environmental science. what is an environmentally sustainable society?

Environmental Science

What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?

What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?

SUSTAINABILITY

The ability of earth’s natural and human cultural systems to survive and adapt to changing

environmental conditions indefinitely

An environmentally sustainable society meets current and future basic resource needs of people in a just and equitable way without compromising

the environment for future generations

Key Principles of Sustainability

PRESERVING NATURAL CAPITAL • Natural resources• Renewable (renews in hrs – decades)• Nonrenewable (fixed quantities)

• Natural services• Functions of nature

RELIANCE ON SOLAR CAPITAL• Perpetual energy from the sun• Creates renewable energy

• Wind, hydropower, biomass

Environmental Sustainability and Economic Growth

The economy and the environment are closely linked• The environment contains all resources used in

the economy• The economy supports the development (and

preservation) of resources Environmentally sustainable economic growth

and development• Increasing productivity of goods and services

while improving the quality of life without degrading the earth’s natural capital

Key Natural Resources and Services

Fig. 1-3, p. 8

Environmental Sustainability – living off the earth’s natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital

Fig. 1-1, p. 1

Hunting and gathering

Agricultural revolution

Industrial revolution

Black Death—the Plague

Industrial revolution

Fig. 1-1, p. 5

World populationExponential Growth

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

How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?

The Lorax• Part 1• Part 2

How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?

We are depleting and degrading more and more of the earth’s natural capital.

Sustainable yield • Applies to renewable resources• Highest use while maintaining supply

Environmental degradation• Use more than the sustainable yield• Exceed natural replacement rate

Fig. 1-6, p. 12

Since the beginning of agriculture, human activities have accelerated natural soil erosion -1 cm can take hundreds of years to form

Measuring Environmental Impact

Ecological footprint• Amount of biologically productive land and water

needed to supply renewable resources and adsorb the waste and pollution produced

• Ecological deficit• When ecological footprint exceeds biological

capacity• Currently exceeding earth’s biological capacity by

over 25%• Expected to reach 100% by 2050

Per capita ecological footprint

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)

Why do we have Environmental Problems?

Fig. 1-9, p. 15Environmental problems are growing exponentially

Pollution is an obvious environmental problem

What is pollution?• Any chemical or physical change in the

environment – harmful to living organisms• Natural – volcano• Human induced - industry

• Point sources – single, identifiable• Smokestack, oil spill, car exhaust

• Nonpoint sources – dispersed, difficult to identify

• Fertilizer runoff, acid rain

Unwanted effects of pollution?

Solutions to Pollution

Five basic causes of the environmental problems.

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

By the end of the century – resource consumption by the growing population will be responsible for loss of 1/3 to ½ of all known species

Harmful Effects of Poverty

Fig. 1-12, p. 16

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

Environmental Effects of “Affluence”

Harmful effects• Obtain resources from anywhere in the world• Don’t count environmental cost of resource use • High consumption and waste of resources• False advertising – more makes you happy• “Affluenza”: The addiction to overconsumption of

material goods

Beneficial effects• Concern for environmental quality• Provide money for environmental causes• Reduced population growth

Moving Towards an Environmentally Sustainable Society

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

Fig. 1-13, p. 20

Population Control

Reliance onSolar Energy

Biodiversity

Nutrient Cycling

What Are the Four Scientific Principles of Sustainability?

AP - Chapter 1 test - Free Response

Developed countries are the largest consumers and wasters of resources (overconsumption) while poorer

developing countries under consume. This imbalance of resource utilization has led to a growing

condition known as affluenza.

1. Define affluenza in terms of sustainability. Where does the problem exist and what are some of the

causes?2. How can affluenza be implicated in having both negative and positive effects on the environment?