Environmental Science and Sustainability
Chapter 1
After this lecture, you will be able to:
Define the term environmental and describe the field of environmental science
Explain the importance of natural resources and ecosystem services to our lives
Discuss the consequences of population growth and resource consumption
Describe the steps of the scientific method
Understand the nature and importance of science and characterize aspects of the process of
science
Compare and contrast various approaches in environmental ethics
Diagnose and illustrate major pressures on the global environment
Articulate the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development
Our island, Earth
The Earth is finite in nature
We can change the Earth and damage its systems
The environment is composed of all the living and nonliving things around us
People exist within the environment
Humans depend on a healthy, functioning planet
We are part of the natural world, and are changing it
We depend completely on the environment for survival
Increased health, longer lives, wealth, less conflict with better environmental conditions
Environmental changes threaten our long-term well-being and survival as a species
Environmental science explores our interactions with the world
Environmental science is the study of:
How the natural world works
How the environment affects humans and vice versa
We need to understand our interactions with the environment to creatively solve environmental
problems
We rely on natural resources
We rely on ecosystem services
Ecosystem services: arise from the normal functioning of natural services and allow us to survive
Purify air and water, cycle nutrients, regulate climate
Pollinate plants, receive and recycle wastes
Human population growth amplifies impacts
Resource consumption per capita has also increased
“Tragedy of the Commons” may contribute to overuse
Idea developed by Garrett Hardin in 1968
Posits that unregulated exploitation of public resources leads to depletion and damage
Resource users are motivated by self-interest and increase use for personal gain until the
resource is gone
Benefits go to the exploitative resource user, costs go to rest of population
Tragedy of the Commons Example
Scenario
Shared grazing land can support a total of 50 cows without environmental impacts
Available grass supports 1000 kg milk/day
Assume 20 farmers each with 5 cows
How much milk will each farmer get?
Resource exploiter
“Cheater” puts out 7 cows instead of 5
Available grass still supports only 1000 kg milk/day
How much milk will each farmer get now?
Cheating will occur without some kind of regulation of activities
Our public resources are essentially “commons”
Ecological footprint measures consumption
The area of biologically productive land + water to supply resources and dispose/recycle waste
Ecological footprint varies with group
Overshoot
Humans have surpassed Earth’s capacity to sustainably support us
We are using renewable resources 50% faster than they are being replenished
Environmental science provides solutions
Civilizations have fallen when population growth and consumption overwhelm resource
availability
The applied goal is to solve environmental problems
Case study of Easter Island
Environmental science is multidisciplinary and integrative in nature
Environmental science is not environmentalism
Environmental science is the pursuit of knowledge about the environment and our interactions
with it
Scientists try to remain objective and free from bias, personal values and preconceptions
Environmentalism is a social movement
Rife with ideology
What is science?
The nature of science
Science is a systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it
Science includes the body of knowledge arising from the dynamic process of questioning,
observation, testing, discovery
Can only answer questions about measurable phenomena
Science tests ideas by examining evidence
Scientists do not accept proposed explanations until there is substantial evidence to support
them
Scientists are skeptical by nature and practice critical thinking
Scientific approaches
Observational (descriptive) science: information is gathered about organisms, systems,
processes, etc.
Cannot be manipulated by experiments
Phenomena are observed and measured
Used in astronomy and paleontology for example
Hypothesis-driven science: targeted, structured research
Experiments test hypotheses using the scientific method
The scientific process goes beyond the scientific method itself
Reproducibility is necessary
Grant writing for funding
Hypothesis and theory
An hypothesis is a conditional explanation
After systematic testing, scientists either accept or reject the hypothesis
When a large amount of evidence and many tests support a hypothesis and a majority of
experts have reached general consensus, we call it a scientific theory
With more data, scientific interpretations can change with a paradigm shift
Example: Earth, not the sun, is the center of the universe
Pseudoscience
A common tactic in combating scientific evidence is to use scientific uncertainty as a an excuse
to postpone or reverse an action supported by the current scientific evidence
Some use scientific jargon or a scientific approach for validation
Creation Museum
Environmental ethics
Ethics is a branch of philosophy:
Morals: Distinction between right and wrong
Values: Ultimate worth of actions or things
Environmental ethics deals with the moral relationships between humans and the surrounding
world
Different cultures or worldviews lead to different values, leading to different “right or wrong”
actions
Ethical viewpoints
Relativists: ethics varies with social context
Universalists: notions of right and wrong remain the same across cultures and situations
Morality
Moral Agents - Beings capable of acting morally or immorally, and who can accept
responsibility for their acts
Humans
Moral Subjects - Beings who are not moral agents, but who have moral interests and can be
treated rightly or wrongly
Children
Moral extensionism
Widening definition of who is considered ethically significant
Animal rights
Ethical standards
Ethical standards: criteria that help differentiate right from wrong
Categorical imperative: the “Golden Rule,” which tells us to treat others as we want to be
treated
Utility: principle holding that the right action is the one that produces the most benefits for the
most people
Is finning an ethical practice?
