Ch 1 envi sci

Environmental Science Chapter 1 SG – Lena Wen 

Key Themes 

1. People and nature 

2. Rapid population growth (rate of population: 1.1%) 

3. Sustainability (ability to survive/adapt to changing environment) 

4. Human environmental impacts 

5. Urban environments 

6. Science & values: value judgements and scientific knowledge 

7. Precautionary principle (choice of safety of humans and nature will overrule) 

8. Global <--> local scales and perspective 

Chapter 1 Introduction & 1.1 Key Sustainability Principles 

-Sustainability: capacity of earth’s natural systems that support life and human social systems to survive/adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely 

Ex. Resources that are Sustainable (renewable) – air and fish in sea 

-The tragedy of the commons: degradation of open-access renewable resources, such as fishing boats removing fish from fishing grounds faster than they can replenish; air, water, topsoil, and species are subject to this phenomenon 

- three approaches to prevent this:  

-Environment: everything around you, including living (plants and animals) and nonliving (air, water, sunlight) things 

-Ecology: focuses on how living organisms interact with living and nonliving parts of environment, study of interactions between organisms and environments 

-Environmental Science: broader than ecology, uses different sciences to study environment and solutions to environmental problems 

-Environmental Ethics: examines moral relationship between humans and environment and ethical implications of human actions affecting the world 

-Species: group of organisms that have unique set of characteristics that set it apart from other groups 

-ecosystem: set of organisms within a defined area of land or volume of water that interact with one another and with environment of nonliving matter and energy 

-biosphere: parts of earth’s air, water, and soil where life is found 

-environmentalism/environmental activism: social movement dedicated to protecting earth’s life and resources, more political and ethical than related to science 

-3 scientific principles of sustainability 

1) Dependence on solar energy: sun’s energy warms planet, energy for plants to make nutrients and food for all other species 

2) biodiversity: variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes; provides ways for species to adapt to changing environmental conditions and replace species wiped out by environmental changes 

3) Chemical cycling: circulation of chemicals and nutrients (ex. Through soil and water); energy from sun, waste and decayed bodies become nutrients 

-natural capital: natural resources and ecosystem services that keep humans and other species alive and support human economies (natural resources-renewable energy, life, air, water, nonrenewable minerals, etc.; ecosystem services-population control, food production, soil renewable, air purification, UV protection) 

-natural resources: materials and energy provided by nature that are essential to humans (inexhaustible resources <solar energy>, renewable resources <forest, fish, fresh water>, and nonrenewable (exhaustible) resources <oil, coal, natural gas>) 

-sustainable yield: highest rate people can use renewable resource without reducing available supply  

-ecosystem services: natural services provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human economies at no monetary cost (air purification, recycling nutrients by plants) 

-3 additional principles of sustainability 

1)full cost pricing- give consumers information about harmful environmental impacts of products 

2) win-win solutions- solutions that benefit the largest number of people + environment 

3) responsibility to future generations- leave plant’s life support systems in a good condition as responsibility to future generations 

-more developed countries: high average incomes per person, use 70% of earth’s natural resources 

-less developed countries: include most of world’s population but only use 30% of earth’s natural resources 

-biomimicry: understand, mimic, and catalog the natural ways nature sustains life (ie. Shark skin,  

Checkpoint: 

1. Explain why chemical (nutrient) cycling is essential for maintaining life on earth. 

Nutrient cycling, driven by the energy of the sun, circulates chemicals needed for life through living organisms and back to the environment. 

2. Explain why biodiversity is important to ecosystem sustainability. 

Species diversity keeps populations in check and ensures that there are species able to adapt to changing environmental conditions should there be a catastrophic event. 

3. Discuss how our economy is related to ecosystem services. 

Ecosystem services provide clean water, clean air, pollination of crops, etc., all critical to providing natural resources needed for our survival and by our economy. 

4. Give an example of each type of resource: inexhaustible (perpetual), renewable, and nonrenewable. Under what circumstances might a renewable resource become nonrenewable? 

