Chapter One: The environment and sustainability Ecology and Ecosystems Key Questions: 1.1) What are some Key factors of Sustainability? 1.2) How are our Ecological Footprints Affection Earth? 1.3) What causes Environmental Problems and why do they persist? 1.4) What is an environmentally sustainable society? 1.1) What are some Key factors of Sustainability? What is Environmental Science? The Interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the environment it includes information and ideas from engineering as well as natural science such as biology chemistry geology meteorology and climatology. It also includes ideas of social science such as geology, economics, political science, environmental science, It also investigates ethics and a moral judgments of right and wrong that influence human behavior. The study of Science The study of environmental science involves three fundamental goals 1. learn how life on earth has survived and thrived 2. understand how human interacts with the environment 3. find ways to deal with the environmental problems and live more sustainably Ecology in Environmental Science Ecology is a branch of biology that focuses on how living things interact with the living and nonliving parts of their environment Each Organism in the environment belongs to a species, a species is a group of organisms having a unique set of characteristics that set them apart from another group (chapter 4). a major focus of ecology is the study of ecosystems. An ecosystem is one or more communities of different species interacting with one another with chemical and physical factors of their nonliving environment for example, a forest ecosystem consists of plants animals and organisms that decompose organic material all interacting with one another and the chemical in the forests air water and soil Environmentalism or environmental science? Environmental science and ecology should not be confused with environmentalism. Environmentalism is not a scientific field of study but rather a social movement dedicated to protecting earth and its resources. Being used more in the realm of politics and ethics than science, however the two are related. The finding of environmental scientist can provide evidence to back or refute environmentalists claims and activities. Scientific factors of sustainability Earth is a great example of a sustainable system Earth has been around for 3.8 billion years experiencing climate changes, gigantic meteorites, ice ages, warming periods, five mass extinctions, wiping out more than half the world's existing species The modern humans have been around for a mere 200,000 years less Then the blink of an eye relative to 3.8 billion years life has existed on earth The newest challenge of the human species is to learn how to live more sustainably Natural resources Inexhaustible resources Renewable resources Non renewable resources Natural resources Inexhaustible resources =Solar Energy, Winds and flowing water Renewable resources Non renewable resources Natural resources Inexhaustible resources =Solar Energy, Winds and flowing water Renewable Resources= Forests, grasslands, wildlife, fertile topsoil, clean air, and fresh water Non renewable resources Natural resources Inexhaustible resources =Solar Energy, Winds and flowing water Renewable Resources= Forests, grasslands, wildlife, fertile topsoil, clean air, and fresh water Non renewable resources = Fossil fuel energy sources, metallic mineral sources, and nonmetallic mineral sources Natural capital = natural resources + ecosystem services Solutions to harmful activities Once identified people can work together to create a solution to protect earth's natural capital to ensure sustainability Social scientists look for economic and political solutions 1.2) How are our Ecological Footprints Affection Earth? Living Unsustainability Environmental Degradation or natural capital degradation, continually wasting depleting and degrading much of earth’s natural capital. “the little bit that I use or pollute is not enough to matter” this logic does not benefit anyone. Resource Depletion 60% of earth ecosystem services are being overused “human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of earth the ability of the planet's ecosystem to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.” Extremely complex scientific economic and political solutions could be implemented within decades Sources of Pollution Pollution – contamination of the environment by any chemical or agent, such as noise or thermal energy, at levels considered harmful to health, survival, or activities of organisms. Point source- pollution is any single identifiable source of pollution from which pollutants are discharged. Examples are air pollution from exhaust pipes of motor vehicles, chimneys, smokestacks. Nonpoint source- pollution consists of pollutants that come from many different sources that are hard to pinpoint examples are runoff of water pollutants from croplands residential areas clear cut forests and construction sites. Ecological footprint What is your ecological footprint? LAB TIME !!! 1.3) What causes Environmental Problems and why do they persist? Human population is growing at a rapid rate Exponential Growth- Occurs when a quantity increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time such as .5% or 2% per year. Paper Folding Example: How many times can you fold a sheet of paper? If you doubled the thickness of a sheet of paper 50 times it would be thick enough to almost reach the sun! Human Population growth Human growth rate in 20015 was 1.2% that means the earths population could be 9.8 billion by 2050 Human population growth | Crash Course ecology | Khan Academy – YouTube Poverty- the lack of basic human needs. Prices of goods and services Look at the cost of goods Vs the impact on the environment. For example timber companies pay the cost of clear cutting forests they do not pay for the resulting environmental degradation and loss of wildlife habitat One impact is Soil erosion that leads to forest fires the goal of a company is to maximize profits for its owner or stockholders. companies are not inclined to add environmental costs to their prices voluntarily because the prices of goods and services do not include most of their harmful environmental and health costs consumers and decision makers have no effective way to evaluate these harmful effects Would you buy products differently if theses costs were added? Homework Look us the cost of a product of your choosing and then write a 200 word report about the environmental impacts of that good. What do you think that product would cost if it had its environmental impact included? Different views and different solutions Environmental worldview- is a set of assumptions and values concerning the natural world and what you think your role and managing it should be environmental ethics- the study of varying beliefs about what is right and wrong with how people treat the environment. It provides useful tools for example world views why should people care about the environment ? are humans the most important species on the planet or are they just another one of earth's millions of forms of life ?
