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Fall 2015
GEO702 Technology &

Contemporary Environment
Brian Yip
Fall 2015 [GEO702 TECHNOLOGY & CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENT]
To my good friend Brian Duong.

Fuck Kevin Qian
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Table of Contents
Lecture 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 3
Lecture 2 Hazard and Risk ............................................................................................................................. 4
Lecture 3 Chances of Solving Problems ........................................................................................................ 7
Lecture 4 Perception of Environments by Culture........................................................................................ 8
Lecture 5 Christianity Malthus Darwin ....................................................................................................... 10
Lecture 6 Extinction Preservation Conservation......................................................................................... 13
Lecture 8 1st and 2nd Conservation Movements ......................................................................................... 15
Lecture 9 Basics of Ecosystems ................................................................................................................... 20
Lecture 10 Modern Period .......................................................................................................................... 23
Lecture 11 Recognition of Trouble.............................................................................................................. 26
Midterm Format ......................................................................................................................................... 28
About the Author ........................................................................................................................................ 29
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Lecture 1 Introduction
Resources
 “Resources are not, they become
 they are not static but expand and contract in response to human needs and human actions”
(Zimmerman, 1951)
 Humans have choices
o What should be developed
o Consideration of development (yes or no)
o Rate of development
o How development should proceed
o Eventual disposal of the product and waste from development
Ingersoll’s Law of Nature

 In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments
 There are consequences
 Impacts from:
o How items developed
o Rate and extent of development
o Eventual disposal of the product and its waste
 Impacts on ecosystem in which we live (Direct and indirect)
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Lecture 2 Hazard and Risk

Pesticides/Fungicides: Hazard
 Measured in a lab
 How much substance is needed to kill or injure an experimental animal
 Preferable to testing on humans
 More food (Less loss (growing, storing))
 Better looking food
o not as many blemishes
o More acceptable to consumers
o less loss
Risk
 This is the real world – what is important
 How is it used?
 How much of it is used?
 How often is it used?
 Approximately 250 basic chemicals made by more than 50 companies are registered for use as
pesticides in food and feed production in the United States
 More than a quarter of a million U.S. children aged 1-5 ingest a combination of 20 different
pesticides every day
 Overall, 20 million children aged 5 and under eats an average of 8 pesticides every day
 Pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950, and 2.5 million tons of industrial pesticides are now
used each year
 Some 610,000 children aged 1-5 consume a dose of neurotoxic organophosphate insecticides that
the government that the government deems unsafe
 More than half of these unsafe exposures are from one pesticide –methyl parathion
 Methyl Parathion – use is legally prohibited
 Pesticide highly toxic to humans and birds (EPA,1997)
 Methyl Parathion is only allowed to be used on certain open agricultural fields
 It is legally prohibited to use methyl parathion inside buildings (EPA, 1997)
 Based on a report by the Texas Department of Health however, researchers indicated that 25% of
the residents in their study region were illegally using methyl parathion
 Mississippi 1996:
o More than 1500 homes and business in Mississippi were sprayed with methyl parathion
by unlicensed pest control operators over a two-year period ending in November 1996
o The spraying resulted in the temporary relocation of more than 1100 people
o Local veterinarians reported deaths of household animals due to methyl parathion
exposure
o Eight day-care centres, one restaurant and two hotels that were sprayed were closed,
and extensive clean-up operations had to be undertaken
 2, 4-D is the most commonly used herbicide in Canada. It was a major component of Agent Orange,
and is still used in over 1500 lawn-care products (including Killer and Weed ‘n Feed). Cancer in
dogs has been linked to their owners’ use of 2,4-D (Sierra Club, 2008)
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 Produce with highest levels of pesticide residues:

