The Course - Content Science and environmental issues Not an environmentalist activist

perspective Evaluation of environmental issues Careers in environmental science

The Course - the “process” First year college course Content - The College Board AP Program Lab and field study based learning Less lecture - more independent

responsibility Emphasis on current events

Goals Goals:

Prepare for APES AP test Critical Thinking: Evaluating issues and “coming to

judgement” Demonstrate and apply sound science and scientific

method Understand environmental issues as interdiscinplinary:

Science, Technology, Society (STS)

Environmental Science vs. Ecology Ecology - branch of biology Environmental science

Uses natural sciences and social sciences to:assess how earth worksevaluate how were are affecting

earth’s life-support systemsevaluate best ways to to deal with

environmental problems, and hopefully reach sustainability

Unifying Themes Sustainability and Sustainability

Development What is sustainability? Are our current social/economic systems sustainable? If not, can the global society become sustainable?

Ecological Principle: Everything is connected - there is no such thing as a free lunch

Four Dimensions to Sustainable Development

Environmental Social

Political Economic

Sustainability – text definition “An environmental sustainable society satisfies the basic needs

of it people for food, clean water clean air and shelter in the indefinite future without depleting or degrading the earth’s natural resources” (pare 4)

In addition to helping sustain the earth’s life support systems, sustainable development leads to greater economic security, healthier life-styles, and worldwide improvement in the human condition (15)

Sustainability – Protect your Capital Can all of earth’s population live at or near the

consumption levels of the developed countries? Can technology solve the problems?

Can human societies: Living off of interest, thus not using up capital What are some examples?

Read and analyze: “Natural Capital” by Paul Hawken (page 17)

Natural Capital – Hawkins (16-17) I: “..cyclic industrial systems work better than linear

ones.” Relate to throughput page 60 Contrast to natural ecosystems

II: Discuss- “Markets are not giving us correct information about how much our suburbs, cars, and plastic drinking water bottles truly cost based on the environmental harm they cause”

III. Discuss: A “more rational economic system “…” is based on the simple but powerful proposition that all capital must be valued .” In your discussion, be surely to clearly “define” and explain natural capital.

IV. Round 2: You are Gary Hardin. If you were in charge of the worlds economy, what are the three most important things you would do?

Ecological Footprint

Definition: amount of land needed to produce resources needed for a person(or average person) in a country

Compare: developed and developing Compare: Netherlands and U.S. Calculate your footprint

Can Exponential Growth Continue? Constant Rate but not constant number “A quantity increases by a fixed percentage of the whole in a given time”

Essentially, compound interest Growth at a given rate Doubling time is calculated if rate remains same Number organisms added per unit time increases

Examples: Folding paper Bacteria in a bottle

Read: Current Exponential Growth of the Human Population (5)

16

15

14

13

12

11 Billio

ns o

f peo

ple

?

?

?

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

02-5 million

years8000 6000 4000 2000 2000 2100

Hunting and gathering

Black Death–the Plague

Time

Industrialrevolution

Agricultural revolution

B.C. A.D.

Exponential Growth

DO NOT POST TO INTERNET

Human Population Growth Doubling time - rule of 70

70/ % growth rate = doubling time Growth rate is decreasing

1963: 2.1% 2002: 1.28%

BUT, demands for resources growing exponentially Pollution growing exponentially

World Population Reached

1 billion in 1804

2 billion in 1927 (123 years later)

3 billion in 1960 (33 years later)

4 billion in 1974 (14 years later)

5 billion in 1987 (13 years later)

6 billion in 1999 (12 years later)

World Population May Reach

7 billion in 2013 (14 years later)

8 billion in 2028 (15 years later)

9 billion in 2050 (22 years later)

World total

Developingcountries

Developedcountries

Po

pu

lati

on

(b

illi

on

s)

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

1950

2000 2050 2100

YearFigure 1-4Page 6

Economic development

Improvement of living standards by economic growth How to measure “living standards”?