An example of a perpetual resource would be solar energy. An example of a renewable resource would be topsoil, timber, and fish. A nonrenewable resource would be coal, oil, and natural gas. A renewable resource might become nonrenewable when overharvesting occurs and the resource cannot regenerate within a reasonable timespan. 

5. Identify several human or social factors that can enhance sustainability. 

The human factors include, economics, ethics, and politics. 

1.2 Ecological Footprints 

-environmental degradation/natural capital degradation: degradation of renewable natural resources and natural services from population growth and increased resource use per person; we are destroying forests, taking water, harvesting fish, littering, pollutants... 

-private lands: owned by individuals or business 

-public lands: owned jointly by citizens of country but managed by government (national parks, national forests, etc.) 

-ecological footprint: amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a population in an area with renewable resources and to absorb and recycle wastes and pollution such resource use produces 

-biocapacity: ability of earth’s ecosystems to regenerate resources used in a given year 

-per capita ecological footprint: average ecological footprint of individual in given area 

-IPAT 

Impact (I)=Population (P) x Affluence (A) x Technology (T) 

T: polluting factories, motor vehicles, pollution control, solar cells 

-culture affects ecological footprints: agricultural revolution (grow and breed plants and animals), industrial-medical revolution (energy from fossil fuels and medical advancements), information-globalization revolution (new technologies for gaining rapid access to information and resources), sustainability revolution (live more sustainably) 

1.3 Environmental Problems 

-exponential growth: quantity increases at fixed percentage per unit of time 

-poverty: people lack enough money to fulfill their basic needs for food, water, shelter, health care, and education 

-poverty DOESN’T always lead to environmental degradation (some plant trees to conserve their soil) 

-companies who provide goods don’t have to pay for the harmful environmental and heatlh costs of supplying the goods 

-nature deficit disorder: urban environments and electronic devices isolate people from the natural world 

1.4 Economics & The Environment  

-economics: production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services to satisfy people’s wants and needs  

Natural capital: resources and ecosystem services produced by earth’s natural processes that support life and economies 

Human capital: physical and mental talents of people who provide labor, organization and management skills, and innovation 

Manufactured capital: machinery, materials, and factories that people create using natural resources 

-economic growth: increase in capacity of nation, state, city, or company to provide goods and services to people 

-high-throughput economy: boost economic growth by increasing flow of matter and energy resources through system to produce more goods and services 

-low throughput (low waste) economy: more sustainable 

-full cost pricing: include harmful environmental/health costs into prices 

-subsidies: tax breaks and payments given by government to companies; these can encourage depletion and degradation of natural capital 

-free market economic system: economic decisions are governed by interaction of suppy and demand 

-gross domestic product (GDP): annual market value of all goods and services produced by all firms and organizations 

-per capital GDP: country’s economic growth per person (GDP divided by total population at midyear) 

1.5 Gov’t & The Environment 

-environmental policy: environmental laws, regulations, and programs that are designed, implemented, and enforced by government agencies 

-international environmental organizations: united nations, WHO, UN food and agriculture organization 

1.6 Sustainability 

-environmentally sustainable society: protects natural capital and lives on income, one that can meet needs of environment without compromising ability of future generations to meet their own needs 

-natural income: living sustainably, preserve and replenish renewable resources 

Additional Study Guide Materials 

Environmental Worldviews: Planetary Management, Stewardship, and Earth Wisdom 

Biosphere 1 (earth) and Biosphere 2: 1990’s experiment 

Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Ecosystem Services 

LDCs and MDCs (comparison): LDC- less developed countries (more kids, less resources), MDC- more developed countries (more waste, more resource use, more pollution) 

Environmental Degradation (Natural Capital Degradation): depleting of natural resources and ecosystem services 

High throughputs: increase in flow of matter and energy to produce more 

Low throughputs: low waste 

Linear vs. Circular Metabolism: linear- something that ends up as waste, circular: more sustainable bc u reuse/recycle 

How do high/low throughput societies relate to linear vs circular metabolism:  

