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Unit 1: APES

Unit 1: APES. J.R. Arnold High School Living in the Environment by Miller, 14 th Edition. Chapter 1. Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability. Introduction. Environment External conditions that affect living organisms Ecology

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Unit 1: APES

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  1. Unit 1: APES J.R. Arnold High School Living in the Environmentby Miller, 14th Edition

  2. Chapter 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

  3. Introduction • Environment • External conditions that affect living organisms • Ecology • Study of relationships between living organisms and their environment • Environmental Science • Interdisciplinary study that examines the role of humans on the Earth • Environmentalism • A social movement dedicated to protect the earth’s life support systems for us and other species.

  4. Environmental science … is an interdisciplinary field, drawing on many diverse disciplines.

  5. Environmental science … is NOT the same as environmentalism. It is science, NOT advocacy.

  6. The nature of science • A systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it • A dynamic process of observation, testing, and discovery • And the accumulated body of knowledge that results from this process

  7. Applications of science Policy decisions and management practicesare applications of science. Prescribed burning, used to restore forest ecosystems altered by human suppression of fire.

  8. Applications of science Technology is another application of science.Energy-efficient methanol-powered fuel cell car from DaimlerChrysler

  9. Solar Capital and Natural Capital • Solar Capital • Energy from the sun • Provides 99% of the energy used on earth • Natural Capital • Natural Resources and Economic Services

  10. Sustainability • The ability of a specified system to survive and function over time • $1,000,000 • 10% interest • Live on up to $100,000 per year

  11. Sustainable Resource Harvest • Certain quantity of that resource can be harvested each year and not be depleted over a specified period • Sustainable supply of fish or timber

  12. Easter Island • A unsustainable society • Used up the trees resources • A lesson to us to use the • worlds resources sustainably

  13. Sustainable Earth • Earth’s supplies of resources • Processes that make up earth capital are used and maintained over a specified period

  14. Sustainable Society • Manages economy and population size without exceeding all or part of the planet’s ability to • Absorb environmental insults • Replenish resources • Sustain human and other forms of life over a specified period (100’s-1,000’s of years)

  15. Linear Growth • Quantity increases by a constant amount per unit of time • 1,2,3,4,5, … • 1,3,5,7,9, … • When plotted on a graph, growth of money yields a fairly straight line sloping upward

  16. Exponential Growth • Starts off slowly, doubles a few times, then grows to enormous numbers • Quantity increases by a fixed percentage of the whole in a given time as each increase is applied to the base for further growth

  17. Growth yields a J-shaped curve Describes the human population problem that disturbs the environment today Exponential Growth

  18. Rule of 70 • How long does it take to double? • Resource use • Population size • Money in a savings account • Rule of 70 • 70 divided by the percentage growth rate = doubling time in years • 70 / 7% means it takes ten years to double Homework: YouTube- rule of 70- Albert Bartlett “Most important video you will ever see” 9 min.

  19. Global human population growth Our population has skyrocketed to over 6 billion. The agricultural and industrial revolutions drove population growth. The industrial revolution entailed a shift to an urban society powered by fossil fuels. The world’s population is growing exponentially at a rate of about 1.25% a year

  20. Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) • Population growth will lead to starvation, war, disease. • Death rates check population unless birth rates are lowered. • Today, Paul Ehrlich (The Population Bomb, 1968) is called “neo-Malthusian.”

  21. Developed Countries (1.2 billion people) • They include the US, Canada, Japan, the former Soviet Union, and European countries. • They have high average GNPs per person. • They are highly industrialized. • They make up about 19% of the world's population. • They use about 88% of the world's resources. • higher average life expectancy

  22. Developing Countries (5.2 billion people) • They are primarily in Africa, Asia, and Latin America • They tend to be highly agricultural • They makeup about 81% of the worlds population • They use about 12% of the world's resources. • higher percentage of the population under age 15

  23. The gap between the per capita GNP of the rich, middle-income and poor has widened More than 1 billion people survive on less than one dollar per day Situation has worsened since 1980 Wealth Gap

  24. Natural resources • Renewable resources like sunlight cannot be depleted. • Nonrenewable resources like oil CAN be depleted. • Resources like timber and clean water are renewable only if we do not overuse them.