Probably best measure: Per Capita GNI PPP Page 4

Developed countries Developing countries

World Night Lights NA night lights

Per capita GNI PPP, 2001

Low income (Under $2,700)

Middle income ($2,701–$10,750)

High income (Above $10,750)

Environmental Impact of Human Population

Simplified model (13) population consumption (measured by affluence) technologic impact of unit of consumption

Resources

Definition Perpetual resources Renewable resources

Sustainable yield How can renewable resources become non-

sustainable?

Nonrenewable resources economic depletion vs actual depletion

Extending “life” of non-renewables

Reduce Reusing Recycling

What non-renewables cannot be recycled or reused?

Pollution Definition Natural or anthropogenic Point vs. nonpoint Effects of pollutants (11) Solutions:

Elimination of the waste Prevent from reaching environment Five R’s: refuse to use, replace, reduce, reuse.

Recycle

Is dilution a solution to pollution? Maybe sometimes? Maybe not??

Pollution Cleanup (output control) (11)

Cleanup after produced Problems

Temporary bandage – as long as population continues to grow

Removes from one location, but puts pollutant into another (eg, scrubbers)

Dispersal – low concentrations, almost impossible to cleanup

Tragedy of the Commons Activity

Activity: In notebook, keep track of data after each round (everyone fishes) Round 1: NO talking – fishing isolated from all

team members 10 seconds to fish Fish replace 1 for every two remaining; less than four,

population eliminated Cup more than ½ full, fish exceed carrying capacity.

Tragedy of the Commons Activity

Round 2: NO talking – fishing isolated from all team members

SAME rules as round 1: better technology Round 3: Discuss before beginning – may

talk throughout activity 10 seconds to fish Fish replace 1 for every two remaining; less than four,

population eliminated Cup more than ½ full, fish exceed carrying capacity. CHOOSE “technology”

Global Issues

Awareness began in 1980’s Acid precipitation

Ozone depletion Global climate change Ocean pollution and depletion of fish

resources

Global Atmospheric Changes

Globalization

World becoming more integratedEconomic

1970-2002: 7,000 to 60,000 transnational corporations

Communication and informationPollutants

Acid precipitation, climate change, ozone depletion, depletion of ocean resources

What are the key environmental problems? (12)

Diagram page 12

Causes of environmental problems (12)

Rapid population growth Unsustainable resource use Poverty Cost of economic goods excludes costs of

pollution Not enough knowledge about complex

natural systems Think of the “Precautionary Principle”

Optimism or pessimism - Experts disagree

Political viewpoint Economics World views

How serious is an environmental problem? What can be done?

What is economic impact of reducing pollution or resource use?

Are technologies available? Who gains and who losses?

Good news

Global food production outpaced global population growth since 1970

Pollution growth rate is reduced worldwide

Infant mortality decreased worldwide In developed countries: cleaner

water and airMuch more interest and concern

about environmental issues

Bad News Pollution in developing countries increased –

clean water a big problem Exponential increase in use of most natural

resources Population still increasing in developing

countries Global climate change Gulf between rich/poor widening Global decrease in biodiversity Economic systems do not incorporate pollution

costs Globalization

How can governments reduce pollution

Incentives: subsidies and tax write-offs Regulations, fines, taxes

Require pollution cleanup Research funds Education Developed world provide model for

developing Reduce or eliminate loans for developed

countries

Interactions: nature and humans

Conventional vs. Ecological Economists ( 693-697)

Conventional Economic systems independent of natural systems Human technology/ingenuity will deal with shortages and

destruction of biodiversity

Ecological economics – Hawkin’s ideas Economic system subsystem of environment

Natural capital supplies and maintains economic systems

Environmentally sustainable economic development Economic system “mimics” natural systems Recycling Not depleting earth’s net primary productivity Living off ecological income, not the capital

An Alternative: Environmental Accounting

Subtract from GNI things that lead to a lower quality of life and resource depletion

Add things that enhance environmental quality and human well-being

Problem: how to determine the value of such environmental indicators

NOTE: today's GNI does not account for environmental/human externalities – only dollar costs and benefits (income)

External Costs (697-700)

Costs not incorporated in the final consumer cost of product Thus, Hawkin’s “improper accounting”

Costs passed on to public and maybe future generations

Problem: Can they be quantified? Some quantifiable, some difficult to quantify

Who in society “pays” more of these externalities?