o Onions
o Sweet Corn
o Pineapples
 What could pesticides do?
o Low sperm count
o Causing low birth weight and birth defects
o Interfering with child development and cognitive ability
o Causing neurological problems
o Disruption of hormone function
o Causing variety of cancers, including leukemia, kidney cancer, brain cancer, and non-
Hodgkin’s lymphoma
 Estimation – Canada’s air pollution is responsible for 21000 premature deaths, 92000 emergency
room visits and 620000 visits to a doctor’s office in a year and that the economic cost of air
pollution-related illness and death in Canada tops $8 billion a year (Canadian Medical Association
2010)
 Combination of short and long-term exposure
 Cumulative deaths by 2031 will hit 800000
 Vast majority will be people over 65
o Heart and lung conditions (pressure from contaminants)
o your parents after 2031 will be affected
o Demographic structure – baby boomers
 Costs significant financial, economic and social costs on the Canadian economy and people. In
terms of increased health care costs, missed days of work and reduced worker productivity, air
pollution costs Canadians and the Canadian economy billions of dollars per year (Environment
Canada 2013)
 Total loss by 2031 is predicted to be $250 billion
 Based on a conservative assumption that air pollution will not increase in the future
o Canada one of the first nations to track these associated deaths
 Everything that we do exposes us to hazards
 It is how we do things that determines the risk
 So Risk and Benefits are more difficult to define and measure
o Personal viewpoints should be important
o Who benefits?
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Ethics
 What should we do about climate change? (Not all “should do” questions are ethical)
 The question of doing something about climate change is ethical because it involves choices
(people have conflicting interests)
 The better off among us Canadians will have to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
 This will save future generations from the chance of a hotter world
 BUT how do we evaluate the well-being of future generations versus our well-being (especially as
they are more likely to have more material goods than we do)
o They will be richer
 Do we spent now to prevent?
 Do we spend in the future to correct if there is a problem?
 Are all deaths equally bad?
 Climate change will cause some deaths
 Many may die before they bear children
 Are today’s rich perpetuating injustice on the world’s poor?
 What if climate change leads to worldwide catastrophe?
 Do we spend or not (if so how much)?
o Spending involves sacrifice (jobs, taxes and slowing of development)
 Elementary principle that you should not do something for your own benefit if it harms another
person
 Climate change will cause harm
 If rainfall changes its pattern (amount, timing, location):
o Local food supplies will be affected
o Supplies of safe drinking water will change
o Large scale migration of people could be a response
 This is not benign
 All of us contribute:
o Driving a car or taking public transit
o Using electrical power
o Buying anything that has been manufactured and/or transported
o Drinking bottled water
 These all contribute to the generation of greenhouse gases (contribute to climate change)
 Inescapable? Our benefits do not harm others
 How have we come to this place?
 Not a simple matter of weighing benefits and costs
 Can we even get the benefits and costs?
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Lecture 3 Chances of Solving Problems

1. A society does not anticipate the problem (How do you anticipate the future?)
2. A society recognizes there is a problem but does not appreciate the severity of the problem
(Appearance of simplicity?)
3. A society appreciates that there is a problem (possibly severe) but neglects to address it (Could be
deliberate or?)
4. A society may perceive the problem as a serious threat to solve the problem – but fails
5. A society recognizes a problem as serious, acts and succeeds
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Lecture 4 Perception of Environments by Culture

The Question of Use
 Environmental Determinism
o The physical environment (emphasis on climate and terrain) is the active force in
shaping the development of cultures
o Human society is a passive product of its physical surroundings
o Similar physical environments would be likely to produce similar cultures
Proof? Disproof?
 Similar Environments
 Environments over time
Perception
 Look at similar environments
o Large cities
o Elongated, hilly sites
o Flanked on all sites but one by water – ie ocean, river, bay
o Both connected to adjacent land by bridges built in the 20th century
2nd Analysis
 Change over time
 Theoretically areas should not change if the underlying conditions of the physical environment do
not change
 The same environment can be used in different ways as needs, technologies and institutes change
Perception
 Each person and cultural group has mental images of the environment
 These images are shaped by ?
 It is possible that the choices people make will depend on what the perception is rather than the
reality
 So to understand reactions we must know how a cultures “sees” its’ environment
Geomancy (Feng-shui)
 East Asian world view and art
 Traditional system of land planning
o Sites for houses, villages, temples and graves
o Terrain, compass directions, soil texture and patterns of streams are important
 The end pattern of location is different because factors of economics take a lesser role in location
decisions
Possibilism
 Possibilists do not ignore the environment but rather treat it as an influence
 Cultural heritage is treated as being at least as important as the physical environment in shaping
human responses
 Significance?
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Resources are defined in terms of:

