APES- Unit 1
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Ch 1
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Environment-everything around us living and nonliving)
Environmental science-the interdisciplinary study
of how humans interact with the environment
Ecosystem- set of organisms interacting with each
other and the non-living matter and energy within
a defined area or volume.
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Abiotic- not alive and never was alive
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Biotic- living and once living things
Environmentalism- social movement
(Environmentalist)
 E.S. is interdisciplinary
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Subfield- Ecology- biological science that
studies how organisms interact with their
environment and each other
Sustainability- main theme
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Sustainability- the ability of the Earth’s systems and
economies to survive and adapt to changing
environmental conditions indefinitely
Natural capital-natural resources and services that
keep us alive and support economies
Natural resources- materials and energy in nature that
are useful to humans
Natural services(ecosystem services)- functions of
nature which support life
Solar capital- energy from the sun
An environmentally sustainable
society
does not degrade its natural capital
 lives off its natural income of renewable
resources
 provides its population with adequate
and equitable access resources
 does not compromise access of future
generations to basic needs
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Economics of sustainability
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GDP- annual market value of all goods and services produced by
all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic operating
within a country
Per capita GDP= GDP/population
PPP- purchasing power parity- tool used by economists to
compare the value of two countries currencies
Per capita GDP PPP- a measure of the amount of goods and
services that a country’s average citizen could buy in the U.S.
Developed countries – highly industrialized and have a higher
per capita GDP PPP
Developing countries- all other countries
Environmentally sustainable economic
development- What does it do?
 Encourages environmentally beneficial
and sustainable forms of economic
development that help sustain natural
capital
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Ecological footprints
Resource- anything obtained from the environment to
meet our needs or wants.
 Conservation- management of natural resources with
the goal of minimizing resource waste.
 Perpetual resource- solar energy
 Renewable resource- examples
 Sustainable yield-highest rate at which a renewable
resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its
available supply
 Environmental degradation-when we exceed a
renewable resource’s natural replacement rate and
shrink the available supply.
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Tragedy of the commons
Group activity
 Follow all written and verbal instructions
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Assignment: Ecological
footprint
Go to www.footprintnetwork.org
 Click on “footprint for you”
 Follow the instructions to calculate your
ecological footprint
 Turn in: what your footprint is and
name three things you could do to
decrease your footprint.
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Cultural changes increase E.F.
Culture
 Human history
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Hunter-gatherers
 Agricultural revolution
 Industrial-medical revolution
 Information-globalization revolution
 Environmental/sustainability revolution???
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Pollution
Point source- ex. Smokestack of a
factory
 Nonpoint source- ex. Runoff of fertilizer
from farmland.
 Biodegradable- sewage
 Non-biodegradable- lead, mercury,
arsenic
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Pollution- cleanup or prevent?
Cleanup or output pollution controltemporary fix, shifts the pollutants,
expensive in the long run
 Prevention or input pollution controlworks better, cheaper in the long run
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Causes of environmental
problems
1. Population growth
 2. Wasteful and unsustainable resource
use
 3. Poverty
 4. Failure to price goods with env. Costs
included
 5. Insufficient knowledge of how nature
works
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poverty
Harmful effects- environmental
 Deplete and degrade forests, soil,
grasslands, fisheries and wildlife just to
survive
 Higher population growth rates
 Health effects- malnutrition, limited
access to clean drinking water, severe
respiratory diseases
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Affluence
Environmental effects- high levels of
consumption
 High levels of waste
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Environmental world view- the set of
assumptions and values reflecting how you
think the world works and what you think your
role in the world should be
 Planetary management worldviewhumans are separate from nature. Nature
exists to meet our needs and wants and we
should use technology and ingenuity to
manage earth’s life-support systems for our
benefit
Stewardship worldview
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We should be responsible, caring
managers of the Earth.
Environmental wisdom worldview
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We need the Earth but the Earth does
not need us.
Deep Ecology world view
There is an interdependence of life forms that
contributes to all life on earth.
 Each nonhuman form of life has value independent
of its value to humans
 It would be better for humans and other species if
there were fewer humans.
 Present human interference with the nonhuman
world is excessive and worsening.
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Four scientific principles of
sustainability
Reliance on solar energy
 Biodiversity
 Nutrient cycling
 Population control
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