Unit 1: Introduction to Environmental Problems and Causes

What environment provides us?

Provides us ecological goods and services

Do we live in the environment? Are we separated from it?

We live in the environment and are not separated from it

What is perpetual resources?

Renewable natural resources like sunlight

What is us renewable resources?

• Dependent on human activity

• Act as perpetual if well taken care of, if mismanaged it would be nonrenewable

What is the nonrenewable natural resources?

Limited in quantity resources fossil fuels

Why do we have an excessive amount of resources?

• Demand is too excessive because our population is large

• Not letting resources rest and recover

Describe the population on developing countries

Population is decreasing, small family size, higher demand than resources

Describe the population on underdeveloped country?

Population is increasing, large family size, lower demand

What is the percentage of people living on developing counrtries?

80% people

What is the percentage of the world’s population living highly that consumes more than 50% of the worlds resources(not demand)

20%

How to solution the demand crisis on developed and underdeveloped country?

• Underdeveloped: control population focus on higher education

• Developed: more efficient on resources and consumption more

Why ecological footprint is important?

Comparing supply of nature and demands for nature

What is the biocapacity?

How much supply available depending on where we live

What is the demand?

Amount of supply we are consuming

Result if the supply is greater than demand?

Good for environment and sustainable

Result if the demand is greater than the supply?

We exceeded the capacity of the environment to supply called ecological overshoot

What happens to the renewable resources during an ecological overshoot?

Renewable resources becomes nonrenewable

• Takes longer to recover

What is largest demand we put on the environment?

Carbon

What does the cropland represents?

The amount of cropland used to grow crops for food and fibre

What does the grazing land represents?

The amount of grazing land used to raise liverstocks

What is the forest?

Represents the amount of forest required to supply timber…etc

What is the built-up land?

Represents the amount of land covered by human

What is the fishing grounds?

Supports fish and seafood caught

What happens if we withdraw $100 annually(take out the interest only)?

• The capital remains the same

• Sustainable interest(good regenerative capacity)

What happens if withdraw $300 annually(take from interest too)?

• The capital declines

• Interest declines(impaired regenerative capcaity)

What country have lower ecological footprint?

Developing country because they lack access to luxury however their population is large and bio capacity is low

What is the percentage of resources does humanity is using that is causing an ecological overshoot?

60% more resources than are available annually through regeneration

What year we used to have our biocapacity exceeded ecological footprint and what year it declined?

1960s and declined on 1970s

On ecological overshoot diagram, what does it means when supply intercepts demand

Supply is equal demand, we are only using the regenerative capacity

What is the Emergence of Sustainable Development(SD)1983?

Control overpopulation, eradicate poverty, and reduce consumption to promote environment sustainability

What is Our Common Future(1987) concept of sustainable development?

Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

What are the 3 pillars of sustainable development that needs to be considered equally?

• Environmentally sound decisions do not harm environment or deplete natural resources

• Economically viable decisions consider all costs, including long-term environmental and societal costs

• Socially equitable decisions reflect needs of society and ensure costs and benefits are shared equally by all groups

What is the goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda in 2015?

• End poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by meeting 17 goals

• Fits with all 3 pillars of sustainability

Why do we use science to study environmental issues?

• Provides a reliable way to understand environmental problems

• Uses evidence instead of opinions

• Helps explain how natural systems work

How does science help us investigate environmental problems?

• Allows us to design experiments

• Tests ideas using observations and data

• Helps confirm or reject explanations

Why is studying cause and effect important in environmental science?

• Helps explain relationships in the environment

• Shows how one change can affect many systems

• Builds deeper understanding of environmental behavior

What comes from scientific research in environmental science?

• Development of theories and laws

• Explains patterns in nature

• Helps predict environmental changes

How does scientific research affect government decisions?

• Provides evidence for political and environmental policies

• Guides laws and regulations

• Supports informed decision-making

What is the first step in the scientific method?

• Identify something unusual or unclear

• Based on what is noticed in nature

• Leads to asking “why” or “how”

What happens after a question is recognized?

• A possible explanation is proposed

• Must be testable

• Based on observations and prior knowledge

Why do scientists test their explanation?

• To see if evidence supports the idea

• Uses controlled conditions

• Includes a treated group and an untreated group

Why both is a a variable and a control needed?

• Allows comparison

• Shows whether changes are due to one factor

• Increases reliability of results

What do scientists do after collecting results?

• Examine patterns in the information

• Decide whether the explanation was supported

• Draw conclusions from evidence

Why is sharing results important?

• Allows others to repeat the study

• Helps build scientific understanding

• Can contribute to broader explanations of nature