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NS103

To provide Awareness and Encourage Individuals to Participate in the VOLUNTARY Lifestyle Change in order to achieve a Sustainable Environment.

an interdisciplinary study of how the earth works, how we interact with the earth, and how we can deal with the environmental problems we face.

Our Objective

How do we define Environmental Science?

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Ecology

3 Goals
To learn: 1. How nature works 2. Our interaction w/ the environment 3. How to deal with environmental problems

Ecosystem: A major focus of Ecology

How do we define Environmental Science?

Ecology: Key Component of Environmental Science

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Solar energy

Natural Capital Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services

One that meets the current and future basic resource needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their basic needs.

Air Air purification

Climate control

Renewable energy (sun, wind, water flows)

Life (biodiversity)

UV protection (ozone layer) Water

Water purification

Population control Pest control Soil Soil renewal Land

Food production

Waste treatment
Nonrenewable minerals (iron, sand)

Nutrient recycling Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels)

What is an environmentally sustainable society?

Natural resources Natural services

Fig. 1-3, p. 9

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A resource is anything obtained from the environment to meet our needs and wants.

Perpetual renewed continuously Solar energy Renewable days to centuries Water Air Grasslands Forest Soils Fish populations

Some resources are renewable and some are not

Some resources are renewable and some are not

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Natural Capital Degradation Degradation of Normally Renewable Natural Resources

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Nonrenewable resources exist in fixed quantities. -Exhaustible energy (e.g. coal and oil) -Metallic minerals (e.g. copper and aluminum) - Nonmetallic minerals (e.g. salt and sand). Sustainable solutions: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Climate change Air pollution

Shrinking forests Decreased wildlife habitats Soil erosion Species extinction Water pollution Declining ocean fisheries

Aquifer depletion

Some resources are renewable and some are not

Fig. 1-5, p. 11

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Solar Energy

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Solar Energy

Nutrient Cycling

Biodiversity

Three Principles of Sustainability

Three Principles of Sustainability

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Nutrient Cycling

Biological Diversity

Three Principles of Sustainability

Three Principles of Sustainability

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1. Many human activities can degrade natural capital by using normally renewable resources faster than nature can renew them. 2. Solutions Scientific Solutions Political Solutions

Ecological footprint is the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a person or country with renewable resources and to recycle the waste and pollution produced by such resource use. Per capita ecological footprint is the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given country or area.

Components of Sustainability

Ecological Footprint:Our Environmental Impacts

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Number of Earths

Ecological deficit means the ecological footprint is larger than the biological capacity to replenish resources and absorb wastes and pollution. Humanity is living unsustainably. Footprints can also be expressed as number of Earths it would take to support consumption.

Total Ecological Footprint (million hectares) and Share of Global Biological Capacity (%) United States European Union China India Japan 2.5 780 (7%) 540 (5%) United 2,810 (25%) States 2,160 (19%) European Union 2,050 (18%) China India Japan

Per Capita Ecological Footprint (hectares per person) 9.7 4.7 1.6 0.8 4.8

Unsustainable living 2.0 1.5 Projected footprint 1.0 0.5 0 1961 1970 1980 Ecological footprint

Sustainable living 2010 Year

Fig. 1-8, p. 14

1990

2000

2020

2030

2040

2050

Ecological Footprint:Our Environmental Impacts

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Developed countries include the high income ones e.g. United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, new Zealand, Europe Developing countries include the low income ones e.g. China, India Rich and poor countries have different environmental impacts

In the early 1970s, scientists Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren developed the IPAT model. I (environmental impact) = P (population size) x A (affluence/person) x T (technologys beneficial and harmful effects).

IPAT is another environmental impact model

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Less-Developed Countries

Population (P)

Consumption per person (affluence, A)

Technological impact per unit of consumption (T)

Environmental impact of population (I)

More-Developed Countries

Pollution is a contamintion of the environment by a chemical or other agent such as noise or heat that is harmful to health, survival or activites of humans or other organisms. Point Sources Smokestack of a coal-burning power or industrial plant Exhaust pipe of an automobile Nonpoint Sources Pesticides fertilizers

Pollution
Fig. 1-9, p. 15

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Pollution prevention Prevent pollutants from entering the environment Pollution cleanup After pollutants released into environment Temporary fix only Often results in different pollution: burning garbage Dispersed pollutants usually too costly to clean up effectively

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Experts have identified four basic causes of environmental problems 1. 2. 3. 4. Population growth. Unsustainable resource use. Poverty. Excluding environmental costs from market prices.
Causes of Environmental Problems

Population growth

Unsustainable resource use

Poverty

Excluding environmental costs from market prices

Solutions to Pollution

Why do we have environmental problems?

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Human population is increasing at a fixed percentage so that we are experiencing doubling of larger and larger populations. Human population in 2009 was about 6.8 billion. Based on the current increase rate there will be 9.6 billion people by 2050. We can slow population growth.
25 million years 8000 6000

12 11 10 9 ? Billions of people 8 7 6 5 4 Industrial revolution Black Deaththe Plague 3 2 1 2000 A. D. Industrial revolution
Fig. 1-11, p. 16

The human population is growing exponentially at a rapid rate

4000 2000 Time B. C.

