MILLER CHAPTER 1Section 1: Population Growth, Economic Growth, and Economic Development

APES 2013

OBJECTIVES What are the major themes of this book? What keeps us alive? What is an environmentally

sustainable society? How fast is the human population growing? What is the difference between economic growth,

economic development, and environmentally sustainable economic development?

What are the Earth’s main types of resources? How can they be depleted or degraded?

What are the principle types of pollution , and what can we do about pollution?

What are the basic causes of today’s environmental problems, and how are these causes connected?

What are the harmful environmental effects of poverty and affluence?

What three major human cultural changes have taken place since humans arrived?

What are four scientific principles of sustainability and how can they help us build more environmentally sustainable and just societies?

OBJECTIVES (Continued)

How can we live more sustainably?

Living More Sustainably What is Environmental Science?

The study of how the Earth works, how we interact with the Earth and how to deal with environmental problems. It is an interdisciplinary study that integrates information and ideas from the natural sciences and social sciences.

What is the Environment? The sum total of all living and nonliving things that

affect any living organism. What is Ecology?

A field of biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment.

Living More Sustainably Sustainability: The integrative theme of this

class –

The ability of Earth’s various systems, including human cultural systems and economies to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions INDEFINITELY.

The Path To Sustainability1. Natural Capital2. Natural Capital Degradation3. Solutions4. Trade-offs5. Individuals Matter

1. Natural Capital Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural

Services The resources and services that keep us and

other species alive and support our communities.

Not fixed, but ever changing Global warming and cooling trends Asteroids Forests / deforestation Grasslands become deserts Extinction and speciation Forests and grasslands transformed into croplands

NATURAL

CAPITAL=

NATURAL RESOURCES

AirWaterSoilLandLife (Biodiversity)Nonrenewable minerals (iron, sand)Renewable energy (sun, wind, water flows)Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels, nuclear power)

+

NATURAL SERVICES

Air purificationWater purificationWater storageSoil renewalNutrient recyclingFood productionConservation of biodiversityWildlife habitat

2. Natural Capital Degradation Recognizing that many human activities degrade

natural capital by using normally renewable resources faster than nature can renew them.

We need to focus on the RATE at which we are transforming parts of the Earth to meet our needs and desires.

Nature transforms natural systems over the course of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years.

Humans can completely transform natural systems within only five to ten decades. For example, in parts of the world we are clearing forests much faster than nature can regrow them.

3. Workable Solutions For example, one solution may be to stop cutting

down diverse mature forests. Solutions such as the one stated above often

involves conflicts, trade-offs, and compromises.

4. Trade Offs• For example, one trade off may be

promoting the planting of tree plantations in areas that have already been cleared or degraded in order to provide wood for making paper.

5. Individuals Matter An individual scientist may find a way to produce

paper from remnants of crop plants rather than trees.

A group of individuals may work together to pass legislation banning the clear-cutting of ancient forests while encouraging the planting of tree plantations in areas that have already been cleared or degraded.

Sound Science All five of the steps just discussed must be based

on and supported by sound science. Sound Science means that the concepts and

ideas must be widely accepted by experts in a particular field of the natural or social sciences.

For example, sound science tells us that we need to protect and sustain the many natural services provided by diverse, mature forests.

Sound Science also guides us in our design and management of tree plantations and in finding ways to produce paper without using trees, for example.

What Do Environmentally Sustainable Societies Look

Like?

Protecting Natural Capital An Environmentally Sustainable Society…

1. …meets the basic resource needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without degrading or depleting the natural capital that supplies these resources.

2. …does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

3. …lives sustainably Living Sustainably means living off natural income

replenished by soils, plants, air and water and not depleting or degrading the Earth’s natural capital that supplies this income.

Protect Your Natural Capital And Live Off The Income It Provides

Lesson: Imagine you win a million dollars in a lottery.

Invest it at 10% earnings per year and you will have a sustainable (lifetime) annual income of $100,000.

Invest it at 10% earnings per year, but spend $200,000 per year, your million will be depleted early in the 7th year.

Invest it at 10% earnings per year, but spend only $110,000 per year, your million will still disappear, but it will take eighteen years.

The only way to sustain that money indefinitely, is to spend $100,000 per year, or less. Anything more is an unsustainable lifestyle.

What Is The Status of Current Population Growth, Economic Growth, And Economic Development In

The World?

Human Population Growth Human Population GROWTH is slowing, but the

population is still increasing exponentially.

Human population growth is unequally distributed between poor and wealthy countries.

Between 1963 and 2006, the rate at which the population is growing decreased from 2.2% to 1.23%.

Although this rate seems low, it caused the addition of about 81 million people to the world’s population in 2006.

This is an average increase of about 222,000 people per day.

Economic Growth An increase in the capacity of a country to

provide people with goods and services.

Accomplishing this increase requires population growth, more production and consumption per person, or both.

Usually measured by GDP

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The annual market value of all goods and services

produced by all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic, operating within a country.

How economic growth is measured In terms of GDP, the worlds six largest economies in

2006 were (in order):1. USA2. Japan3. Germany4. United Kingdom5. France6. China

Per Capita GDP and PPP

Per Capita GDP is the GDP divided by the total population at midyear.

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a way to measure GDP while taking into account the purchasing power for basic necessities in different countries.

GDP-PPP In terms of GDP-PPP, the world’s six largest

economies in 2006 were, (in order):1. USA2. China3. Japan4. India5. Germany 6. France

Economic Development

The improvement of human living standards by economic growth.

Countries are classified as developed or

developing based primarily on their degree of industrialization and their per capita GDP-PPP.

Developed Countries 1.2 billion people Highly Industrialized High Average Per Capita GDP Include:

United States Canada Japan Australia New Zealand Most European Countries

Developing Countries 5.4 Billion People Sparsely industrialized or unindustrialized Low Average Per Capita GDP Include:

Most countries in Africa Most countries in Asia Most countries in Latin America

Middle Income, Semi-Developed Countries

These countries are moderately developed with middle income ranges and include:China IndiaBrazilMexico

Key Characteristics of Developed and Developing Countries

Population Population Growth

Wealth & Income

Resource Use

Pollution & Waste

0102030405060708090

100 Developed Countries Developing Countries

Worldwide Distribution of Poverty

Projected Population Growth 97% of the projected increase in the world’s

population between now and 2050 is expected to take place in developing nations.

About 1 billion people live in developed countries where the population is stable or growing slowly.

Another billion people live in developing countries and their populations are expected to double by the year 2050.

Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development

Widening income gap between the rich and the poor

Wide gap in education and healthcare between developed and developing countries.

New environmental goal is to use political and economic systems to encourage environmentally beneficial and sustainable economic development and to discourage environmentally harmful and unsustainable economic development.

How long does it take to double the world’s population or economic

growth at various exponential rates of growth?

Doubling Time and Exponential Growth

Rule of 70 70 ÷ percentage growth rate = doubling time in

years

Population Example: In 2006, the Earth’s human population grew by 1.23%. IF that rate were to continue, the worlds population would double in 57 years. (70/1.23 = 57 years)

Economic Example:If you have $$$ in an investment account growing exponentially at 7% a year, and leave annual returns in the account, you will double your money in only 10 years. (70/7 = 10 years)