Valuing nature
Intrinsic (Inherent, Innate) - Worth or value simply because of existence
Humans
Instrumental (Utilitarian, Conferred) - Worth or value only because they are valued by someone
who matters
Tools
Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Hinduism
Biocentricism - All living things have intrinsic value
Christianity, Judaism and Islam
Anthropocentric - Human-centered
Genesis 1:28 (Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth.”)
Stewardship viewpoint - Custodian of resources
How do you value nature?
Expanding ethical consideration
The preservation ethic
Nature deserves protection for its own inherent value
We should protect our environment in a pristine, unaltered state
The conservation ethic
Use natural resources wisely
A utilitarian standard that calls for using resources for the greatest good for the most people for
the longest time
The land ethic
Healthy ecological systems depend on protecting all parts
We are obligated to treat the land ethically
The land ethic will help guide decision making
A thing is right when it preserves the biotic community
View people and land as members of the same community
Environmental justice
Environmental justice combines civil rights and environmental protection to demand a safe,
healthy environment for all people, regardless of income or ethnicity
People of color around the world are subjected to a disproportionately high level of
environmental health risks
Toxic colonialism
Targeting poor communities in areas or countries for waste disposal and/or experimentation
Native American Reservations
Moving operations to countries where environmental regulations are lax
Sustainability and our future
Sustainability: living within our planet’s means
Earth can sustain humans AND all life for the future
Leaving our descendants with a rich, full world
Conserving resources for future generations
Developing solutions that work in the long term
Requires keeping fully functioning ecological systems
We cannot sustain human civilization without sustaining Earth’s natural systems
Earth’s resources are like a bank account
If we deplete resources, we draw down the account
Natural capital: the accumulated wealth of Earth’s resources
We are withdrawing our planet’s natural capital 50% faster than it is being produced
We must live off nature’s interest – its replenishable resources – to be sustainable
Drawing down resources faster than they are replaced eats into nature’s capital
We cannot do this for long
We are increasing our burden on the planet
Human population growth amplifies all environmental impacts
We add over 200,000 people to the planet each day
Our consumption of resources has risen even faster
Life has become more pleasant for us
But rising consumption increases the demands we make on our environment
Increased affluence has not been equal
The gap between rich and poor countries has tripled in the past 40 years
Ecological footprints are not all equal
The ecological footprints of countries vary greatly
The U.S. footprint is much greater than those developing countries
Increased population and consumption cause:
Erosion from agriculture
Deforestation
Toxic substances
Mineral extraction and mining
Depletion of fresh water
Air and water pollution
Global climate change
Loss of Earth’s biodiversity
Humans have heavily influenced the U.S.
The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
The most comprehensive scientific assessment of the condition of the world’s ecological systems
and their capacity to continue supporting us
2,000 leading environmental scientists found:
Our degradation of environmental systems is having negative impacts on all of us
With care and diligence we can still turn many of these trends around
Sustainable solutions abound
Sustainable solutions must:
Enhance quality of life
Protect and restore the environment that supports us
Many solutions exist:
Renewable energy sources
Improved agricultural practices
Habitat and species protection
Reduced emissions of greenhouse gases
Sustainable development
We must use resources to satisfy our needs
But leave enough resources for the future
Satisfies the triple bottom line – environmental, economic, and social goals are all met
We must limit our environmental impact while promoting economic development and social
justice
Make an ethical commitment to current and future generations
Apply science to solve problems