 Human Land Use: Private and public lands: private (protect or destroy) 

3 “natural sciences” and 3 “social sciences” part of EnviSci: geology, chem, ecology,  

Linear growth:  

Exponential Growth:  

Overall trend in human population growth over last 500 years: increasing rapidly but starting to soften due to medicine and technology 

What has happened to the length of doubling time of the human population over the course of human history: decreased a little but majorly increased in past 

Desc quick way to calculate doubling time: rule of 7- 70 divided by growth rate = years to double 

“economic growth”: 2 basic ways this accomplished: increase in amount of goods produced per population, land, labor, capital, entrepreneurship  

GDP: gross domestic product- annual market value of all goods and services 

Per capita GDP: annual market value of all goods and services 

Ecological Footprint: harmful impact, how many resources needed to supply population 

Renewable Resources: solar, wind 

Potentially Renewable Resources: bimass 

Nonrenewable Resources: fossil fuels 

Which resources are considered “perpetual”: renewable 

Relationship between potentially renewable resources and sustainable yield: there may not be a bigger supply ot them so don’t deplete them 

Justifications of placing value on environment 

1. Utilitarian: benefits people, more products 

2. Ecological: a tree has value bc of role in air purification 

3. Aesthetic: for people to look at 

4. Moral: respect for organisms’ right for life 

Government approach that encourages pollution prevention:  

2 limitations/drawbacks of pollution cleanup strategies 

I=PAT : impact = population size x affluence x technology <- hard to measure 

Julian Simon- what was the most value resource on earth? The human mind 

Julian simon vs paul ehrlich: debate regarding human population growth: julian- resource scarcity, 

2 important changes that many environmental scientists think should take place in the decades ahead to truly experience global sustainability: renewable energy sources, transportation, less pollution 

2 major differences between hunter-gatherer societies (only took what they needed and no pollution) and industrialized agriculture societies (overuse and pollution): 

2 societal/environmental changes which occurred due to industrial revolution: air pollution, large scale production=more jobs 

Fundamental differences between conversationist (regulate human use/efficient use)and preservationists (eliminate human impact altogether): 

Hetch hetchy 

Environemntal economics: 

1. How can environemnt be priced and sold/purchased: you can help environemnt become healthier, free services from nature, plant more trees 

2. Commons: for use by public (forests, fisheries, groundwater resources) 

3. Tragedy of the commons: individuals access to public resource in own interest take and deplete resources 

4. Garrett hardin: tragedy of the commons 

5. Public service functions of nature: trees purify the air, bacteria decomposes waste, tree roots prevent erosion 

6. Ecosystem services: natural services that environment provides 

7. Direct costs: labor, direct materials, manufacturing supplie (expenses you directly apply to specific cost) 

8. Indirect costs: rent, utilities, expenses (can’t assign expenses to specific object) 

9. Externalities: environmental effects/social costs passed on to society 

10. Positive externalities: education positive externality of school 

11. Negative externalities: light pollution, pollution 

12. Full-cost pricing (how can this approach reduce types of pollution): consumer pays for environmental impact of product 

13. Marginal costs: cost added by producing one additional unit or product or service 

14. Optimum level of pollution 

15. Policy instruments: techniques used by government to promote certain policies to achieve a predefined set of goals 

16. Command and control: exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander 

17. Cap-and-trade: system that limits aggregate emissions from group of emitters by setting “cap” on maximum emissions 

18. Risk-benefit analysis (ex. Use of DDT): comparison of risk of situation and benefits 

19. Sustainable fisheries: respects ecosystems and adapts to reproductive rate of fish to maintain balance 

20. Ecosystem valuation and landscape aesthetics: monetizing ecosystem benefit by using market price, enjoyment and pleasure felt through observation of scenery 

21. Pigouvian tax: tax on mark transaction that creates negative externality borne by society 

22. Pigouvian subsidy: used to encourage behavior that has positive effects on others who are not involved with society at large 

23. Total economic value: provides all-encompassing measure of economic value of any environmental asset