Universiti kuala lumpur business school
bachelor in tourism planning and development
INTRODUCTION TO
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Lecture 1
Prof. Dato’ Dr. Che Musa Che Omar
chemusa@unikl.edu.my
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
“The world will no longer be
divided by the ideologies of ‘left’
and ‘right,’ but by those who
accept ecological limits and those
who don’t.”
—Wolfgang Sachs
The Global Context: Globalization and the Environment
Introduction

Two aspects of globalization that
have affected the environment are
1.
The permeability of international
borders to pollution and environmental
problems.
2.
Growth of free trade and transnational
corporations.
The Global Context: Globalization and the Environment
Permeability of International Borders

Environmental problems such as climate change
and destruction of the ozone layer extend far
beyond their source to affect the entire planet.
 For
example, toxic chemicals (such as
polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]) from the
Southern Hemisphere have been found in the
Arctic.

Another environmental problem involving
permeability of borders is bioinvasion; the
intentional or accidental introduction of
organisms in regions where they are not native.
Sociological Theories of Environmental Problems
Structural-Functionalist Perspective

Structural functionalism focuses on how
changes in one aspect of the social system
affect other aspects of society.

By 2020, an estimated 50 million people
globally will be environmental refugees—
individuals who have migrated because they
can no longer secure a livelihood as a result of
environmental problems.
Sociological Theories of Environmental Problems
Structural-Functionalist Perspective




The structural-functionalist perspective raises our
awareness of latent dysfunctions; negative
consequences of social actions that are unintended
and not widely recognized.
For example, the more than 840,000 dams worldwide
provide water to irrigate farmlands and supply some of
the world’s electricity.
Yet dam building has had unintended negative
consequences for the environment.
Bakun Dam Sarawak..Displacement of Penan People
Sociological Theories of Environmental Problems
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Greenwashing: Refers to the way
environmentally and socially damaging companies
portray their corporate image and products as
being “environmentally friendly” or socially
responsible.

Although greenwashing involves manipulation of
public perception to maximize profits, many
corporations make genuine and legitimate efforts
to improve their operations, packaging, or overall
sense of corporate responsibility toward the
environment.
Sociological Theories of Environmental Problems
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Pinkwashing: the practice of using
the color pink and pink ribbons and
other marketing strategies that
suggest a company is helping to fight
breast cancer, even when the
company may be using chemicals
linked to cancer.
Environmental Problems: An Overview

Ecosystems are the complex and dynamic
relationships between forms of life and the
environments they inhabit

Over the past 50 years, humans have altered
ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than
in any other comparable period of time in
history.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Energy Use Worldwide
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Depletion of Natural Resources:




Freshwater resources are being consumed by
agriculture, by industry, and for domestic use.
More than 1 billion people lack access to clean
water
The demand for new land, fuel, and raw
materials resulted in deforestation, the
conversion of forest land to nonforest land.
Desertification is the degradation of semiarid
land, which results in the expansion of desert
land that is unusable for agriculture.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Air Pollution

Transportation vehicles, fuel combustion, industrial processes
(such as burning coal and processing minerals from mining),
and solid waste disposal have contributed to the growing
levels of air pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur
dioxide, arsenic, nitrogen dioxide, mercury, dioxins, and lead.

Air pollution, which is linked to heart disease, lung cancer,
emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and asthma, kills about 3
million people a year.

In the United States, about half of the population lives in
areas where they are exposed to unhealthy levels of air
pollution.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Air Pollution

Indoor Air Pollution
 Exposure
to this indoor smoke increases risk of
pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease, asthma,
cataracts, tuberculosis, and lung cancer, and is
responsible for up to 1.6 million deaths a year
(World Health Organization 2010).
 Exposure
is particularly high among women and
children, who spend the most time near the
domestic hearth or stove.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Air Pollution


Indoor air pollution
is a serious problem
in developing
countries.
As this woman
cooks food for her
family, she is
exposed to harmful
air contaminants
from the fumes.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Air Pollution

Indoor Air Pollution
 Exposure
to this indoor smoke increases risk of
pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease, asthma,
cataracts, tuberculosis, and lung cancer, and is
responsible for up to 1.6 million deaths a year
(World Health Organization 2010).
 Exposure
is particularly high among women and
children, who spend the most time near the
domestic hearth or stove.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Air Pollution

Destruction of the Ozone Layer
 The ozone layer of the earth’s atmosphere protects
life on earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

Yet the ozone layer has been weakened by the use
of certain chemicals, particularly
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigerators,
air conditioners, spray cans, and other applications.

