)
Life
(biosphere)
Human Culturesphere
Population
Size
Worldviews
and ethics
Economics
Politics
Fig. 1-2, p. 7
Three types of Resources or
Services
Resources – Anything obtained from the
environment to meet human needs and wants.
–
–
–
Perpetual: On a human time scale are continuous.
Renewable: On a human time scale can be
replenished rapidly (e.g. hours to several decades).
Nonrenewable: On a human time scale are in fixed
supply.
Services – Processes
1. Natural Resources / Services
2. Human Resources / Services
3. Manufactured Resources / Services
NATURAL RESOURCES /
SERVICES
Goods and services produced by
an ecosystem’s natural
process.
Resources
- renewable
- nonrenewable
The economies of the Earth
would grind to a halt without
the services of ecological
life-support systems, so in
one sense their value to the
economy is infinite.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Air
Water
Soil
Land
Life (Biodiversity)
Nonrenewable
minerals
(iron, sand)
Renewable energy
sun, wind, water
flows
Nonrenewable
energy (fossil fuels,
nuclear power)
NATURAL SERVICES
Air purification
Water purification
Water storage
Soil renewal
Nutrient recycling
Food production
Conservation of
biodiversity
Wildlife habitat
Grassland and
forest renewal
Waste treatment
Climate control
Population control
(species interactions)
Pest Control
Fig. 1-4, p. 9
Resources / Services
Human
– Resources - Include people’s
physical and mental talents that
provide labor, innovation, culture,
and organization
– Services – labor, your job
Manufactured
– Resources - Machinery,
equipment, and factories
– Services - function
Anthropogenic
Man caused
Every action we take
affects our environment.
From growing food to
building homes to
manufacturing products
to fueling vehicles, we
meet our needs by
altering our
surroundings.
Tar
Sands
Operation
Get google map pic
from drop
Themes seen throughout ES.
Globalization – the accelerating
interconnectedness of human activities, ideas, and
cultures.
– Migration
– Trade
– Exchange of ideas
What is scary is the intensity, speed, extent, and impact of
connectedness, to the point where the consequences
are profoundly changing many human enterprises. Good
and bad.
High yield farms vs. Increase pesticide use
Increase public health practice vs. New diseases
Globalization
New Technologies
Increase in human
population
Themes seen throughout ES.
Sustainability – a system that can be continued
indefinitely, without depleting any of the material
or energy resources required to keep it running.
– Ex. Trees, fish, and other biological species
reproduce at rates faster than required to keep their
populations stable. Thus it is possible to harvest a
certain percentage every year without reducing the
population below a certain baseline.
– It becomes unsustainable when we harvest at a rate
that exceeds the capacity for their present population
to reproduce and grow.
Sustainability
Sustainability, is the ability of earth’s various
systems to survive and adapt to
environmental conditions indefinitely.
The steps to sustainability must be
supported by sound science.
Figure 1-3
Living More Lightly on the Earth
Agriculture
– Reduce you meat consumption.
– Buy locally grown and produced food.
– Buy more organic food and grow your own.
– Don’t use pesticides.
Transportation
– Drive an energy-efficient vehicle.
– Walk, bike, carpool, or take mass transit.
– Work at home or live near work.
Living More Lightly on the Earth
Home Energy Use
– Caulk leaks, add insulation, use energy
efficient appliances.
– Try to use solar, wind, flowing water, biomass
for home energy.
Water
– Use water-saving showers and toilets, use
drip irrigation, landscape yard with natural
plants that do not require excess water.
Living More Lightly on the Earth
Resource Consumption
– Reduce your consumption and waste of stuff
by at least 10%: Refuse and Reuse.
More on p.621
Implications of the Four Scientific
Principles of Sustainability
Figures 1-17 and 1-18
Production of energyefficient fuel-cell cars Underground CO storage
2
using abandoned oil wells
Forest
conservation
No-till
cultivation
High-speed
trains
Solar-cell
fields
Deep-sea CO2
storage
Bicycling
Landfill
Communities
of passive
solar homes
Recycling
plant
Water
conservation
Cluster
Wind farms
housing
development
Recycling, reuse, &
composting
Fig. 24-1, p. 569
What are “Commons”?
