01_05.jpg. environmental science: interdisciplinary blending of –natural sciences yield accurate...
TRANSCRIPT
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• Environmental Science:
• Interdisciplinary blending of– Natural Sciences yield accurate information– Social Sciences study impact of values and
behavior
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Environment – sum total of surroundings – including the living and nonliving things with which we interact
• What factors affect one’s perception of “environmental problems”?
– Age– Gender– Class– Race– Nationality– Employment – Educational background– Politics
What is an “environmental problem”?
– The perception of what constitutes a problem varies between individuals and societies
– Ex.: DDT, a pesticide • In developing countries:
welcome because it kills malaria-carrying mosquitoes
• In developed countries: not welcome, due to health risks
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Our Island - EarthHow is Earth like an island?
• Natural Resources – substances and energy sources needed for survival
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Renewability is a continuum:
Nonrenewable: finite supply
Renewable: Perpetually available OR
Renewable over long periods if properly managed
• Unprecedented population growth is at the root of most environmental problems
• World population
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Population explosion due to shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies
Two causal factors:
1. Agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago resulted in
longer lives and more children
2. Industrial Revolution mid 1700’s resulted in move from
rural to urban life powered by fossil fuels
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• Ecological Footprint -Mathis Wackernagel, William Rees,1996
• “Ecological footprint" represents the total area of land and water needed to produce the resources a given person or population uses, together with the total amount of land and water needed to dispose of their waste
• Expressed in hectares (ha), 1 hectare =2.47 acres
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• World Consumption
• Humans using resources 30% faster than they can be replaced
• If all nations used resources like North Americans – we’d need 4.5 more Earths!
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The England of Thomas Malthus's era (1766-1834)favored population growth as society industrialized. Malthus argued that if there were no limits on birth, deaths would increase through famine, plague, and war.
• In The Population Bomb, “NeoMalthusian” Paul Ehrlich predicted disastrous effects from population growth by the end of the 20th century.
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• Garrett Hardin disputed the economic theory that unfettered exercise of individual self-interest will serve public interest
• Resources open to unregulated exploitation will eventually be depleted
• Because no single person owns the resource, no one has the incentive to take care of it, everyone takes & takes to depletion
• Must “abandon the freedom to breed”
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• Environmental scientists search for workable solutions to environmental problems, generally keeping their research rigorously objective.
• Investigate– Functions of Earth systems– How systems influence humans– How humans influence systems
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• Sustainability – the challenge to live within the planet’s means so that Earth and its resources can sustain us and other life into the future.
• Sustainable Development – Use of renewable and nonrenewable resources in a way that satisfies our needs without compromising future available of resources.
EnvironmenEnvironmentalEnvironmentEnv
Environmental Problems – HIPPO C
Habitat LossInvasive speciesPopulationPollutionOverharvesting
Climate Change
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Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA)– launched by UN 2001-2005
• Insurmountable problems…..or opportunities?
• Education, critical and creative thinking, necessary to take appropriate action.