45:211: environmental geography module 12 sustainability

45:211: Environmental Geography

Module 12

Sustainability


Sustainable Living

• Sustainably means that:– We use the essential products and processes of

nature no more quickly than they can be renewed/produced

– We discharge wastes no more quickly than they can be absorbed.

• Global carrying capacity is based on the sustainability of global ecosystems.


Humans are Part of Nature

• As we eat, drink and breath, we constantly exchange energy and matter with our environment.– Food chains that support animal life – including

our own – are based on plant ecosystems.– Nature absorbs our wastes and provides life-

support services such as clean water, climate stability and protection from UV radiation.


Ecosystem Services

• The Earth's human economies would soon collapse without fertile soil, fresh water, breathable air, and an amenable climate – These are Nature's life-support services

• The human economy depends on ecosystems– It’s not the other way around


Nature and Economy


Global Commons

• These provide us with – air– water– soil– nutrients– climate stability– natural resources


Waste not, Want not

• We treat waste as a problem of disposal. We bury it instead of reusing or recycling it.– Where and how to bury it becomes an

environmental issue.– The consequences of waste disposal become

environmental problems (air pollution, etc).

• We treat natural systems of waste absorption and disposal as free goods and services.


Do More with Less

• Energy and material efficiency

• Use alternate (renewable) sources of energy

• Recycle and re-use wastes

• Reduce consumption - find quality of life in other ways


Sustainability: Two Sides

Ecological sustainability underpins socioeconomic sustainability

• The necessary conditions for developing sustainability: – Securing a satisfactory quality of life for all

(socioeconomic imperative). While– Reducing the Ecological Footprints of the

industrialized countries (ecological imperative).


Standard of Living

• The necessities and luxuries essential to a level of existence that is customary within a society or culture.


Sustainability Gap

• Developing countries aspire to the higher standard of living of developed countries– More material growth, at least in the poor

countries, seems essential for socioeconomic sustainability.


Ecology Gap

• According to Ecological Footprint analysis, the current level of global human consumption exceeds the available ecological capacity of the Earth by 30%. – From this perspective, any global increase in

material and waste throughput seems ecologically unsustainable.


Sustainability Challenge

• If we rely on conventional economic strategies and technologies to fix development problems, the additional energy and material growth would further compromise global ecosystems. – Sustainable development is more than simple

economic reform. – How can we decrease humanity’s total ecological

impact while providing adequately for the needs of all humankind?


SUMMARY• Conventional wisdom:

– Global population cannot grow indefinitely

• Unconventional wisdom:– Material consumption cannot grow indefinitely– Carrying capacity is limited by ecological resources

• Sustainability means finding an ecological footprint that preserves the integrity of global ecosystems - on which we all depend

45:211: environmental geography module 12 sustainability

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