KEY QUESTIONS• How best do we shift to a culture of permanence, both for

ourselves and for the biosphere that sustains us?– Is economic growth possible without growing inequality, worsening

social conditions, and a degrading environment?– How do we achieve simultaneous sustainability in our economic and

natural systems?• How much is the biosphere worth?• How do we overcome the catch 22 that everyone has the right to

reproduce AND maximize their use of common property resources (tragedy of the commons)

• How do we improve the quality of life for the billion who live on less than a dollar a day while also curbing unbridled consumption in the developed world?

• How do we ethically grapple with a population likely to double in the next 50 years and skyrocketing consumption levels?

The Population Picture

Population

Resources

PerpetualPerpetual

RenewableRenewable

Non-renewableNon-renewable

Fig. 1-6 p. 9Fig. 1-6 p. 9

A Systems View of Resource Type

RenewableResource

Non-RenewableResource

PerpetualResource

Regeneration Use

Depletion

Energy Consumption

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Gross Domestic Product

Healthcare Spending

Child Mortality

HIV / AIDS

Ecological Footprint (stop)

• Average amount of productive land and shallow sea appropriated by each person for water, housing, energy, food, transportation, commerce, and waste absorption– World Average= 5.8 Acres (2.3 hectares)World Average= 5.8 Acres (2.3 hectares)– 2.5 acres (1 hectare) in developing countries2.5 acres (1 hectare) in developing countries– 3.8 acres (1.5 hectares) in China– 6.2 acres (2.5 hectares) in Mexico– 2.0 acres (0.8 hectares) in Ethiopia– 5.0 acres (2.0 hectares) in Peru/Philippians– 24 acres (9.6 hectares) in United States24 acres (9.6 hectares) in United States– 22 acres (8.8 hec) in Canada/New Zealand– 12 acres (4.8 hectares) in Japan– 13.2 acres (5.3 hectares) in England

10X10X

Components of the Ecological Footprint

• Oxygen

• Food

• Water

• Fiber

• Energy

• Employment

• Infrastructure

• Waste Disposal

• Recreation

Overshooting Carrying Capacity

• ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT– World Average= 2.3 hectares per global citizen– Ecological Reality: 2.0 TOTAL with only 1.7 hectares per

capita are available for human use.– Our planet currently overshoots capacity by ~20%

• And this is a conservative number that assumes biodiversity can be preserved on only 0.3 hec/capita

• For every person in the world to reach present US levels of consumption would require 4 more 4 more planet earthsplanet earths

Ecological Footprint

• The area of the Earth’s productive surface (land and sea) necessary to support a given human lifestyle

Total Ecological Impact

Affluenza

• Material Possessions

• Unsustainable consumption and materialism– Do you NEED it or do you WANT it?– Can I use it secondhand (Reuse)?– Can I borrow it?

• An Immigrant’s view

Technology

• Can have both positive and negative impacts

The Global Systems Science Perspective

Human Impacts

• Decreasing biodiversity through habitat destruction• Reducing biodiversity by simplifying ecosystems• Using most of the Earth’s primary productivity• Unintended strengthening of pest species• Elimination of predators• Introduction of non-native species• Overharvesting of renewable resources• Interference with normal chemical cycling and energy

flows in ecosystems• Increasing dependency on non-renewable energy from

fossil fuels

What to do?

Principles to Live By

• Our lives, lifestyles, and economies are totally dependent upon the sun and earth

• Everything is connected to everything else• We can never do merely one thing• We should reduce and minimize the

damage we do to nature• We should use restraint, humility, and

cooperation with nature as we alter the biosphere to meet our needs and wants…

What can we do?

Social Economic

Environmental

SustainableSolutions

Environmental

Social Economic

Traditional decision makingDecision making in asustainable society

Principles of Sustainability

How Nature Works Lessons for Us

Runs on renewable solar energy.

Recycles nutrients and wastes. There is little waste in nature.

Uses biodiversity to maintain itself and adapt to new environmental conditions.

Controls a species population size and resource use by interactions with its environment and other species.

Rely mostly on renewable solar energy.

Prevent and reduce pollution and recycle and reuse resources.

Preserve biodiversity by protecting ecosystem services and preventing premature extinctionof species.

Reduce births and wasteful resource use to prevent environmental overload and depletion anddegradation of resources.

Solutions

Learn from Nature!

Planetary Management

• As the planet’s most important species, we are in charge of the earth.

• Because of our ingenuity and technology we will not run out of resources.

• The potential for economic growth is essentially unlimited.

• Our success depends on how well we manage the earth’s life-support systems mostly for our benefit

Environmental Wisdom

• Nature exists for all species and we are not in charge of the earth.

• Resources are limited, should not be wasted, and are not all for us.

• We should encourage earth- sustaining forms of economic growth and discourage earth degrading forms.

• Our success depends on learning how the earth sustains itself and integrating such lessons from nature into the ways we think and act

Stewardship

• We are the planet’s most important species but we have an ethical responsibility to care for the rest of nature.

• We will probably not run out of resources, but they should not be wasted. • We should encourage environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth and discourage environmentally harmful forms.

• Our success depends on how well we manage the earth’s life-support systems for our benefit and for the rest of nature

Environmental Worldviews

Distribution of Wealth

GNP per capita, 1998

Low income (Under $1,000)

Middle income ($1,000–$10,000)

High income (Above $10,000)

Fig. 1.5, p. 9

Fish Population Biology

• Population Distributions– Random– Uniform– Clumped

• One Method to Measure Fish Populations:– Mark - Recapture: “Something’s Fishy!”

http://www.biology.iupui.edu