Environmental Problems,Their Causes, and Sustainability

Chapter 1:

Dr. Wesam Al Madhoun

Core Case Study: Exponential Growth (1) Exponential growth – a quantity increases at a

fixed percentage per unit of time.

Slow start, rapid increase

Human population• 2007 ~ 6.7 billion people

Projections• 225,000 people per day

• Add population of U.S. < 4 years

• 2050 ~ 9.2 billion people

Core Case Study: Exponential Growth (2)

Resource consumption, degradation, depletion

Possible results• Huge amount of pollution and wastes

• Disrupt economies

• Loss of species, farm land, water supplies

• Climate change

• Political fallout

Living in an Exponential Age

Fig. 1-1, p. 1

Hunting and gathering

Agricultural revolution

Industrial revolution

Black Death—the Plague

Industrial revolution

Fig. 1-1, p. 5

Solutions

Understand our environment

Practice sustainability

1-1 What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?

Concept 1-1A Our lives and economies depend on energy from the sun (solar capital) and natural resources and natural services (natural capital) provided by the earth.

Concept 1-1B Living sustainably means living off earth’s natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it.

Studying Connections in Nature

Environment

Environmental science

Ecology

Environmentalism

Environmental Science

Philosophyand

religion Biology

Ethics

Chemistry

Ecology

Physics

Geology

Geography

Anthropology

Demography

Economics

Politicalscience

Fig. 1-2, p. 7

Living More Sustainably

Sustainability – central theme

Natural capital• Natural resources

• Natural services

Natural Resources

Materials• Renewable

• Nonrenewable

Energy• Solar capital

• Photosynthesis

Natural Services

Functions of nature• Purification of air, water

• Nutrient cycling

Key Natural Resources and Services

Fig. 1-3, p. 8

Nutrient Cycling

Deadorganicmatter

Organicmatter inanimals

Organicmatter in

plants

Inorganicmatter in soil

Decomposition

Fig. 1-4, p. 9

Environmental Sustainability

Trade-offs (compromises)

Sound science

Individuals matter• Ideas

• Technology

• Political pressure

• Economic pressure

Sustainable Living from Natural Capital

Environmentally sustainable society

Financial capital and financial income

Natural capital and natural income

Bad news: signs of natural capital depletion at exponential rates

1-2 How Can Environmentally Sustainable Societies Grow Economically?

Concept 1-2 Societies can become more environmentally sustainable through economic development dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone without degrading the earth’s life-support systems.

Economics

Economic growth

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Per capita GDP – PPP

Economic development

Developed countries

Developing countries

Global Outlook

Fig. 1-5, p. 10

Percentage of World's:

Population

Populationgrowth

Wealth andincome

Resourceuse

Pollutionand waste

18%

77 years

0.1%

85%15%

88%

12%

75%

25%

Life expectancy

82%

1.5%

66 years

1-3 How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?

Concept 1-3 As our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earth’s natural capital.

Natural Resources (1)

Perpetual – renewed continuously• Solar energy

Renewable – hours to decades• Water, air

• Forest, grasslands

Natural Resources (2)

Sustainable yield • Highest use while maintaining supply

Environmental degradation• Exceed natural replacement rate

Natural Resources (3)

Nonrenewable – fixed quantities• Energy (fossil fuels)

• Metallic minerals

• Nonmetallic minerals

Recycling

Reuse

Natural Capital Degradation

Fig. 1-6, p. 12

Reuse and Recycling

Fig. 1-7, p. 12

Measuring Environmental Impact

Ecological footprint• Biological capacity to replenish resources and

adsorb waste and pollution

Per capita ecological footprint• Renewable resource use per individual

Ecological Footprint

Fig. 1-8, p. 13

Fig. 1-8, p. 13

Stepped Art

Projected footprint

Ecological footprint

Earth’s ecological capacity

Total Ecological Footprint (million hectares) and share of Global Ecological Capacity (%)

Per Capita Ecological Footprint (hectares per person)

Case Study: China

Rapidly developing country• Middle-class affluent lifestyles

World’s leading consumer in:• Wheat, rice, meat, coal, fertilizers, steel, cement• Televisions, cell phones, refrigerators

Future consumption• 2/3 world grain harvest• Twice world’s current paper production• Exceed current global oil production

1-4 What Is Pollution and What Can We Do about It?