 Human perceptions
 Wants and needs
 Technological skills
 Legal limits such as property rights and environmental laws
 Financial and institutional arrangements
 Political, cultural and religious customs
 Location and accessibility
Technological Skills
 A possibilistic viewpoint of a physical environment would state that the environment offers a range
of choices and limitations
 The choice a culture makes is guided by cultural heritage and the range of perceived choices
 Perhaps the higher the technological level of the culture, the greater the number of possibilities
and the fewer the limitations
Other Factors: Property Rights Environmental Laws

 These legal limits on the use of resources and the environments that they developed and used in
o Question of private land and dump sites
o Construction on or near wetlands (who owns beaches on a public lake?)
o The location of dumpsites in Ontario (concept of waste disposal where it is produced)
Financial/Institutional Arrangements
 Additions and constrains that may be added to the development and/or manage of resources
o In Ontario responsibilities for water quantity and water quality lie with separate
agencies
 Lack of communication (information)
 Cross-purposes (based on agencies mandate)
 Limited range of values
 Government goals (privatization) and limited funds
Religious/Cultural Customs
 Influence on rural lands uses for example
o Development of the “long lot” system along the banks of the St. Lawrence in Quebec –
linked to modes of transport, the church and inheritance
o Montreal, Quebec
o The lands of Spain and Morocco (separated by the Straits of Gibralter) – Muslim
Morocco does not raise pigs – but Spain does
Location/Access
 Distance is barrier to the concepts associated with resources
o Distance is measured in terms of?
 Time and Cost
 This has an impact on the feasibility of developing/using a resource
 Probabilism
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Lecture 5 Christianity Malthus Darwin

Major Themes of the Course
 A single, unified, global ecosystem – a collection of sub-systems but all interconnected
 Pressures result in
 Conflict & Uncertainty
 The idea that human actions can adversely affect the environment was not invented by Al Gore
How we got here from There North American viewpoint

 There are “remnants” in all of us from the ideas of the past
 These ideas carry with them consequences for the system
 These illustrations apply to “Western” society – though all societies are dependent on their past –
and on their relationships with other societies
 Why do North Americans use the system the way they do?
Survival and Usage

 Older Societies – Survival dictates using the environment – in ways influenced by the limits of
technology
 Little perceived damage
o No records of base environment and resources
o Lower human population numbers
o More primitive, localized technologies
 Exploitation of the system is “normal”
Christianity
 The Christian ethic is anti-natural. The chief function of nature is to serve human needs
o “then God said let us make man in our image let them have dominion over the fish of
the seat, over the birds of the air and ... over all the earth and over every creeping thing
upon the earth”
o “God said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have
dominion ... over every living thing”
The Consequence of Dominion

 Nature is the source of animal instincts
 Humans are the lone entities with intelligence and a soul
o So humans protect their interests from nature
Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution

 Late 170’s – rise of manufacturing, spread of the factory system and migration to urban areas
 Population increases (DR drops) therefore pressure on the land increases – the rura landscape
becomes more commercialized
 Goal is to increase wealth, especially linked to efficient, centralized management
 Viewpoint of Exploitation
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The Imperial Viewpoint of Nature

