Unit 00-Intro

Sustainability

Sustainability

Meeting the needs of the present without taking away the needs of the future

Components of Sustainability Model

1. Enviornment: Natural resources (plants, animals)
2. Society: People (edu, health, safety)
3. Economy: Profits (money, jobs, trade)

Ecosystem Service

Anything positive that the environment provides to us
1. Provisioning
2. Supporting
3. Cultural
4. Regulating

Provisioning

Anything that provides us with raw materials/useful substances
1. Food
2. Water
3. Wood

Supporting

The support of underlying natural processes:
1. Photosynthesis
2. Nutrient cycling
3. Creation of soils
4. Water cycle.

Cultural

Meaningful services provided by nature

Regulating

Processes that the environment does to help keep a balance in nature
1. Climate regulation
2. Flood control
3. Pollination
4. Erosion control

RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
1. Gives EPA authority to control hazardous waste from cradle to grave

Ecological Footprint

Measure of your needs as it pertains to a years worth of consumption

Carcinogen

Causes cancer

Teratogen

Chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo/fetus during development and cause harm
1. Alcohol
2. Drugs

Allergen

A substance that causes an allergic reaction
1. Can irritate lungs, impair respiratory system, or cause other reactions

Neurotoxin

Destroys neurotissue causes neurons to malfunction or disrupt inter neuron communication
1. Mercury
2. Arsenic

Endocrine Disruptor

Chemicals that interferes with the normal functioning of hormones in an animal's body

Positive Feedback Loop

Causes a system to change further in the same direction. Doesn't balance back.

Negative Feedback Loop

A feedback loop that causes a system to change in the opposite direction from which it is moving. Balances back.
1. More predator ----> few prey

Open System

Deal with inputs, outputs, and energy
1. Sunlight transfer

Closed System

No inputs and outputs and just matter

First Law of Thermodynamics

Conservation of energy: energy can neither be created nor destroyed

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Law of entropy: Entropy increases as energy is converted.

(energy is lost to the environment plant only consumes 10 J of energy 990 J lost to the environment)

Rowland and Molina

1. In 1974 they determined that CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbon) destroy stratospheric ozone.
2. Findings led to Montreal Protocol - a treaty to eliminate chemicals that deplete the ozone layer (O3 destroying substances)

Garret Hardin

1. Wrote essay "Tragedy of the Commons"
2. "you cannot do only one thing"

Rachel Carson

Wrote "Silent Spring" that documented the effects of pesticides on animals, led to the banning of DDT (pesticide that harmed crops)

Aldo Leopold

Wrote about the land ethic in "A Sand County Almanac", he showed how to restore and preserve nature.

Gifford Pinchot

First chief of the U.S. Forest Service who pioneered scientific management of forest resources on public lands

Theodore Roosevelt

First national political figure to bring conservation to the attention of the American public

John Muir

One of the first modern preservationists, helped save Yosemite and other wilderness areas, founded Sierra Club.

Henry David Thoreau

Wrote Walden about his observations and thoughts on nature while living alone in the woods outside of Boston

Gaylord Nelson

Former Governor of Wisconsin who founded Earth Day on April 22, 1970.

Thomas Malthus

He said that disease, war, and famine would eventually stop exponential growth.

How many people are approximately in the world

7 billion

Where do most of the residents of Franklin, Wisconsin get drinking water from?

Lake Michigan

Where do most people worldwide get drinking water from?

Groundwater

What has been accepted as fact by the vast majority of scientists?

Human-caused global climate change

How have humans impacted the extinction of species?

Humans have greatly accelerated the rate of species extinction.

What protects us from harmful, ultraviolet radiation?

Ozone

What is true regarding water as a resource?

Although water is a renewable resource, it is currently being used faster than it can be replenished.

What gases are heat-trapping greenhouse gases?

1. Water Vapor
2. Carbon Dioxide
3. Methane

What is the primary contributor to carbon monoxide in the atmosphere?

Motor Vehicles

How many species of living things are estimated to live on the planet?

10-100 million

How are the power plants that provide us with electricity in Southeast Wisconsin powered?

Coal

When attempting to make a sustainable decision, which of the following should be considered?

Environmental, Social, and Economic impacts

Where would you expect to find the greatest number of species?

A tropical rain forest

Where is the majority of freshwater on Earth found?

Ice caps and glaciers

What percent of water on Earth is fresh (not salty) and easily accessible?

1%

What is the population of the United States? (approximate)

300 million

What is true regarding food production and availability?

There is more than enough food produced, but not everyone has access to adequate nutrition.

What do plants use to perform photosynthesis?

Sunlight, CO2, and Water

Which country has the highest per-person impact on the planet?

USA

Is the hole in the ozone layer one of the factors responsible for global warming?

No

Monetary Values

Monetary Values of Trees:
1. Cut down and sold
2. Increase property value
3. Less energy used (trees provide shade which cools down houses)

Non Monetary Values

Non Monetary Values of Trees:
1. Habitat and food for animals
2. Takes in CO2 and produces O2 helps climate

Externalities

Other resulting effects of an action that could be positive or negative

Positive Externalities

For trees:
1. Coal reserves would last longer
2. Less burning of coal so less CO2
3. Less acid rain from sulfur release
4. Less toxins in animals

Negative Externalities

Of Not Hunting Deer:
1. Less profit from crops because they are eaten
2. More diseases spread amongst the deer pop.
3. More car crashes (deer in roads)

Cost Benefit Analysis

A way to compare the difference between two outcomes using monetary or non-monetary values. For example, with trees the benefit is a habitat for many species, food for many, and trees taking CO2 out of the atmosphere. The negative would be taking up space that would be developed, but the positive cost outweighs the negative.

Passenger Pigeons

In the 1800s, there were billions of these in north America. In 1914, they were then extinct due to over harvesting. Environmental factors(the over population of birds) led to a social response (hunting for food and to keep the population under control) and then there was an economic response (hunting was profitable) causing them to go extict.

Easter Island

In an attempt to create the Moai, they used the palm trees (for rope, housing, to clear for land, to make boats etc. ) There was then a lack of freshwater, few animals for food, and no more palm trees, there was famine and disease.

EPA

environmental protections agency.

What process removes CO2 from the atmosphere

photosynthesis

Transpiration

the way that water is lost through plant leaves. It is evaporated from plant leaves.

Where is the earth’s store of oxygen

earths crust and mantle q

In what are carbon atoms?

carbon dioxide, oil coal etc. Also the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere hold the earth’s major stores of carbon.

Nitrogen fixation

makes nitrogen available to plants and animals

What do organisms use nitrogen for?

for synthesis of organic compounds like amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Is phosphorus an element in organic compounds that is used in photosynthesis.

Phosphorus

Where is the store of phosphorus?

in marine sediment/ocean