Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and
Sustainability
G. Tyler Miller’s
Living in the Environment
14th Edition
Chapter 1: An
Environmental Science
Overview
Spruce and Fir forest affected by pests,
disease, and acid rain, near Clingman's
Dome (6643 feet), Smoky Mountains
National Park, Tennessee.
Essential Questions (Objectives)
What is exponential growth? Describe the connection between exponential
growth and environmental problems.
Distinguish between solar capital and natural capital. Evaluate the
significance of these forms of capital in the development of human societies.
Distinguish between living on principal and living on interest. Analyze which
of these behaviors humans are currently illustrating. Evaluate the possibility
of continuing to live in our current style.
Distinguish between developed countries and developing countries.
Describe changes in the wealth gap between these groups of countries.
What is globalization? What factors affect globalization? Summarize the
advantages and disadvantages of globalization.
Define sustainable yield. Describe the relationship between sustainable
yield and environmental degradation. Describe the tragedy of the
commons. Summarize how most environmentalists alleviate this type of
tragedy.
Distinguish between the following terms: (1)physically depleted and
(2)economically depleted resources; (3)nonrenewable, (4)renewable, and
(5)potentially renewable resources; (6)reuse and recycle. Draw a depletion
curve. Explain how recycling and reuse affect depletion time.
Distinguish between the following terms: point source of pollution and
nonpoint source of pollution; nonpersistent, persistent, and nondegradable
pollutants. Distinguish between pollution prevention and pollution cleanup.
Evaluate the effectiveness of these two approaches in decreasing pollution.
Summarize underlying causes of environmental problems. Describe a
simple model of relationships among population, resource use,
technology, environmental degradation, and pollution. Evaluate which
model is most useful to you. Assess which model would be most useful in
explaining these relationships to young children and which more closely
resembles reality.
Summarize strategies humans can use to work closely with the earth.
World Population and Exponential Growth
“Rule of 70”
Doubling Time
As the human
population
grows what
might be the
impact on
2008
(1) resources use
and waste
(2) poverty
(3) loss of
biodiversity
(4) Global Climate
Change
return
Fig. 1-1 p. 5
What Keeps Us Alive?
Natural Capital:
Solar Energy
Resources
Services
Fig. 1-2, p. 7
return
Living on interest vs. Living on principal
Living on Interest (Sustainably)
Imagine you win $1,000,000 in
the lottery
Invest the capital (1 million) at
10% interest.
You will have a sustainable
income of $100,000 per year.
Without depleting your capital
(1 million)
Living on Principal
If you spent $200,000 per year,
your 1million would be gone
early in the 7th year
If you spent $110,000 per year,
you would be bankrupt early in
the 18th year.
How would you prefer to live?
How do we live now?
return
Who is Overpopulated?
Population Growth
Are we living
Sustainably?
Is the problem we face
population size or resource
use?
Fig. 1-4, p. 8
return
Developed Countries vs. Developing Countries
Gross domestic product (GDP), also called gross national income (GNI), is the
market value for goods and services produced within a country
Economic development
is improving living
standards through
growth.
Most developed
countries have high
industrialization and
high per capita income.
Developing countries
have moderate to low
income; they represent
about 97% of the
projected increase in
world population
Developed Countries vs. Developing
Countries
Developed Countries
Developed countries enjoy a higher standard
of living, including:
 a longer life expectancy
 a decrease in infant mortality
 greater food production than food needs
 decreased air and water pollution
 a decrease in poverty overall
Developing Countries
 Poverty produces harmful environmental
effects
 Soil, water, and forests are depleted
 Pollution levels are high.
 Infant mortality rate is 8 times higher than
in developed countries
 Wages are very low with poor working
conditions as the norm
Ecological Footprint
What is an ecological footprint?
Age of Consumption – Examples of over consumption
Globalization
Globalization leads to a world socially, economically, and environmentally more
interconnected
Technology, international trade, and human mobility allow people to interact
with others
Environmentally sustainable development rewards sustainable activities and
discourages harmful activities
Where are your shoes made? Why?
Where is your computer made?
Where does your food come from?
If we stopped buying Chinese products what would happen to China’s
economy? How would that impact the United States?
How does a global economy impact cultural diversity?
Back to Essential Questions
Resources
Natural capital/natural resources are
those in the environment or those
obtained from the environment:
food, water, air, shelter, petroleum,
etc
Perpetual resources are renewed
continuously, like solar energy
Renewable resources must not be
used up faster than they are able
to be replaced, like grasslands,
fresh water and air, fertile soil, etc
Non-renewable resources are those
that exist in fixed quantity or stock
in the earth’s crust.
Environmental degradation occurs when the use of resources exceeds the rate
of replacement. sustainable yield is the highest rate of use on an indefinite
scale without degradation or depletion
Tragedy of the Commons describes the overuse or degradation of freely available
resources such as ocean pollution, abuse of national parks, air pollution, etc. No
one individual owns these free-access resources