 Combination in the 1800’s of Christian ethic and the Capitalistic viewpoint
 Humans are supreme – the goal is to create human-created landscapes that will serve humans (for
example – farmland)
 Humans will dominate – the Imperial Viewpoint
Development to this Point

1. Human Beings are separate from Nature
2. Nature is a support system of Human Beings and their wants
3. This is an anthropocentric viewpoint
a. One that is human centered – on wants and needs
Dissension
 The concept of Romanticism
o Thoreau (New England) in the 1850’swrote of the destruction of resources (woodlands)
o He stressed that a balance should exist – the concept of an integrated nature
o This is an extension of previous work (White) that “nature is a community of equals”
o This is a bio-centric viewpoint – centered on the environment
 Malthusian Doctrine
o First published in 1798, Malthus attempted a linkage between population growth and
resources
o The concept revolved around the exponential growth of population (an immutable law
according to Malthus) and the arithmetical expansion of resources (the concept of limits
especially linked to agricultural land and food supplies)
o The combination of these two factors produced an inevitable check on population. This
cheek was produced by famine, plague and war
 The conclusion revolves around the concept that exploitation and the natural system cannot keep
up to the demands placed upon it
 The human system that will rise and fall in cycles. Shortages will occur and there are limits to the
system
 A Neo-Malthusian viewpoint is a linkage of population and resource shortages
The Downplaying of Malthus, the Rise of Darwin

 Malthus runs into the problem of ever-opening resources (North America)
 Darwin is backed partially by the ideas of Malthus (the inevitability of conflict) and the writings of
such authors as Melville (Moby Dick)
 Darwin on his trip to South America and the Galapagos develops a very pessimistic viewpoint
concerning nature
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The Galapagos
 El Nino provides evidence of the “cruelty” of nature as this sea lion pup is starving to death
 Ecology is the “dismal science”
 Species respond to physical laws
 There is a bond between species and the bond is one of violence –the survival of the more fit
 Darwin was careful to separate humans from this fray – one line in this book refers to other
researchers in future might look at humans
 This is a link to the Christian ethic that species do not have human moral values
 This becomes the survival of the fittest and the moral right of the strong to survive
George Marsh (1801-1882)

 Part of the problem of the separation of humans and nature would be the lack of concern for
consequences-if they are separate then the actions of the controlling mechanism do not negatively
impact on the resource being used
o As well there would not be permanent changes in the resource
 Marsh was appointed American Ambassador to Italy
 As he travelled he documented the impact of human civilizations
o “man’s economic progress has often disrupted the balance of nature (link back to
White) to his own detriment”
o He noted instance of erosion, sedimentation, desertification and deforestation – all
linked to agricultural development
 Man and Nature (1864)
 The last-named work was translated into Italian in 1872 and, largely rewritten, was issued in 1874
under the title The Earth as Modified by Human Action; a revised edition was published in 1885
 It may not be a divine right to conquer and change habitats
o There are consequences
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Lecture 6 Extinction Preservation Conservation

Review
 By the late 1800’s still have the Imperial View, Darwinism, remnants of Malthus
o The concept of conflict between humans and nature with humans having the moral and
technological might and right
 At the same time having social commentators writing about poor living conditions – i.e. Dickens –
social conscience (easy to apply to environmental concerns)
Growth
 This is also period of tremendous growth and therefore of environmental exploitation
o First World is expanding
o Domination and taming of wilderness
 J A Macdonald (USA) “doctrine of usefulness” – if it works do it
 Manifest –might is right
o Railway workers as ‘sod busters’
Turning Point Viewpoint