Internalizing External Costs Consumer pays FULL cost of production of a

product. (Hawkin: all “information” incorporated into the cost of the product)

Preventing pollution more profitable than cleaning it up

Methods Taxes for pollution

Example: proposed carbon taxes Regulations requiring pollution controls and of

mitigation damaged environments Eliminate subsidies for resource extraction

Problem: direct cost of many services and products would rise

Problem: Law of diminishing returns (graph 26.10)

Environmental Worldviews

Based on person’s beliefs and values “Facts” interpreted, conclusions reached

based on worldview Worldviews become a “window” through

which “facts” interpreted and decisions made Two basic worldviews:

Planetary management Environmental wisdom worldview`

The next 50 years

What is each individuals role? “Never doubt that a small group of

thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed,it the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

Chapter 2

Environmental philosophies

Conservationism Preservationism

(Read: “How should …Conservationists” on 32)

Stewardship “Modern” environmentalism Globalism

Conservationism

Pragmatic or utilitarian resource conservation George Perkins Marsh

Man and Nature, 1864 Warned of the ecological and economic

consequences of “frontier” mentality

Conservationism and forest preserves

Roosevelt and PinchotForests should be saved “not because

they are beautiful or because the shelter wild creatures of the wilderness, but only to provide homes and jobs for people”

Turning point: Forest Reserve Act of 1871

National Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service (in Dept. of Agr.)

Multiple use Sustainable yield

Preservationism

John Muir Fundamental right of other organisms to exist “The world, we are told, was made for man…

Nature’s object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of the happiness of each one of them…Why ought man to value himself as more than an infinitely small unit of one great unit of creation?”

Preservationism and National Parks

National Park Service 1916 (Dept of Interior) Yellowstone National Park – 1872 – American

Forestry Association Protection of all organisms, with humans

“onlookers” – no multiple use

Soil Conservation

Dust bowls and Grapes of Wrath Soil Conservation Service - 1935

Stewardship

Modern ecology, with philosophical “underpinning”

“That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.” ..Aldo Leopold

A Sand County Almanac – A Land Ethic The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries

of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.

The land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use with love and respect.

Anything is right when it tends to preserve the integrity , stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong it tends otherwise

Leopold, Aldo: A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There, 1948, Oxford University Press, New York, 1987, pg. 204.

Environmentalism

Rachel Carson: Silent Spring 1962

Effect of DDT in the food chain

Earthday- 1970

Modern Environmentalism (30)

Relationships between population growth, resource use, and pollution

1969 – photograph from space – “Spaceship Earth”

Many laws, agencies, environmental organizations established between ‘68 and late-’70s

Successes of the Environmental Movement

Environmental protection agency Environmental laws Pollution abatement Species saved from extinction Habitat protection Environmental education

Key Environmental Laws

Wilderness Act – National Wilderness System 1970 – National Environmental Policy Act –

Requires Environmental Impact Statements 1970 – Clean Air Act 1970 – EPA Established 1972 – Marine Mammal Protection Act 1973 – Endangered Species Act 1977 – Clean Water Act 1980 – Superfund law (CERCLA) 1987 – Montreal Protocol

Global Environmentalism

Acid precipitation Nuclear accidents – TMI and Chernobyl Ozone depletion “International Convention of Biological

Diversity” – 1991 Kyoto agreement – 1997 Today – globalization of world markets – can

countries control their own destinies?

What role will science play? True or False Concerning the Process of Science

Science is incapable of providing absolute proof for any theory.

The process of science can be used to test value judgments.

Some observed phenomena may not lend themselves to controlled experiments.

Science is capable of predicting the future.

Does science provide a framework for understanding complex ecological systems and potential impacts on those systems?

Junk Science

Presentations of selective results Public distortions of scientific works Publication in quasi-scientific journals Funding of “biased” science