sustain natural resource cons (1)

8/18/2019 Sustain Natural Resource Cons (1)

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Sustainability

and NaturalResourceConservation



What we will cover

• the global environmental picture

– to set the stage for the course

• three strategic themes– sustainability– stewardship– sound science (actually on Friday



!he "essons of #aster $sland

• society fails to care for the environmentand sustain it

• population increases beyond carryingcapacity

• disparity between rich and poor widens



%ow to &revent a 'lobal ersion

of the #aster $sland )isaster

• understand how the natural world wor*s

• *now how human and natural systemsinteract

• accurately assess the status and trends of

crucial natural ecosystems• establish long+term sustainable

relationships with the natural world



!he 'lobal #nvironmental &icture

• rapid human population growth and

increasing consumption per person• decline of ecosystems

• global atmospheric changes

• loss of biodiversity



Rapid %uman &opulation 'rowth

~7,278,000,000~322,000,000



'lobal ,tmospheric Changes



$s there a crisis-

• population (e.ponential increase

• resource consumption and depletion (/nited

States0 12 population uses 342 resources– depleted water supplies

– agricultural soils degraded

– oceans over fished

– forests cut faster than they can grow• pollution

– progress made5 but 67



Can technology save us-

• really need multidisciplinary science

• biological and social

• problems not always straight forwardto solve– first Clean ,ir ,ct in early 89:4s

– trifluoroacetate (!F,s• replacement for CFC;s

• enters ecosystems from precipitation



!hree Strategic !hemes

• sustainability0 interactions with the naturalworld that we should be wor*ing toward

• stewardship0 the ethical and moralframewor* of our actions

• sound science0 the basis for our

understanding of how the world wor*s



/nifying !hemes



Four )imensions to Sustainable

Solutions

• environmental

• social

• economic

• political



Sustainability

• meet our needs without preventing futuregenerations and other species from

meeting their needs• seventh generation

<$n our every deliberation we must consider the

impact of our decisions on the ne.t sevengenerations= From the 'reat law of the$ro>uois Confederacy



Sustainability further defined

• system or process is sustainable if it canbe continued indefinitely without depleting

any of the material or energy resourcesre>uired to *eep it running

– corn?soybean production in $llinois-

– harvesting forests in 'eorgia5 @ritish Columbia5@raAil-

– swordfish in the ,tlantic-



Stewardship

• ethical and moral framewor* that guidesour actions

• we care for something that is not ours topass on to future generations

• ma*e decisions everyday



%ow Stewardship $s

)emonstrated

• recognition that a trust has

been given• responsible care for something

not owned

• desire to pass something on tofuture generations



%istory of Conservation

• realiAed in early B4th century the damagewe had done in /S– logging5 farming5 draining

• ,ldo "eopold in 8933

• then Silent Spring in 89B + Rachel Carson

• 89:4s environmental laws– Clean ,ir5 Water5 #ndangered Species



Sustainable #thics (what we thin* is

right or wrong

• #arth has limited supply of resources• must be managed carefully• other species re>uire a share of the wealth• core value is that humans and nature are

ine.tricably lin*ed– land ethic5 ,ldo "eopold5 Sand County ,lmanac (89D9

– held that humans were part of a larger community that

included the soil5 water5 plants5 and animals5 which hereferred to as the land

– humans should shift from <con>ueror 6 to plain membersand citiAens of it=



'lobaliAation

• the accelerating interconnectedness of

human activities5 ideas5 and cultures– health improvements

– global mar*ets

– improved crop yields– dilution or destruction of cultural and

religious ideals



'lobaliAation

– environmentally friendly consumer goods

– economic reorganiAation of the world– worldwide spread of emerging diseases

– dispersion of e.otic species

– trade in haAardous wastes

– spread of persistent organic pollutants



!he #nvironment in the B8st

Century• the big issues

– corporate accountability

– globaliAation and W!E– trade and subsidies

– climate and energy

– development priorities and aid

• if we do not change direction5 we will endup where we are heading

sustain natural resource cons (1)

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