 Ocean fish numbers on ‘brink of collapse’, WWF reports
 The amount of fish in the oceans has halved since 1970, in plunge to the “brink of collapse” caused
by over-fishing and other threats, the WWF conservation group said on Wednesday
 Populations of some commercial fish stocks such as a group including tuna, mackerel and bonito,
had fallen by almost 75 per cent, according to a study by the WWF and the Zoology
Extinction - Expected
 Extinction is a natural process
 Question is not about the process but about what humans are doing the process (speed)?
 Probably 99% of all species that have existed are now extinct
 When all local populations are eliminated they cannot be replaced with migration and species die
out
 Reasons:
1. Competition with other species
2. Inability to adapt to new diseases or predators
3. Destruction of habitat
4. Commercial exploitation
 The concern is what are humans doing to these processes plus they add to the list
Noticeable Extinction
 Passenger Pigeon
o Most numerous bird on the planet
o Estimated population: 5 billion
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The Sense of Loss

 Passenger pigeons were so numerous that flocks flying overhead would blot out the sun for hours
 Branches of trees would break under the weight of the birds landing on them
 Villages would have competitions with small cannons – who could kill the most
 In 1867, 1 billion killed in Wisconsin
Last Passenger Pigeon died in 1916 in a Zoo

 The last sighting in Canada was in 1902
 Why massive and quick extinction:
o Hunting and sport with technology
o Prime Reason
 Destruction of forest habitat in clearing for agricultural development
Bison in North America

 Similar timing to the passenger pigeon
 In 1800 about 60 million animals and an interlinked population of 300, 000 Plains Natives
 By 1879 – few animals and many tribes were starving
Extirpation
 Bison loss in North America
 Note the railway dissecting the range
Similarity of Reasons
 Hunting (economy of hides)
o Food for railway development, hides and bones shipped east for fertilizer
o Sport (shooting from rail coaches)
o Policy of destruction by army
 Destruction of environment
o Winter shelter areas (forest) cleared for agricultural development
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Lecture 8 1st and 2nd Conservation Movements

Summary
 Writers such as Thoreau arguing for preservation
 James Audubon publishing Birds of America
 The US Department of the Interior established in 1849 – eventually responsible for parks in the 20th
century
 The evident disappearance of some
 The writings of George Marsh and the concept that human action does modify the environment
 The establishment of “preserved” areas by law
o First national reserve in the world is Yosemite in 1864
o Banff is established as a reserve in 1885
o Algonquin is established as provincial park in 1893
Preservation or Conservation?
 Original movement puts emphasis on preservation
o Greater contrast to outright exploitation
 Preservation implies to no development
o Problems
 Is an area pristine to start with?
 Do you protect an area from elemental ‘natural’ forces – such as fires?
Conservation
 Conservation implies use – specific use
 Definition:
o Greatest use for the greatest period of time for the greatest good of the people
o This is more of a utilitarian approach
 In forestry, the forests should be managed for sustained yield
First Conservation Movement – 1890’s

 Important as a concept because this is developed not for emotional reasons but for rational,
utilitarian motivations
 Rationale
1. Resource Scarcity
 The unending frontier of American development was shutting down
 No new pioneers as “uncivilized” land is used up
 Therefore orderly development was the next step
o Still exploitation, but more efficient and rational management
 Frederick Jackson Turner (1893): the US Census Bureau in 1890 notes that there is no longer a
frontier line on their demographic maps
2. Detrimental Impacts
 Marsh had pointed out that America was squandering its heritage
 Realization that human activities could have negative impacts on the environment
 More importantly these impacts could affect the ability of the economy to grow and develop
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3. Social Reform Movements

 Rising education levels and progressive attitudes towards wise use of resources
 Attitudes against trusts and combines
4. Scientific Rationality
 Government leading in the sense of management of resources – government agencies and policies
 Professional and sound management in all areas, including the environment
Conclusion
 The primary push is one of self interest
 One has to provide a motivation that is more concrete than general theory
 The battle between two philosophies is still with us today
o The Sierra Club is an example of a preservationist group
 The other tendency out of this period is for the Canadian system to lag behind the U.S.
o The establishment of parks
o In 1905 the U.S. forest service established and by 1906 the first “Canadian Forestry
Conference”
Concept of Utility
 In both societies the concept of utility (use) takes priority over the concept of virgin preservation
o Important for later developments such as long term forestry leases in parks
 Benefit of arguing for wise use in a rational economic sense
o Use the same arguments as the opposition
First Conservation Movement

