APES Unit 5.12 Intro to Sustainability

Practice FRQ

★ Explain which student most likely lives in a highly developed country. Describe how one of the four categories of ecological footprint can serve as an environmental indicator. (4 sentences minimum)

Student 5 most likely lives in a highly developed country because they have the highest total hectares of environmental indicators. As a population because wealthier, the services and goods that population can obtain increases in quantity and quality. This includes medications (goods) that involve a large volume of croplands, technologies, and pharmacy facilities (goods and services). This shows how goods and services indicate the environmental impact of disposable/increasing income.

Sustainability

Consuming resources in a way that does not deplete or degrade it for future generations

• ex. compost > synthetic fertilizer

Maximum Sustainable Yield

Max amount of renewable resource that can be harvested without reducing or depleting the source for future use

Sustainable Development

Development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for future generations

• Depends On: # of people using the resource + method of use

2. Practices: Protect carrying capacity

Requirements to Living Sustainably

1. Systems: Not damaged + Recover

2. Renewable Resources: Regenerate faster than depleted

3. Nonrenewable Resources: Used sparingly

Environmental Indicators

Factors that determine the health of environment

Biodiversity

Environmental Indicator— Directly proportional w/ healthy ecosystems

• Decline: Pollution, habitat loss, climate change

  • Global Extinction Rate

Food Production

Environmental Indicator—Ability to grow food to nourish people on Earth

• Earth’s soil, water, climate supports agriculture

• Major Threats: Climate change, soil degradation (desertification + topsoil erosion), groundwater depletion

• Increasing Meat Consumption: Takes land away from grains

Human Population + Resource Depletion

Human Pop ~ Resource Depletion

• Unsustainable Harvests: Degrade ecosystem health

  • Paper: Deforestation

  • Food: Erosion, deforestation, groundwater depletion

  • Travel: FF mining → air, water, soil pollution + habitat destruction

Atmospheric Temperature and Carbon Dioxide

Life o earth depends on very narrow temperature range

• GHG: Traps infrared radiation + warms temperature

  • CO2 ~ Increased Temp

    • Deforestation: Loss of CO2 sequestration + FF combustion

    • → Desertification, Habitat Loss, Storm Intensity