Introduction to AP
Environmental Science
Tuesday 09/04/2012
Goals for the Day
1. Be able to define sustainability and
say how we can use resources to
maintain their sustainability
2. Be able to discuss environmental
history including specific events,
people, and their importance
3. Be able to think about and discuss
where wealth comes from & the
major differences between
developed and developing countries
Question of the Day
What does sustainability mean?
Sustainable Yield
What does sustainability mean?
Renewable Resources
 Sustainable yield: highest rate which
resources can be used indefinitely without
reducing available supply
 Environmental degradation: when we exceed
a resource’s natural replacement rate, available
supply shrinks
 What human activities may cause this?
“If I do not use this resource, someone else
will. The little bit I use or pollute is not
enough to matter, and such resources are
renewable.”
Economic Depletion
 Economic Depletion: when the costs of
extracting and using what is left exceeds its
economic value
Economic Depletion
What now?
1. Try to find more
2. Recycle or reuse existing
3. Waste less
4. Use less
Figure 1-7 (page 10)
A nonrenewable resource is considered
economically depleted when 80% of its
total supply has been extracted/used
5. Develop a substitute
6. Wait (millions of years)
Environmental Worldviews
Planetary Management
 We are in charge
 There is always more
 All economic growth is good
and limitless
 Success depends on how
well we can understand,
control, and manage earth’s
systems for our benefit
Environmental Wisdom
 Nature does not exist just for
us
 There is NOT always more
 Some technology and
economic growth is
environmentally beneficial,
while some is harmful
 Success depends on learning
how earth sustains itself and
using how nature works into
how we act
U.S. Environmental History
Tribal Era: Pre 1600
Frontier Era: 1600 - 1890
Conservation Era: 1832 1960
Environmental Era: 1960 present
1. The population size of India is 1,205,073,612. This gives
India a population with 891,226,147 more people than
the U.S. The population growth rate for India is 1.312%,
while the population growth rate of the U.S. is 0.899%.
A. How long will it take the population of India to double
in number?
B. Despite the large difference in the population density
of these two countries, the environmental impact of
the United States is projected to be much more than
that of India. Describe at least 2 possible reasons.
C. Which of these countries represent a
developing country? What does this mean in
terms of population, pollution output, Natural
resource use, and wealth?