Where a resources is free and available for
everyone in a population (open access).
– Common pool resources
Federal Grassland
Open ocean fisheries
Groundwater / Aquifers
Forests harvested for fuel
in developing countries
Atmosphere (Air)
The Tragedy of the Commons
Population growth is unquestionably at the
root of many environmental problems
Garret Hardin disputed the economic
theory that unfettered acts of individual
self interest will serve the pubic interest.
His 1968 theory stated that resources that
are open to unregulated exploitation will
eventually be depleted.
How to protect Commons
Regulations
Fines / Penalties
Restrictions
Quota System
Privatize - owenership
– Unlikely that individuals will deplete or
degrade a resource that they own since they
would bear the entire cost of overuse.
Themes seen throughout ES.
Stewardship / Ethics – the ethical and moral
framework that should inform our public and private
actions. Ethics that embodies responsible planning
and management of resources
– Ethics that guide actions taken to benefit the natural world
and other people. This is a branch of philosophy that
involves the study of good and bad, right and wrong
– Culture and worldview influence our perception of the
environment
People trying to stop the destruction of the environment. Recycling,
buying a hybrid car, supporting organizations, voting for candidates
that carry the same ideals.
ENVIRONMENTAL
WORLDVIEWS AND VALUES
Your environmental worldview encompasses:
– How you think the world works.
– What you believe your environmental role in the
world should be.
– What you believe is right and wrong
environmental behavior.
Subjectivity – our assessments and our choices
involve judgments and personal opinions.
Paper or Plastic. How do we decide which
is worse or better?
Ecocentrism – System centered, value is given to the
importance of the ecosystem as a whole.
Biocentrism – Life centered, humans and other species
have rights to exist and are worthy of protection.
Anthropocentrism – Human centered, nature has
instrumental value to provides resources for our needs
The Gaia hypothesis
also known as Gaia theory or Gaia principle, proposes
that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on
Earth are closely integrated to form a single and selfregulating complex system, maintaining the conditions
for life on the planet.
The scientific investigation of the Gaia hypothesis
focuses on observing how the biosphere and the
evolution of life forms contribute to the stability of global
temperature, ocean salinity, oxygen in the atmosphere
and other factors of habitability in a preferred
homeostasis.
Themes seen throughout ES.
Economics – the social science that deals with
production, distribution, and consumption of
goods and services and with the theory of
management of economies.
Study of how people decide how to use scarce
resources to provide goods and services in the
face of demand for them.
The goal of an environmentally sustainable
economy is to provide for the sustainable well
being of people without depleting or degrading
the Earth’s natural services.
Market Economic Systems: Pure
Free Market and Capitalistic
Models
Supply,
demand, and
market
equilibrium for a
good or service
in a pure market
system.
Figure 24-3
Economics
– By definition, an environmental problem is an
economic problem than can intensify as population
and per capita(per person) resource consumption
increases.
– Most conventional economist adhere to a world view
that largely ignores the environment and this world
view continues to drive most policy decisions.
– Economic growth measures a society’s status.
GDP – Gross domestic product – the annual market value of
all goods and services produced by all firms operating within
a country.
Poverty
Poverty has been identified as one of the
five major causes of environmental
problems.
– 1.1 billion people struggle to survive on an
income of less than $1 a day.
– Poorest of the rural poor depend on the
environment for 80% of their basic needs.
– They live unsustainably so they can “get by”.
Poverty and Environmental
Problems
1 of 3 children
under 5, suffer
from severe
malnutrition.
Figure 1-12 and 1-13
World Trade Organization
Trade has become increasingly globalize
WTO was created in 1993 by trade ministers
from many countries meeting to build on the
foundation of global trade based on reduced or
eliminated tariffs and trade rules and giving
subsidies to industries.