0 2100

Hunting and gathering

Agricultural revolution

Exponential Growth of Population

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Lack of access to

Number of people (% of world's population) 2.6 billion (37%)

Poverty occurs when the basic needs for adequate food, water, shelter, health, and education are not met. One in every five people live in extreme poverty (<$1.25/day), and more are susceptible. Poverty has harmful environmental and health effects

Adequate sanitation facilities Enough fuel for heating and cooking Electricity

2 billion (29%)

2 billion (29%)

Adequate health care Adequate housing Enough food for good health Clean drinking water

1.1 billion (16%)

1 billion (14%)

1 billion (14%)

900 million (13%)

Fig. 1-13, p. 18

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Wealth results in high levels of consumption and waste of resources. Average American consumes 30 times as much as the average consumer in India. Shop-until-you-drop affluent consumers are afflicted with a disorder called affluenza. Affluence has provided better education, scientific research, and technological solutions, which result in improvements in environmental quality (e.g., safe drinking water).

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Affluence has harmful and beneficial environmental effects

A companys goal is often to maximize the profit. Often consumers do not know the damage caused by their consumption. Government subsidies may increase environmental degradation. There are ways to include harmful costs of goods and services. Shift from environmentally harmful to beneficial government subsidies. Tax pollution and waste heavily while reducing taxes on income and wealth. Prices of goods and services due not include harmful environmental and health costs

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NS103

A key to finding solutions to environmental problems and making a transition to more sustainable societies is to recognize that most social change results from individual actions and from individuals acting together to bring about change . In other words, individuals matter.

The gathering of 172, 108 at level of Heads of State or Government in the historic 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil signalled the start of a collective and global movement for sustainable development.

We can work together to solve environmental problems.

We can work together to solve environmental problems.

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Plant a tree.

ARE YOU READY?

A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

together, we can make the change we want to see

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

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Avoid Plastics.
We think its convenient, useful for many things, and cheap. But plastic produces many concerns.

Avoid Plastics. Plastic is made by combining monomers into polymers under great heat and pressure in a process called polymerization.

Plastic is used in contact with nearly all packaged foods.

Heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, and lead are common additives .

Plastic is known to leach toxins into our food and water, which have been linked to health issues such as reproductive problems and cancer.

PVC contains phthalates, softeners needed to make the plastic bend, and they have been found to interfere with hormonal development. The production of and burning of PVC plastic releases dioxin, a known carcinogen, into the atmosphere.

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

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Avoid Plastics.
Plastic is the most common type of ocean litter, harming countless sea animals as well.
(A) 1990 Running shoes spill (B) 2002 Garbage strip (C) 2000 Plastic bag spill (D) Shoes found (F) Eastern Garbage Patch At the eye of the gyre, plastic reaches concentrations of a million pieces per square mile. Researchers have mapped a giant spill of bags and a mile-long strip of wind-driven garbage. (G) Caught in a gyre Some of the plastic drifting in the North Pacific is swept to shore, like the thousands of Nike shoes that washed up in the Pacific Northwest. But much is trapped by calm winds and sluggish water within the North Pacific's loop of currents.

Practice the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Re-buy.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (the size of Texas) is a circulating pile of plastic that has not biodegraded. The stuff that does biodegrade only results in smaller pieces that are harder to clean up.

Recycling is the processes of collecting, processing, remanufacturing, and reusing materials instead of discarding them. Helps conserve raw materials and energy that manufacturers would otherwise use in producing new products. It also reduces the amount of material going into landfills. Recycling helps lessen the pollution that may result from waste disposal. Reducing our consumption of materials and reducing the waste of materials also adds to the conservation of our resources.

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

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Green your home.

Green your home.

Avoid Ornamental gardens and lawns that demand water, land use, and often chemicals. Try edible landscaping, and grow at least some small portion of your food.

Rethink your need for energy. Use a clothesline instead of a dryer. Consider where else changing your habits could change your energy consumption.

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

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Innovate and inspire your employer and co-workers and green your work.

Innovate and inspire your employer and co-workers and green your work.

Go paperless. This is one of the simplest actions you can take, yet it has one of the biggest impacts. Only print those documents you must print. Save paper and print double sided or re-use printer paper. Reduce your use of paper and eliminate junk mail, encourage electronically transmitted mail.

Conserve energy. Put your computer in sleep mode. Do so whenever you are away from the computer for any period of time, including short breaks and/or turn-off when you leave the office. Also encourage natural lighting.

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

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Explore socially responsible investing.

Green your travel. Cut off the car, whatever way you can.

Use your Voting power. Demand that your elected representatives implement programs that combat global warming, At election time, learn the position your candidate takes on global warming and let candidates know youll vote accordingly.

Transportation is the second leading contributor to greenhouse gases in the country. It can save a lot of money by driving less (or not at all), as approximately 30%, the largest percentage, of a working familys budget in the US goes to transportation.

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

Components of Sustainable Lifestyle Change

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Lifestyle either voluntary or unintended is the biggest underlying contributor to our environmental impact.

and MORE.

Our consumption patterns, things we buy and use based on market or reflexes, even political preferences are all influences or drivers for social change.
How we think, what we think about, how we spend our free time, our daily and weekly habits, what we decide to bring into our lives is our lifestyle.

Reflect and find ways to do things differently on simple day-to-day activities.

Summary

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We need to develop a desire to change to support a mindset that will transform how individuals perceive the reality. It is the human nature of fear and security that we develop a defense mechanism of craving for more than what we really need. We have to be committed to change and start now to live sustainably.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

together, we make the change we want to see

Summary

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