ENS 201 Chapter 1, Spring 2008

Notre Dame University FN&AS Department of Sciences Introduction to Environmental Science ENS 201 What is Environmental Science? • Interdisciplinary science that uses concepts & information from:  Natural sciences (chemistry, geology, biology, Physics…)  Social Sciences (economics, politics, ethics…) • In order to:  Understand how the earth works  How humans are affecting the earth’s natural system  Develop solutions to the environmental problems Environmental Science: studies how nature & human Environmental Science: studies how nature & human societies operate & interact societies operate & interact Why to get environmentally involved? Why to get environmentally involved? Some reasons: Some reasons: • Nature is being injured by human activities: Nature is being injured by human activities:  Climate is changing Water & air are being polluted  Wildlife is endangered    Rivers are drying  Deserts are growing       Forests are being cleared Topsoil is being washed away … • Natural resources are being wastefully used: Natural resources are being wastefully used:  Fossil fuel is being exhausted  Earth capital is being unsustainably consumed … • Health is being threatened: Health is being threatened:  Factories nearby residential areas  Toxic chemicals & radioactive wastes straying in nature  Pollutants brought more & more closer to people Fossil Fuel Burning Fossil Fuel Burning Wild Dumps Wild Dumps • The human-environment Relationship: action-reaction The human-environment Relationship: action-reaction Humans Humans Environment Environment Degradation: Air Soil Water Wildlife Social & health problems Disasters, poverty, diseases, stress … Being aware of environmental concerns: - Does not necessarily imply living less prosperously - It signifies living in harmony with nature & its creatures Understanding Our Environment Chapter 1 OUTLINE • Introduction  Environment  Environmental Science • Current Conditions  Environmental Dilemmas  Signs of Hope • North /South Divisions  Rich and Poor Countries  Division of resources  Political Economics • Human Development  Sustainable Development INTRODUCTION Environment • Environment:  The conditions that surround an organism or a group of organisms Or  The complex of social or cultural conditions that affect an individual or community. • Humans have always inhabited both the natural world & the social and technological world. INTRODUCTION Environmental Science • Environmental Science: Systematic study of our environment & our proper place in it.  Interdisciplinary  Integrative - Natural Sciences - Social Sciences - Humanities  Mission Oriented CURRENT CONDITIONS: Environmental Dilemmas • Human Population > 6.4 Billion.  Food shortages and famines exist in many densely populated areas  Water deficits & contamination => critical environmental issues for agricultural production as well as for domestic and industrial uses  Natural resources and fossil fuel depletion  pollution  Landscape destruction => loss of biodiversity CURRENT CONDITIONS: Signs of Hope • Progress had been made on many fronts  Population has stabilized in many industrialized countries & some poor countries  Incidence of life-threatening diseases has been reduced in some countries  Average life expectance nearly doubled during the past century  Renewable energy technology has been developed  More efficient ways of using natural supplies have been developed  Deforestation has slowed in Asia NORTH / SOUTH DIVISION NORTH / SOUTH DIVISION Rich and Poor countries • Poor countries tend to be located in Southern Hemisphere • World Bank estimates more than 1.4 billion people (1/5 world population) live in acute poverty of < $1 (U.S.) per day  70% are women and children  Cycle of poverty can become self-Sustaining: Daily survival necessitates over-harvesting resources thus degrading chances of long-term sustainability The harsh conditions of life in some developing countries In developing countries poor people: - Face unsanitary living conditions & low quality of life - Lack clean drinking water, fuelwood, and land suitable for farming - Have little chance of improvement (trapped within a poverty cycle) NORTH / SOUTH DIVISION Rich and Poor Countries • Wealthy countries tend to be located in the Northern Hemisphere • About 1/5 of world population live in countries with per capita income > $25,000 $U.S.  Poor people exist here as well • Gap between rich and poor continues to increase  Wealthiest 200 people in the world have combined wealth of $1 trillion - more than total wealth of poorest half (3 billion) of the world’s population. NORTH / SOUTH DIVISION Division of Resources • Affluent lifestyles of richer countries consume inordinate share of natural resources and produces high proportion of pollutants • Open letter from 100 Nobel Prize winners: “The most profound danger to world peace in the coming years will stem not from the irrational acts of states or individuals but from the legitimate anger oft the world’s dispossessed and marginalized people” HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Developmental Discrepancies • Every year the United Nations releases the Human Development Index (HDI)  Based on social factors (life expectance, child survival, adult literacy, education, income, gender equity, access to clean water and sanitation…)  Ranges from 0 to 1  Gives some insight into quality of life - Top ranking HDI are found in Northern Europe and North America - Lowest HDI are found in sub-saharan Africa HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Sustainable Development • Sustainability:  Ability of a system to survive for some specified time and to attain its full expected life span • Sustainable Development (living):  Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs  To be enduring, the benefits must be available to all humans, not just sub-set of privileged group SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The Aral sea disaster: an example of unsustainable living The Aral Sea used to be the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world, It now holds a third less water than it did in 1960 It now holds a third less water than it did in 1960 • Cause: Overuse of rivers that supplies the sea for irrigation in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan • Consequences:  Fishing communities severely affected  former fishing ports now lie over 40 km from the Sea  The crop-land in the area has become severely degraded due to over- irrigation => more money being spent on artificial fertilizers Sustainable use of common properties Unsustainable use HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Sustainable Development  Many economists see continual economic growth as essential in providing more resources to more people  Most ecologists view continual growth as impossible in the long-run due to non-renewable resources and limited ecological waste-disposal capabilities Unsustainable use of a forest => soil erosion HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Indigenous People • Indigenous (native) people are often least powerful, most neglected people in the world  At least half the world’s 6,000 distinct languages are dying  Indigenous homelands may harbor vast percentage of world’s biodiversity  Recognizing native land rights and political rights may often be a solid ecological safeguard Cultural diversity and biodiversity often go hand by hand Role of environmental, nongovernmental organizations • E.g.: “Pueblo for people” • A nonprofit organization that buys traditional textiles and crafts directly from producers in Latin America • Goods are sold in America at much higher prices than the local market • Profit go to sustainable community development projects in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Peru A Mayan woman from Guatemala weaves on a back-strap loom Indigenous & tribal cultures often have environmental wisdom that may help us understand our proper relationship with nature We travel together on a little space ship, depending upon its vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed for our safety to its security and peace. Adlai Stevenson