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Environmental Sustainability Society Chapter 1
- 1. Chapter 1Chapter 1 Environmentally SustainableEnvironmentally Sustainable SocietySociety By Mr. “hungry” ChapmanBy Mr. “hungry” Chapman
- 2. Environmental SustainabilityEnvironmental Sustainability • Sustainability – Ability of earth’s various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely. • Human actions have put long-term sustainability in doubt
- 3. It’s All About SustainabilityIt’s All About Sustainability • Sustainability depends on three key principles • 1. Solar energy – Warmth, Energy for plants to make food, Powers water cycle, creates wind
- 5. Principals’ of SustainabilityPrincipals’ of Sustainability • 2. Biodiversity (biological diversity) – Variety of species, many ecosystems, renew soil and purify air and water
- 7. Principals’ of SustainabilityPrincipals’ of Sustainability • 3. Chemical Cycling – Recycles nutrients because limited supply, cycle from organisms to environment and back, needed to sustain life
- 9. Fig. 1-1, p. 5 Solar Energy BiodiversityChemical Cycling
- 10. What Is an EnvironmentallyWhat Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?Sustainable Society? • Our lives and economies depend on energy from the sun, natural resources, and natural services provided by the earth. • Living sustainably means living off earth’s natural processes without depleting or degrading the natural resources.
- 12. Living More SustainablyLiving More Sustainably • Natural Resources - resources and services that keep us and other forms of life alive. • Natural resources – materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans (air, water, soil) • Natural services – process in nature that support life like purification of air and water, nutrient cycling.
- 13. Fig. 1-2, p. 7
- 14. Dead organic matter Organic matter in animals Organic matter in plants Inorganic matter in soil Decomposition Fig. 1-3, p. 8
- 15. 1-2 How Are Our Ecological1-2 How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?Footprints Affecting the Earth? • Perpetual resource – renewed continuously (Solar energy) • Renewable resource – days to centuries (water, air, forests, soil, fish populations) • Nonrenewable – fixed quantities (fossil fuels, metals, minerals) • Environmental degradation - exceeds natural replacement rate. • As our ecological footprints grow, we deplete and degrade more of the earth’s natural capital.
- 16. Fig. 1-4, p. 10
- 17. Ecological FootprintEcological Footprint • Ecological footprint – The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to indefinitely supply the people in a given area with renewable resources – Also includes the land and water necessary to absorb and recycle wastes and pollution • Per capita ecological footprint – Average ecological footprint of an individual in a given area (takes into account number of people) • China – large ecological footprint because so many people • China – small per capita footprint each person only contributes a little
- 18. Fig. 1-5, p. 11 Stepped Art
- 19. Ecological FootprintEcological Footprint • Ecological deficit –Total ecological footprint greater than what the earth can support –2008 study: at least 30% global excess –Humans currently need 1.3 earths –88% for high-income countries –Need 6 earths if everyone lived like Americans
- 20. Fig. 1-7, p. 13 Environmental impact of population (I) Developing Countries Population (P) Developed Countries Consumption per person (affluence, A) Technological impact per unit of consumption (T)
- 21. Developed Countries HaveDeveloped Countries Have Higher ImpactsHigher Impacts • Developed countries –United States, Japan, New Zealand, most of Europe, some others –19% world population –Use 88% of world’s resources –Create 75% of world’s pollution
- 22. Developing CountriesDeveloping Countries • 81% world population • Middle income: Brazil, China, India • Least developed: Haiti, Nigeria, Nicaragua • Use far fewer resources per capita (per person) than developed countries • Smaller per capita ecological footprint
- 23. Tragedy of the CommonsTragedy of the Commons • Environmental degradation of openly shared renewable resources • Users focus on their own selfish, short- term gain • Works when only a small number of users • Big part of why humans now live unsustainably
Editor's Notes
- SOLAR ENERGY Warms earth Provides energy for plants to make food for other organisms Powers winds Powers the hydrologic cycle – which includes flowing water Provides energy: wind and moving water can be turned into electricity Biodiversity Large variety of species Many ecosystems Deserts Forests Oceans Grasslands Species and systems renew soil and purify air and water.
- Figure 1-1: Three principles of sustainability: These three interconnected principles of sustainability are derived from learning how nature has sustained a huge variety of life on the earth for at least 3.5 billion years despite drastic changes in environmental conditions. Globe photo used by permission. Image copyright Ragnarock, 2009. Used under license from Shutterstock.com.
- Figure 1-2: Key natural resources (blue) and natural services (orange) that support and sustain the earth’s life and economies
- Figure 1-3: Nutrient cycling: an important natural service that recycles chemicals needed by organisms from the environment (mostly from soil and water) through organisms and back to the environment.
- Figure 1-4: Degradation of normally renewable natural resources and services in parts of the world, mostly as a result of rising population and resource use per person.
- Figure 1.8: Natural capital use and degradation: total and per capita ecological footprints of selected countries (top). In 2003, humanity’s total or global ecological footprint was about 25% higher than the earth’s ecological capacity (bottom) and is projected to be twice the planet’s ecological capacity by 2050. Question: If we are living beyond the earth’s ecological capacity, why do you think the human population and per capita resource consumption are still growing exponentially? (Data from Worldwide Fund for Nature, Global Footprint Network)
- Figure 1-7: Connections: simple model of how three factors—number of people, affluence (resource use per person), and technology—affect the environmental impact of populations in developing countries (top) and developed countries (bottom). While many people in affluent countries over-consume, many poor people in developing countries suffer from not having enough resources.