 Marked by an emphasis on government action and agencies
 Emphasis – Canadian Commission of Conservation 1909 – “forests, waters, lands, minerals and
wildlife are to be developed, used and conserved”
o Note the order and emphasis of the statement
o Quote 1917 “conservation means economy and development at the same time”
 “To conserve human and natural resources means not only to prevent waste but also to plan and
develop future growth”
 First chair of this was Clifford Sifton
o Sifton was involved in urban and regional planning (also architect of west immigration)
o Commission operated as research agency with exploitation as its objective (efficient
development)
 Formation in 1911 of the Dominion Forests and Parks act
o Again note the order of the title
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End of the Period

 WWI creates a push for development that takes precedence over the ideas of preservation and
conservation
 Accented by a post-war recession and recovery
o Conflicts with developers and between government departments
o An end to certain restrictions and a period in the 20’s of unconstrained exploitation
 In the 20’s
o Park boundaries shrink to allow for resource development
o The amount of agricultural land increases by 25%
o The amount of land allowed for development of Ontario and Quebec Hydro increases by
140%
 The commission is dissolved in 1921
Summary of the 20’s

1. Government watchdogs are reduces
2. Resource oriented businesses expand and lobby for increased access to resources
3. Crown land and national park space is reduced or leased (long term agreements)
 Pressure (war and recession in this case) produces movement away from protection
o The ‘greatest good” changes
Second Conservation Movement

 The 1930’s produce 2 different pressures
1. Economic Depression
 Extreme pressure to broaden the resource base (employment)
 A common perception that this should be monitored
 This size of effort should be started and coordinated by government
2. Environmental Concerns
 Original assumption that the great dust bowls striking Canada, the USA, and Australia were a
great natural disaster
 After WWI, relaxed standards and the pressure of the recession prompted development of
western territory (farmland)
 Advertisements from that era state that “rain would follow the plow”
 In the great disaster farms literally blew away as the environment dried up. The great plains of
North America lost 500,000 acres – thousands of farms
Government Direction
 Canadian and USA governments encourage to act
 Agencies to foster soil improvement, soil conversation, water conservation and erosion control
 Similar solutions
 Large works and employment
o Buildings of dams, planting windbreaks, new farming techniques
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Agencies
 Canada
o 1935 Prairie Farm rehabilitation scheme
 USA
o 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority
o 1940’s integration of agencies such as Bureau of fisheries and Agriculture into US Fish
and Wildlife Service
Summary
 Emphasis in N. Am. On economic rationale
 Pragmatic arguments for environmental management
 I n best interest to avoid calamities or excessive exploitation
o Greater cost in the long run by avoiding management
 Humans are members of the environment not conquerors of the land
40’s and 50’s

 First factor is WWII
o Necessity of production (food and raw materials)
o Supply system needs ahead of degradation of the environment
 Boom of the late 40’s and 50’s
o Baby boom (Canadian BR is the highest in world of any western society) + high in-
migration rates
o Canada has the 2nd highest living standard in the world
o There was over 450k births per year in the 60’s and soon they will be in their 70’s
leading to huge medical costs for Canada
Progress?
 Mindset that industrial growth for consumer products is necessary to our well-being
o “progress is our most important product”
 Expansion of the system
o Trans-Canada Higher (personal automobile)
o St Lawrence Seaway
o Urban expansion (Niagara fruit belt)
 Large, invasive projects
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Problem Indicators
 1951
o International Join commission On the Great Lakes warns of water quality deterioration
 1955
o Ontario department of Agriculture expresses concern over loss of farmland in Southern
Ontario
 1961
o Resources for Tomorrow conference recommends conversation of non-renewable
resources and warns of potential pollution problems
o Establishment of World Wildlife fund
 1962
o Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring
 Concerns
 Readable (populator) diatribe against DDT
 Nuclear testing, radionuclides in milk, strontium 90 in bones
 Introduction of idea of indirect impacts (DDT in penguins in the Antarctic)
 Popularization of concepts such as the Food Web
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Lecture 9 Basics of Ecosystems