  25. Nonrenewable Resources • Nonrenewable/Exhaustible Resources • Exist in a fixed quantity in the earth’s crust and can be used up • Mineral • Any hard, usually crystalline material that is formed naturally • Reserves • Known deposits from which a usable mineral can be profitably extracted at current prices

  26. Biodiversity • Genetic Diversity • Variety in a genetic makeup among individuals within a single species • Species Diversity • Variety among the species or distinct types of living organisms found in different habitats of the planet • Ecological Diversity • Variety of forests, deserts, grasslands, streams, lakes, oceans, wetlands, and other communities

  27. The tragedyof the commons Garrett Hardin, 1968: In a “commons” open to all, unregulated use will deplete limited resources.

  28. Environmental Degradation Common Property Resources • Tragedy of the Commons • Resources owned by none, but available to all users free of charge • May convert potentially renewable resources into nonrenewable resources

  29. The “ecological footprint” • The “ecological footprint” is the area of land and water needed to produce the resources a person or population uses, plus the amount needed to dispose of their waste.

  30. Ecological Footprint Ecological Footprint

  31. What is your ecological footprint? • www.ecofoot.org/ • How many Earth’s does it take to support you lifestyle? • Complete quiz and print results bring in tomorrow.

  32. Pollution • Any addition to air, water, soil, or food that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms • Solid, liquid, or gaseous by-products or wastes

  33. Point Source Pollutants • From a single, identifiable sources • Smokestack of a power plant • Drainpipe of a meat-packing plant • Exhaust pipe of an automobile

  34. Nonpoint Source Pollutants • Dispersed and often difficult to identify sources • Runoff of fertilizers and pesticides • Storm Drains (#1 source of oil spills in oceans)

  35. Negativity of Pollutant • Chemical Nature • How active and harmful it is to living organisms • Concentration • Amount per unit volume or weight of air, water, soil or body weight • Persistence • Time it stays in the air, water, soil or body

  36. Solutions: Pollution Prevention • Input Pollution Control or Throughput Solution • Slows or eliminates the production of pollutants, often by switching to less harmful chemicals or processes

  37. Solution: Four R’s of Resource Management • Refuse (don’t use) • Reduce (limit use) • Reuse • Using a resource over and over in the same form • Recycle • Collecting and reprocessing a resource into new products

  38. Solution: Pollution cleanup • Output Pollution Cleanup • Involves cleaning up pollutants after they have been produced • Most expensive and time consuming

  39. Air Pollution • Global climate change • Stratospheric ozone depletion • Urban air pollution • Acid deposition • Outdoor pollutants • Indoor pollutants • Noise

  40. Water Pollution • Sediment • Nutrient overload • Toxic chemicals • Infectious agents • Oxygen depletion • Pesticides • Oil spills • Excess heat

  41. Biodiversity Depletion • Habitat destruction • Habitat degradation • Invasion of nonnative species • Extinction Biodiversity loss is perhaps our biggest environmental problem, because we cannot correct our mistakes later: Once a species is extinct, it is gone forever.

  42. Climate • Global climate change may be our most pressing pollution challenge. • It likely contributes to glacial melting, sea-level rise, impacts on wildlife and crops, and increased destructive weather. • Since the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by 31% to a level not seen in over 400,000 years.

  43. Food Supply Problems • Overgrazing • Farmland loss and degradation • Wetlands loss and degradation • Overfishing • Coastal pollution • Soil erosion

  44. Food Supply Problems • Soil salinization • Soil waterlogging • Water shortages • Groundwater depletion • Loss of biodiversity • Poor nutrition

  45. Waste Production • Solid Waste • Hazardous waste

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