Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future
1960s) Pesticides and Herbicides being used on crops, forests, lawns.
Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring” - described the environmental effects of pesticides on fish animals and humans
Carson specifically criticized pesticide DDT, killed insect pests but killed songbirds, osprey, bald eagles.
Supporters and Detractors
Carson documented all findings, defended her work, had courage
Silent Spring was attacked by chemical and agricultural industries
President Kennedy’s Science Advisory Comittee studied the pesticide problem and supported Carson
President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect the environmental and the public from government agencies.
Legacy
Carson died of breast cancer in 1964
DDT was banned in USA, etc, in 1970s.
Her work led to reforms in pesticide policy
She initiated environmental awareness leading to modern environmental movements
Her awareness led to the EPA
Paradox
Paradox: a statement exhibiting contradictory or inexplicable aspects
ex: human well-being over last 40 years has improved but natural ecoystem services needed have declined
Hypotheses
Measurements of human well-being are flawed and is actually declining
Food production has been enhanced and outweighs other declines in other ecosystem services
Technology makes humans less dependent on ecosystem services
There is a time lag between ecosystem decline and human well-being (worst is yet to come)
Global Trends that can test these hypotheses
Human population and well-being
The status of vital ecosystem services
Global Climate Change
Loss of biodiversity
Population Growth and Well-being
pop growth by 2 billion in 25 years. 80 million added yearly
Could be 9.3b by 2050
1.1 b in extreme poverty, 800 million malnourished, 7 million preschoolers death yearly, unequal economic growth in nations
Human Development Index
HDI aseses human well-being: health education living standards
Most of 135 analyzed improve
The results show human well-being isn’t declining
Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Devlopment Goals adopted by UN member countries in 2000. To reduce extreme poverty by 2015
Several goals met ahead of schedule, others yet to be.
Sustainable Development Goals wants world development and poverty alleviation 2015-2030
Ecosystems Provide Goods
Ecosystems support human life and economies with goods and services. Resources mal managed.
World economy depends on renewable resources for goods like water, food, fuel, leathers, raw materials
Ecosystems Provide Services
Services support life and economic well-being. Water breakdown, climate regulation, erosion control
Good and services are ecosystem capital.
Ecosystem capital and its income generation capacity represents a major form of a nations wealth.
Human Consumption
If every person used the resources of the Average America we would need over 4 earths to provide all the resources
Shows the unbalance in resource consumption
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Involved 1,300+ scientists, 95 countries
Focuses on links between ecosystem services and human well-being
Types of ecosystem goods and services are: provisional services (food, fuel), Regulating Services, Cultural Services
MEA
Most important finding was: the degradation and overexploitation of ecosystems is widespread.
Over 60% of ecosystems good and services used unsustainably
One set of provisioning services was enhanced: food production
Enhanced Provisioning Service
Food production has kept up pace with population growth
Groundwater, soil, wild fish, forests have declined due to resource management
Environmental Paradox Resolved?
Hypothesis 1- rejected
Hypo 2 confirmed
Conclusion: declining ecosystem conditions will affect well-being in unknown but severe ways,
Declining Ecosystem Conditions
80 millions tons of CO2 generated dialy
Carbon Dioxide is a natural part of the atmosphere
Is required by plants for photosynthesis
Greenhouse effect: CO2 absorbs infrared energy
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Established by United Nations
Report its assessment of climate change every 5 years
Consensus: climate change is huge global problem
Addressing climate change
Mitigation: we must reduce CO2 emissions.
Poor will be hit harder, depend the most on natural ecosystems that will be damaged.
International agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have had limited success.
Contries must work together and independently.
Rapid Biodiversity Loss
Other cause: Urbanization, pollution, exploitation for commercial value, hunting
Why worry about losing biodiversity
Mainstay of agricultural crops and medicines
Helps maintain the stability of natural systems
Provides essential goods and services especially to the poor,
Once species gone, never come back
Environmental Science
humans use the environment to dump waste
We change natural ecosystems into agricultural ones
Convert materials and good to towns, highways, factories
The environment contains the natural world and human societies
Human successes and failures
S: domesticated landscapes to produce food, convert natural materials into goods and structures
Human impact on the environments
Cumulative Impacts: actions become problems when too many participate
Unintended Consequences: people are ignorant to how the world works
What is environmental science
the study of how the world works
Encompasses many disciplines like history, engineering, geology, medicine, biology, sociology,
Humans negatively affect the environment through cumulative impacts and unintended consequences