WTO is responsible for implementing numerous
rules, enforcing the rules, with the option of
imposing stiff penalties on violators.
World Trade Organization
Not a smooth process.
– Free trade issues
– Human Rights
– Environmental Resource concerns
– Negotiation break downs
– Mass Protests
– Accounts for dept country to country
World Trade Organization
1.
2.
3.
4.
World Bank - Provides technical and financial assistance to
developing countries with the objective of reducing poverty
and promoting growth.
Educate and strengthen governments
Create infrastructures
Developing financial systems from microcredit to much larger
systems
Combating corruption
Eco-Labeling: Informing
Consumers So They can Vote
with Their Wallets
Certifying and labeling environmentally
beneficial goods and resources extracted by
more sustainable methods can help consumers
decide what goods and services to buy.
“BUYING GREEN”
Beware of buzz words!
Figure 24-9
Voting with Economics
Fair trade coffe
Green Taxes/Incentives
Advantages of
taxing wages
and profits
less and
pollution and
waste more.
Figure 24-11
Themes seen throughout ES.
Policy and politics –
the human decisions
that determine what
happens in the natural
world, and the political
process that leads to
those decisions.
– United Nations
– Democrats vs
Republicans
– Endangered Species Act
– Kyoto Protocol
– Local social problems
Policy and politics
Policy consist of a formal set of general plans
and principles intended to address problems and
guide decisions making in a specific instances.
– Local, state, and national government
– Some agree, some see as too restrictive or
bureaucratic, or unresponsive to human needs.
Environmental Policy encompasses the
prevention or reduction of air, water, and land
pollution, and the use of natural resources such
as forest, fisheries, oil, …
Principles for Making
Environmental Policy Decisions:
Some Guidelines
Existing or proposed environmental policies
should be guided by several principles:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
The humanity principle.
The reversibility principle.
The precautionary principle.
The polluter pays principle.
The integrative principle.
The public participation principle.
The human rights principle.
The environmental justice principle.
Special Interest Groups
Advocate for passing laws, providing
subsidies or tax breaks, or establishing
regulations favorable to its cause and
weakening those actions unfavorable to its
position.
Can pressure elected and appointed
government officials
Profit making Organizations
President
• Overall policy
• Agency
coordination
Dept of Health
& Human
Services
• Budget
• Agency coordination
and management
Environmental
Protection
Agency
• Air & water pollution
• Noise
• Pesticides
• Solid waste
• Radiation
• Toxic substances
• Health
Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission
Council on
Environmental
Quality
Office of
Management
and Budget
White
House
Office
Department
of State
• Licensing and • International
regulation of
environment
nuclear power
• Energy policy
• Petroleum allocation
Department
of Justice
• Environmental
litigation
Department
of
Commerce
• Oceanic and
atmospheric
monitoring and
research
Department
of Energy
• Environmental policy
• Agency coordination
• Environmental impact statements
Department
of the
Interior
Department
of
Agriculture
• Endangered species
• Energy
• Minerals
• National parks
• Public lands
• Fish and wildlife
• Water development
Department
of Labor
• Occupational
health
Tennessee
Valley
Authority
Department
of Defense
• Civil works
• Soil
construction
conservation
• Dredge & fill permits
• Forestry
• Pollution control from
defense facilities
Department of
Housing and
Department of
Urban
Transportation
Development
• Housing
• Airplane noise
• Urban parks
• Mass transit
• Urban planning • Oil pollution
• Roads
• Electric power generation
Fig. 25-5, p. 597
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Developing environmental policy involves
identifying a problem and its causes,
coming up with a solution, implementing
the solution, and monitoring and adapting
the solution as needed.
A majority of policies are created as a
result of an event not as a preventative.
“Cost”
A negative result occurs such as:
– Environmental degredation
– Health
– Economic
– Socially
External Cost- all the “costs” that are not
“seen” within the price/production of a
product/event.
