ESC 301 INTRODUCTION Ferhan een

What is the Environment?

The environment encompasses the whole of life on earth and the complex interactions that link the living world with the physical world In a general sense, this covers everything contained within the air, land and water Time also is a key factor as historic issues have an influence on the status of the environment - locally and globally, both now and in the future.

Environmental Change
Sudden and dramatic natural changes to the environment have occurred in the distant past, but only relatively recently has one species had the potential to upset the whole balance of the Earth's ecosystem The global population has risen dramatically during the last century The rise of industry and its rapid expansion has been a major source of pollution. This has caused changes in the balance of our environment

What is Environmental Science?

The goals of environmental science are to learn: how nature works. how the environment affects us. how we affect the environment. how we can live more sustainably without degrading our lifesupport system.

LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY

the study of how the earth works, how we interact with the earth and how to deal with environmental problems.

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

Is the current growth rate sustainable in the future? This idea assumes that we have the right to use the earths resources and earth capital to meet our needs but that we have the obligation to pass on the earths resources and services to future generations in as good or better shape than these conditions were passed on to us.

Six important environmental issues

Population growth Increasing resource use Global climate change Premature extinction of plants and animals Pollution Poverty

GROWTH AND THE WEALTH GAP

ECOLOGICAL VS. ECONOMIC RESOURCES

Ecological resource - is anything required by an organism for normal maintenance, growth, and production. Economic resource - is anything obtained from the environment to meet human needs and wants.

Nonrenewable resources Exist as fixed quantity Recycling and reusing extends supply
Recycling processes waste material into new material. Reuse is using a resource over again in the same form.

Renewable resources Renewable resources - solar. Potentially renewable resources - can be replenished fairly rapidly through natural processes.

Ecological Footprint
The amount of productive land and water a given population requires to produce all the resources they consume and take in all the waste they make using prevailing technology.

Country

Per Capita Ecological Footprint (Hectares of land per person)

10.9

United States The Netherlands India 1.0 5.9

Figure 1-8 (1) Page 10

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Country
United States The Netherlands India

Total Ecological Footprint (Hectares)

3 billion hectares 94 million hectares 1 billion hectares

Figure 1-8 (2) Page 10

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Environmental Pollution
Norman R. Rowan/Stock Boston

Pollution is the harmful alteration of our environment by our own actions. Pollutants either unwanted by-products or our activities or the obnoxious residues of things we have made, used, and thrown away. Air Pollution Water Pollution Land Pollution Global Warming Noise Pollution Aesthetic Damage

Types of Pollution
Air pollution
Most air pollution is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Water pollution
Organic sewage Eutrophication Infectious agents Organic chemicals Inorganic and miscellaneous chemicals Sediments from land corrosion Radioactive substances Waste heat from power plants and industry

Types of PollutionContinued
Land pollution
Pesticides chemicals used to kill insects defined as pests. Herbicides chemicals used to kill plant life, particularly weeds. Chemical wastes Radioactive fallout Acid rain Garbage

Global warming
Since the late 1800s the average global surface temperature has increased about 0.75 degrees C. Most warming has occurred since 1950.

Pollutants can have three types of unwanted effects: Can disrupt / degrade life-support systems. Can damage health and property. Can create nuisances such as noise and unpleasant smells, tastes, and sights.

Three factors determine how severe the harmful effects of a pollutant are: 1. The concentration level: ppm, ppt etc. 2. Chemical nature: how active and harmful it is in nature? 3. Half-life or the persistence of the pollutant. (DDT is an example of a persistent pollutant).

SOLUTIONS TO POLLUTION
POLLUTION CONTROL POLLUTION PREVENTION

Major environmental and resource problems

Global Environmental Issues

From http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/intro/21cent/kankyo/contents_e/globe_prob/index.html

Global Warming Ozone Layer Depletion Acid Rain Deforestation Loss of Biodiversity Water Pollution Desertification Waste disposal

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF A POPULATION

In the early 1970s, Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren developed a model summarized as: Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology

 Natural Resources
No nation is self-sufficient in the modern world. Population growth accelerates the consumption of earths natural resources. For example, over the course of human history, nearly half of the earths forests have been depleted, most of which has occurred since 1970.

Energy Production and Consumption

Consumption is growing more rapidly than production. Energy use per capita is increasing in most of the developing nations.

Ecological Balance The lust for more affluence and unrestrained population growth are ravaging the environment Paul Ehrlich. A number of species of animals and plants have disappeared. People depend on biological diversity for the quality of their lives. Urbanization the increasing concentration of people living in cities.

Other Problems
The Economic Costs Damage to livestock, trees, and crops Death of wildlife Expense of pollution-control measures Cost of medical care for those whose health is affected Lost work time due to ill health Expense of maintaining and refurbishing buildings and other structures that deteriorated because of pollution Cost of restoring the quality of the air and of waterways. Threat to World Peace

Social Psychological Factors

Attitudes and the Environment Many people see the earth as a resource to be mined rather than as a trust to be cared for. Values and the Environment