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PLANET EARTH

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HISTORY OF EARTH

MILLION YEARS BC

INDEXED (Earth formed to now =100)

EVENT

4,700 100 Earth formed

3,800 81 Earliest evidence of life

200 - 65 4.3 - 1.4 Age of dinosaurs

5 0.11 First human like apes

0.13 0.003 Homo sapiens appeared

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SOME EFFECTS OF MAN ON THE ENVIRONMENT

TIME/PERIOD SOME EFFECTS

8000 BC Development of agriculture

Classical Greek Deforestation in Greece

Classical Roman Copper in atmosphere as result of copper production for coinage

Middle Ages Deforestation in Kent.Pollution in villages, towns and cities

Industrial revolution Major pollution and ecological damage

First half 20th century Smog in industrial cities

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SOME PAST ENVIRONMENTS

Gin Lane by Hogarth (1750) Legacy of industrial revolution by

Lowry

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LONDON SMOG OF 1952

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THE 20th CENTURY

• Environmental change is as old as the planet

• Man has continually altered the environment, but there has never been anything like the 20th century

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SOME MEASURES OF 20TH CENTURYITEM INCREASE 1890-1990

World population 4

World urban population 13

Average life expectancy Increased

Industrial output 40

Energy use 16

Carbon dioxide emissions

17

Water use 9

Marine fish catch 35

Cars Astronomical increase

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LATTER HALF OF 20th CENTURY

1950 1997• Population (bln) 2.5 5.8• Life expectancy at birth 47 67• Megacities (> 8 mln) 2 25• Food (avg cal/capita) 1980 2770• Fish catch (mln tons) 19 91• Water use (bln cu m) 1300 4200• Rain forest cover index 100 70• CO2 emissions (bln t C) 1.6 7.0• CFC in atmosphere (ppb) <1 3.0

Source:World Resources Institute, 1996

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IMPROVED LOT OF MANKIND

By many indicators the lot of mankind has vastly improved. For example:

• Prosperity

• Life expectancy

• Education

However this does not mean that things are good enough Lomborg, 2001

Also there are threats and unknowns

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• The good news is good: never before have so many experienced so rapid an improvement in their standards of living

• The bad news is appalling: a large number of desperately poor countries are falling further behind

Wolf, Financial Times, 2003

Question: are there environmental implications of the good news?

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DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT: SCHEMATIC

Industrialisation problems, e.g

• SO2 and other toxic industrial and transport related emissions

• greenhouse gas emissions

• total consumption of water, energy and other non renewable resources

• waste

• urbanisation

• child labour

Scope: local, regional and global

Poverty problems, e.g

• Malnutrition

• lack of clean water

• lack of sanitation

• smoke from cooking

• pressure on local resources e.g. wood for fires

• child labour

Scope: local

Affluence problems: manyindustrialisation problems plus concerns over, e.g.

• GM foods

• chemicals in environment

• nuclear energy

• destruction of countryside

• pressure on wildlife

• transport: roads, airports

Economic development (GDP)

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MAJOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Include:• Greenhouse gases and global warming

• Use of non renewable resources

• Fresh water availability and quality

• Food availability and distribution

• Pollution and waste

• Biodiversity loss

• Deforestation

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• Food safety • Chemicals in the environment

• Genetically modified food

• Traffic

• Noise • Litter

• Mobile phones • Nuclear energy

• Ozone hole in atmosphere

• Destruction of countryside

Include:

OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

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YEARS OF LOST LIFE CAUSED BY SOME MAJOR RISK FACTORS

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

World, total Developing Developed

Years of life lost

%

Malnutrition

Water &Sanitation

Unsafe sex

Tobacco

Physical inactivity

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MAGNITUDE OF SOME ISSUES AND COST TO ALLEVIATE

Issue Effects Approx cost to provide

Clean drinking water for 1.1 billion people

2 million deaths plus 0.5 billion seriously ill per year

$165 billion

Sanitation for 2.5 billion people

$30 billion

Cleaner air indoors for 2.4 billion people who use traditional cooking stoves

1.6 million deaths per annum from effects of smoke

$30 billion

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COMPARISON OF THREE MAJOR ISSUES

Issue Effects

AIDS To 2003:• 42 million cases• 22 million dead

Clean drinking water and sanitation

Per year:• 2 million deaths• 0.5 billion seriously ill

Natural disasters

Per year:• 70,000 deaths

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

£ xx

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FACTOR FOUR

If the world population and average wealth doubles, then for there to be no increase in environmental impact the third term will have to improve by dramatic factor of 4

This is merely to maintain the ‘status quo’. To reduce environmental impact, higher values are required. For example to halve greenhouse gas emissions an improvement factor of 8 would be needed

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ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS

If the entire world lived like North Americans, it would take three planet Earths to support the present world

population

Energy is the main component of this

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POTENTIAL IMPACT OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: SCHEMATIC

Adapted from an FoE publication

21009 billion people

20006 billion people

Developing countries if resource consumption and emission figures increase

to those of developed countries

Developed countries

Global environmental

impact in terms of resource

depletion and major emissions

Year and global population

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MAJOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

• 1.2 billion people living in poverty on less than 1 US dollar a day

• Potential impact of industrialising countries like China and India, e.g. in generation of greenhouse gases

• Disproportionate impact of developed countries, e.g. in generation of greenhouse gases

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ECONOMIC GROWTH AND HUMAN HAPPINESS

In economically developed countries the link between

economic growth and human happiness is breaking

Something is missing!

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MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF HUMAN NEEDS

PHYSIOLOGICAL food, water, shelter, warmth

SAFETYsecurity, stability, freedom from fear

BELONGING, LOVE friends, family, spouse

SELF-ESTEEMachievement, mastery,

recognition, respect

SELF-ACTUALISATION

pursue inner talent, creativity, fulfilment

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GEOGRAPHICAL IMPACT OF OUR ACTIONS

• Some things we do impact locally, e.g. waste generation

• Some things we do impact locally and globally, e.g. greenhouse gas emissions

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SOME ISSUES TO CONSIDER

Consider:

• What effect our actions have on

our local environment

• What effect our actions have on the global environment

• What example are we setting to less developed countries

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Some reasons for an individual’s position on the environment

Personal values

Societal ‘norms’Laws

Available Options