Cost-Benefit Analysis:
a useful but Crude Tool to decide on policy
Comparing likely costs and benefits of an
environmental action is useful but involves
many uncertainties.
– Cost–benefit analyses involves determining:
Who or what might be affected by a particular
regulation or project.
Projecting potential outcomes.
Evaluating alternative actions.
Establishing who/what benefits and who/what is
harmed.
Cost - Benefit analysis is an economic
measure applied to environmental policy.
A tool of risk management
Triple bottom line – three
factors need to be taken
into account
1. economic
2. environmental
3. social
Needs vs. cost to environment
Needs vs. cost to people
Needs vs. cost to Biodiversity
Short term issue vs. long term
issue
Money vs. Planet Earth
The Birth of the Environmental
Era
John Muir – founded
Sierra Club in 1892.
Theodore Roosevelt –
- President from
1901- 1909
- Conservative
- Contributed to the
establishment of the
first National park in
1872
The Birth of the Environmental Era
1970 marks the dawn of the modern
day era of environmental policy.
1st Earth day 1970
NEPA – National Environmental
Policy Act
– Required an environmental impact
statement to prepare for any major
federal action that may effect env. quality.
– They do not prohibit environmentally
harmful gov. projects but it requires
them to take into account consequences
in their decisions.
The Birth of the Environmental Era
EPA – Environmental
Protection Agency
– In charge of conducting
and evaluating research,
monitoring environmental
quality, setting and
enforcing standard for
pollution levels, assisting
states in meeting
standards and goals, and
educating the public.
Major Environmental
Laws in the U.S.
U.S. environmental laws set
pollution standards, screen for
toxic substances, evaluate
environmental impacts,
encourage resource
conservation, and protect
various ecosystems and species
from harm.
Many of these laws have been
amended (weakened or
strengthened) since 1969.
Figure 25-8
Impact of Enviro. Policy on
Economy
Environmental policy does not diminish the
wealth of a nation: rather it transfers wealth from
polluters to pollution controllers or less polluting
companies.
The enviro protection industry is a job creating
and profit making industry.
Not only good for the economy, but it is
responsible for a less hazardous, healthier, and
more enjoyable environment.
Environmental groups and how
they affect policy
Env groups monitor env activities, work to pass
and strengthen laws, and work with corporations
to find solutions.
There are more than 100,000 Nonprofit groups
(NGOs – Nongovernmental Organization).
– In the US more than 8million people belong to one of
30,000 NGOs from grassroots to mainline
– WWF, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Fund, Audubon
Society, Greenpeace, Nature Conservancy, Ducks
Unlimited
– REAL – Richardson Environmental Action League
Environmental Leadership
Now matter how big
or small the cause.
– Lead by example
– Work within existing
economic and political
systems to bring about
improvement
– Propose and work for
better solutions
Environmental group and how they
affect policy
Some industries and
groups are working
together to find
solutions to env.
Issues.
– Environmental
Defense Fund and
McDonalds
– Rainforest Alliance
and Chiquita Banana
A sustainable future involves
environmental protection, economic
welfare, social equality.
Eco-Economies
Principles for
shifting to more
environmentally
sustainable
economies
during this
century.
Figure 24-15
Environmentally Sustainable
Businesses and Careers
Aquaculture
Biodiversity protection
Environmental law
Environmental nanotechnology
Fuel cell technology
Biofuels
Geographic information systems (GIS)
Climate change research
Geothermal geologist
Conservation biology
Hydrogen energy
Eco-industrial design
Marine science
Pollution prevention
Ecotourism management
Reconciliation ecology
Energy efficient product design
Selling services in place of products
Environmental chemistry
Solar cell technology
Environmental design
Sustainable agriculture
Environmental economics
Sustainable forestry
Waste reduction
Environmental education
Watershed hydrologist
Environmental engineering
Water conservation
Environmental health
Wind energy
Fig. 24-16, p. 589
Job ideas
ECO.org
USAjobs.gov
TheSCA.org