01_05.jpg. environmental science: interdisciplinary blending of –natural sciences yield accurate...

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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.