Introduction to APES

Sustainability

• Solutions to problems that minimize the environmental, social, and economic costs.

• Ability of a system, (environmental, social, and economic) to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely.

• Making something survive and thrive into the future.

Environmentally Sustainable Societies

Meet the Economic needs of its people in an Equitable manner without degrading the Environment.

Figure 1-4

POPULATION Doubling Time

Rule of 70:

Pop. Doubling time = 70/growth rate

Ex: If China’s economy were growing at a rate of 9.5%, how many years will it take China’s economy to double?

RESOURCES

Perpetual: On a human time scale are continuous.

Renewable: On a human time scale can be replenished rapidly (e.g. hours to several decades).

Nonrenewable: On a human time scale are in fixed supply.

POLLUTION

• Found at high enough levels in the environment to cause harm to organisms.– Point source– Nonpoint source

Figure 1-9

Developed Nations

Developed Nations: Countries that are industrialized, have a high standard of living, and a high per capita GDP.• United States• Western Europe• Japan

Developing Nations

• Countries that are becoming industrialized, have rapid population growth, have lower standards of living, and have lower per capita GDP.– Moderately developed: China, India– Less Developed: Nigeria, Sudan, Congo,

Afghanistan

Major Environmental Problems

Overpopulation

• Human population is growing exponentially– Mostly in developing nations as they improve their

health care and increase their resource availability (Nigeria, India, etc)

• Environmental Effects– Overuse of resources (water, food, land, minerals,

fuels, etc.)– Pollution, land degradation

Overpopulation (cont)

• Economic Effects– More people fighting for the same number of jobs– More people in poverty– Lower per capita GDP– Countries economies are impacted trying to

maintain a standard of living• Equity Effects

– Poverty– People cannot improve their Standard of Living

Mass Extinction

• Major Loss of Biodiversity around the world as areas are degraded, deforested, and polluted

Environmental Effects• Loss of thousands of different species as they

go extinct• Can effect organisms throughout the food web

Mass Extinction

Economic Effects• Loss of revenue from these species, including for

food (fishing) or for resources (trees-lumber/paper)

Equity Effects• People will not have equal access to resources• Areas with high biodiversity will have more

severe impacts (tropical rainforests) and lose more resources than other areas

Pollution

• Air, water, land, soil, noise, light are all effecting the environment in a negative way

Environmental Effects• Harm food chains/webs, individual organisms

with health effects, reduce biodiversityEconomic Effects• Loss of resources that could be profitable• Pay for clean up (external costs)

Pollution

Equity• Developing nations will have more pollution• Won’t have $ to pay for clean up• More health effects (ie China)• Fewer resources in Developing Nations