Basics of Ecosystems
 Simplistic view
 Can divide ecosystems into two parts
o Abiotic (never living - i.e. chemicals or temperature) and biotic (living)
 Abiotic examples
o Temperature, dissolved oxygen in water
o Amount of abiotic materials at any one time in an ecosystem is called the standing stats
o Standing state varies over time
 Biotic material
o Could conceive of three structural parts
 Producer organisms (autotrophic)
 Consumer organisms (heterotrophic)
 Primary, secondary, tertiary
 Decomposer organisms
 Leads into a discussion of trophic structure
o Food webs, food pyramids, food chains
 The total amount of living material in a trophic structure is termed the biomass of standing crop
Problems from the Structure of Ecosystems: Interdependence

 Each level within the structure is called a trophic level
 Relationships between species and trophic levels
o What impact on one will be spread to others
o Systems interlink as well
Problem
 Island of Mauritius
 Calvaria Tree – valuable as a hardwood and linked to exports
 Number of trees diminishing in the system
 Assumption of overcutting
 Last 13 trees protected but would not reproduce (youngest tree 300yrs old)
 Seed hulls too thick for plant to germinate
Solution
 Answer lies in a 300 year old problem
 Extinction on the Island (dodo bird)
 The dodo bird would chew up Calvaria seeds and then the seeds would be pooped out and grow
 When dodo birds went extinct, the Calvaria trees became unable to reproduce
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Evolution
 Process of adapting and specializing within an ecosystem (increasing interdependence)
 Dodo fed on calvaria seeds (grinding in the crop of the bird)
 Any seeds that had thicker hulls (natural variation) would ‘pass through’ and grow
 Dodo birds went extinct because of overhunting
 Reaches a point where the tree cannot reproduce unless it has been through the digestive tract of
a dodo
 300 years ago, the dodo is hunted and has to compete with a voracious introduced species – the
pig
o End result extermination of the dodo
 Long term – threat to the Calvaria Tree
 Solutions?
o Lab work
o Introduction of wild turkeys to the system
North Borneo 1955- Spray with Dieldrin to kill mosquitoes carrying malaria
 Malaria declines
 Spray kills wasps and insects which feed on caterpillars
o Caterpillars increase and eat through thatched roots
 Roofs fall in
 Spray also kills flies and cockroaches
o Insect eating lizards die
 Cats eat dead lizards and die
 Rat population increases
o Sylvatic plague carried by fleas on rats increases
Canadian Forests threatened by spruce budworm

 Spray
o Kills other species
o Spread to water systems
o Possible link to Reye’s syndrome
 Note: Temporal and spatial separation
Decreasing Biomass with Pyramid Shape