Limiting access to these resources is one possible way to protect them

Reducing the population might also allow these resources to be used below
estimated sustainable yields

Converting free-access resources to private ownership is another possible
means to protect them

Private owners may not actually protect the resources

Global resources such as oceans, air, and migratory birds cannot be divided up
and made private property

Access to the resources is eliminated/reduced for many people

Governments have laws and treaties that regulate access to commonly owned
resources
Non-Renewable Resources
Energy Resources (oil, coal, natural gas, etc.)
Metallic Resources (copper, iron, aluminum, etc.)
Non-Metallic Resources (salt, clay, sand, phosphates, etc.)
Physically Depleted
- when a resources
completely exhausted
Economically Depleted
– when the resource
costs too much to
obtain what is left
Solutions:
To prevent economic depletion include: recycle, reuse, and conserve
Back to Essential Questions
What is pollution?
Pollutants are chemicals at high enough levels in the environment to
harm people or other living organisms
Where do pollutants come from, and what are their harmful effects?
Pollutants may enter the environment naturally (for example, volcanic
eruptions) or through human activities such as burning coal; pollution
tends to occur in or near urban and industrial areas
Sources:
Point sources of pollutants are single, identifiable sources, such as
automobiles or industrial plants. They are easier to identify and control
than non-point sources
Non-point sources are dispersed, such as pesticides in the air and
water runoff. They are difficult to identify. Pesticides sprayed into the air
may be carried from their source. Fertilizer runoff enters streams away
from the source.
Effects of Pollution:
 They can disrupt or degrade life-support systems of any organism
 They damage human health, wildlife, and property
 They can produce nuisances in noise, smells, tastes, and sights
Dealing With Pollution
 Prevention (Input Control)
reduces or eliminates the
production of pollutants
Three factors determine the severity
of a pollutant’s harmful effects:
chemical nature, concentration, and
persistence.
Cleanup (Output Control) cleans
up or dilutes pollutants after
they have been produced
 It is a temporary bandage
without long-term pollution
control technology (like the
catalytic converter)
Pollutants are classified into four
categories based on persistence:
degradable, biodegradable, slowly
degradable, and non-degradable
 The pollutant is removed but
may cause pollution in
another place (for example,
burning garbage/burying it)
Persistent is how long a pollutant
stays in the air , water or soil.
 It is expensive to reduce
pollution to an acceptable
level. Prevention is less
expensive in the long run
Nonpersistent (degradable)
Nondegradable – does not
breakdown in the environment
What is Our Greatest
Environmental Problem?







Disease
Overpopulation
Water Shortages
Climate Changes
Biodiversity Loss
Poverty
Malnutrition
“The Big Five”
State of the Planet
Fig. 1-14 p. 15
Environmental
Interactions
I=PAT
Ideas must
make
environmental
sense and
economic
sense in order
to be
successful
Some of the Harmful
Effects of Poverty
Lack of
access to:
Adequate
sanitation
Enough fuel for
heating and cooking
Electricity
Clean drinking water
Adequate health care
Enough food for
good health
2.4 billion
(38%)
2 billion (32%)
1.6 billion (25%)
1.1 billion (17%)
1.1 billion (17%)
1.1 billion (17%)
Solutions
Current Emphasis
(Reactive)
Sustainability Emphasis
(Proactive)
Back to Essential Questions
Fig. 1-16, p. 18