Concept 1-4 Preventing pollution is more effective and less costly than cleaning up pollution.

Pollution

What is pollution?

Point sources

Nonpoint sources

Unwanted effects of pollution

Point Source Air Pollution

Fig. 1-9, p. 15

Solutions to Pollution

Pollution prevention (input control)• Front-of-the-pipe

Pollution cleanup (output control)• End-of-the-pipe

Disadvantages of Output Control

Temporary• Growth in consumption may offset technology

Moves pollutant from one place to another• Burial

• Incineration

Dispersed pollutants costly to clean up

1-5 Why Do We Have Environmental Problems?

Concept 1-5A Major causes of environmental problems are population growth, wasteful and unsustainable resource use, poverty, excluding the environmental costs of resource use from the market prices of goods and services, and trying to manage nature with insufficient knowledge.

Concept 1-5B People with different environmental worldviews often disagree about the seriousness of environmental problems and what we should do about them.

Causes of Environmental Problems

Population growth

Wasteful and unsustainable resource use

Poverty

Failure to include environmental costs of goods and services in market prices

Too little knowledge of how nature works

Five Basic Causes of Environmental Problems

Fig. 1-10, p. 16

Fig. 1-10, p. 16

Trying to manage nature without knowing enoughabout it

Populationgrowth

Unsustainableresource use

Poverty Excludingenvironmental costs from market prices

Fig. 1-10, p. 16

Stepped Art

Causes of Environmental Problems

Trying to manage nature without knowing enoughabout it

Excludingenvironmental costs from market prices

PovertyUnsustainableresource use

Populationgrowth

Some Harmful Results of Poverty

Fig. 1-11, p. 16

Number of people(% of world's population)

0.84 billion (13%)

1 billion (15%)

1.1 billion (16%)

1.1 billion (16%)

2 billion (30%)

2 billion (30%)

2.6 billion (39%)

Enough foodfor good health

Adequatehousing

Adequatehealth care

Clean drinkingwater

Electricity

Enough fuel forheating and cooking

Adequatesanitation facilities

Lack ofaccess to

Global Connections

Fig. 1-12, p. 16

Environmental Effects of Affluence

Harmful effects• High consumption and waste of resources

Beneficial effects• Concern for environmental quality

• Provide money for environmental causes

• Reduced population growth

Evaluating Full Cost of Resources Use

Examples• Pay for Clear-cutting-forest, not for habitat loss

• Pay for Commercial fishing, not depletion of fish stocks

Governments give, tax breaks and subsidies to support businesses but this will result in degradation of natural resources.

Environmental Viewpoints Environmental worldview: a set of assumption and

values reflection how world work and what is your role.

Environmental ethics: our belief about what is right and what is wrong and how we should deal with the environment.

Planetary management worldview: we are separate from nature and nature exist to meet our needs.

Stewardship worldview: we should manage the earth for our benefits but we are ethically responsible to be caring.

Environmental wisdom worldview: we are part of, and totally dependent on nature and nature exist for all species not just for us.

Social capital: to get people with different views to work together and to find common ground based on understanding and trust.

Case Study: Chattanooga, Tennessee (1)

1960s • Dirtiest air in the United States

• Toxic waste in Tennessee River

• High unemployment, crime

1984• Vision 2000 – grassroots consensus

Case Study: Chattanooga, Tennessee (2)

1995• Zero emission industries, buses

• Low-income renovations, downtown renewal

Individuals matter!

1-6 What Are Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability?

Concept 1-6 Nature has sustained itself for billions of years by using solar energy, biodiversity, population regulation, and nutrient cycling – lessons from nature that we can apply to our lifestyles and economies.

Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability

Fig. 1-13, p. 20

Population Control

Reliance onSolar Energy

Biodiversity

Nutrient Cycling

Learning to Live More Sustainably

Fig. 1-14, p. 20

Increasing resource use

Sustainability EmphasisCurrent Emphasis

Pollution prevention

Waste prevention

Protecting habitat

Environmental restoration

Less resource waste

Population stabilization

Protecting natural capital

Waste disposal(bury or burn)

Pollution cleanup

Protecting species

Environmentaldegradation

Depleting and degrading natural capital

Population growth