The depletion of the ozone layer allows hazardous
levels of ultraviolet rays to reach the earth’s
surface and is linked to a variety of problems.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Air Pollution

Acid Rain

Air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxide, mix with precipitation to form acid rain.
Polluted rain, snow, and fog contaminate crops,
forests, lakes, and rivers.
 For
example: As a result of the effects of acid
rain, all the fish have died in a third of the lakes in
New York’s Adirondack Mountains.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Global Warming and Climate Change

Global warming refers to the increasing average
global air temperature, caused mainly by the
accumulation of various gases (greenhouse
gases) that collect in the atmosphere.

Causes of Global Warming: The prevailing
scientific view is that Greenhouse Gases,
primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and
nitrous oxide, accumulate in the atmosphere and
act like the glass in a greenhouse, holding heat
from the sun close to the earth.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Global Warming and Climate Change

Effects of Global Warming and Climate
Change Climate change kills an estimated
30,000 people per year, mostly in the
developing world
(Global Humanitarian Forum 2009).

The majority of these deaths are attributed to
crop failure leading to malnutrition and water
problems such as flooding and drought.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Global Warming and Climate Change

The effects of global warming and climate
change also include the following:
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Global Warming and Climate Change
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Land Pollution



About 30 percent of the world’s surface is land,
which provides soil to grow the food we eat.
Increasingly, humans are polluting the land
with nuclear waste, solid waste, and
pesticides.
In 2011, 1,287 hazardous waste sites (also
called Superfund sites) were on the National
Priority List.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Land Pollution



About 30 percent of the world’s surface is land,
which provides soil to grow the food we eat.
Increasingly, humans are polluting the land
with nuclear waste, solid waste, and
pesticides.
In 2011, 1,287 hazardous waste sites (also
called Superfund sites) were on the National
Priority List.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Land Pollution


Nuclear Waste: Nuclear waste, resulting from
both nuclear weapons production and nuclear
reactors or power plants, contains radioactive
plutonium, a substance linked to cancer and
genetic defects.
Radioactive plutonium has a half-life of 24,000
years, meaning that it takes 24,000 years for
the radioactivity to be reduced by half.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Land Pollution

Solid Waste: In 1960, each U.S. citizen generated 2.7
pounds of garbage on average every day.
 This figure increased to 3.7 pounds in 1980, and to
4.3 pounds in 2009.
 This figure does not include mining, agricultural, and
industrial waste; demolition and construction wastes;
junked autos; or obsolete equipment wastes.
 Just over half of this waste is dumped in landfills; the
rest is recycled or composted.
 E-waste: Discarded electrical appliances and
electronic equipment.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Land Pollution
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Water Pollution

Our water is being polluted by a number of harmful
substances, including pesticides, vehicle exhaust, acid
rain, oil spills, sewage, and industrial, military, and
agricultural.

In the United States, one indicator of water pollution is
the thousands of fish advisories issued by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that warn
against the consumption of certain fish caught in local
waters because of contamination with pollutants such as
mercury and dioxin waste.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Water Pollution

Water pollution also affects the health and
survival of fish and other marine life. In the Gulf
of Mexico, as well as in the Chesapeake Bay
and Lake Erie, there are areas known as “dead
zones” that—due to pollution runoff from
agricultural uses of fertilizer—have oxygen
levels so low they cannot support life.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Chemicals, Carcinogens, and Health Problems

About 3 million tons of toxic chemicals are released into
the environment each year.

Chemicals in the environment enter our bodies via the
food and water we consume, the air we breathe, and the
substances with which we come in contact.

The 12th Report on Carcinogens lists 240 chemical
substances that are “known to be human carcinogens”
or “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens,”
meaning that they are linked to cancer.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Chemicals, Carcinogens, and Health Problems
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Chemicals, Carcinogens, and Health Problems
Many personal care products contain chemicals with known
or suspected adverse health effects.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Threats to Biodiversity

There are an estimated 8.7 million species of
life on earth (some scientists believe the
number is much higher), 1.3 million of which
have been named and catalogued.

This enormous diversity of life, known as
biodiversity, provides food, medicines, fibers,
and fuel; purifies air and freshwater; pollinates
crops and vegetation; and makes soils fertile.
Environmental Problems: An Overview
Light Pollution

Light pollution refers to artificial lighting that is
annoying, unnecessary, and/or harmful to life
forms on earth.

The United States, like much of the rest of the
world, has become increasingly “lit up” with
artificial light.

Almost all people in developed societies use
artificial light, reducing the natural period of
darkness at night.
Introduction to Environmental Management
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
KIND ATTENTION
chemusa@unikl.edu.my
017-2276-588