 Amount of biomass at higher trophic levels is less than that below it
 The conversion of energy uses energy (feeding, digestion, movement, etc)
 On average there is 90% loss when energy is transferred from one level to the next
 Therefore only 3 to 5 trophic levels can exist
Biomagnification
 Sometimes referred to as “funneling”
 If materials added to the system do not break down into their component parts they will “move up”
the pyramid
 Because of energy loss there is less biomass to absorb the material
 This means that the concentration levels increase in the members of species further up the food
chain
21 | P a g e
Consequences
 If a lower level is affected it will have a more significant effect (%) on the lesser biomass above
 Species at the top are more vulnerable to change as the populations are smaller
 Aside: Lifestyle – can feed more people off vegetation than off cattle on the same amount of land
Humans are at the top of some food chains
 Mercury, for example, can be found in Minimata, Japan or in the English River in Ontario
 Again, may not show for years or anywhere close to the original source of the contaiminant
 The Minimata Disease go its name from Minimata Bay in Southwestern Japan where it was first
observed in nearby communities
 It was officially discovered in 1956, and a few years later it was known to be caused by ingestion of
fish that had been contaminated by mercury let off from a chemical manufacturing plant
 Levels of methylmercury chloride were very high: up to 50 ppm in fish and 85 ppm in shellfish from
the contaminated areas
 121 people were poisoned from eating the contaminated fish, 46 which died. Dogs, cats, pigs, rats
and birds that were living around the bay showed the signs of mercury poisoning and many died
 The initial symptoms were numbness of limbs, and the area around the mouth, sensory disturbance
and difficulty with everyday hand movements
 Also there occurred a lack of coordination weakness and tremor, slowed and slurred speech and
altered vision and hearing. These symptoms worsened and led to general paralysis, involuntary
movements, difficulty in swallowing, convulsions, brain damage and death
 Between 1962 and 1970, a pulp mill operated by Dryden Chemicals dumped about 9000 kg of
mercury into the English-Wabigoon river system. Both communities sit along the 480 km system,
which runs across Ontario-Manitoba border
 Testing showed people had high levels of mercury in their blood which was blamed for birth defects
in children
 In mid 1980s the bands received a compensation package of almost $17 million from the company
and provincial a federal governments
 They’re still advised not to eat fish from the river
22 | P a g e
Lecture 10 Modern Period

Modern Period
 Major inspiration from Silent Spring
 Emphasis on the inadvertent, non-obvious problems of the food web
 Displacement
1. Temporal Displacement
2. Spatial Displacement
Averages Levels DDT 1970 “Pushes along the way”

 1964: Stuart Udall – The Quiet Crisis
 1966: Canadian Council of Resource Ministers – Pollution and air conference
 1966: Cuyahoga River declared a fire hazard
 1966: Kenneth Boulding The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth
 1968: Concept of ZPG
Deterents
 Old spectre –resource shortages of the 70’s (oil, coffee, sugar)
o Demand or Politically created
o Question of life style, solutions and environmental degradation
o Example of Reagan – Gutting of Clean Air Act so as to follow for emissions from power
plants and automobiles
 Rationale that the cause of acid rain is not known and needs to be further
studied (delay)
 James Watt
o Regan appointed Watt to head up the Department of the Interior (resources, parks –
770 million acres)
o “My responsibility to follow the scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until
Jesus returns. I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the
Lord returns”
o Watt was in charge of resource preservation
o He championed the corporate rights of oil companies and other entrepreneurs
o 1982: One million Americans sign a petition against Watt as head of the Department of
the Interior
23 | P a g e
Uncertainty
 Concerns for lifestyle – price tags (cost, jobs, taxes) attached to alternate strategies for resource
usage
 Survey in early 80’s in Ontario
o 69% believed that Ontario was no facing energy shortages in the future (lack of support
for conservation measures)
o No commitment for conservation when it involved their cars or required spending on
their homes
o Ontario residents believed that a cut in consumption would seriously restrict their
lifestyles
 In the 80’s on the conservation movement hung on
o Partially fueled by fear (Love Canal as example)
 Lack of focus changes with increasing concern for personal health and lifestyle
o Plus larger issues – Ethiopia, Acid Rain, Ozone
 “The government talks a good game on the environment but does not follow through”
o At risk? Drinking water air quality, wildlife
 Difference is in the legislation that has been passed and the actions on the ground in the real world
o Translation from ideas and words to concrete action
 Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in December 2011, sidestepping an estimated $14-
billionin in penalties for noncompliance with reducing emissions targets below 1990 levels
 Bill C-38 replaced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and endangered habitats and
removed triggers for impact assessments
Threats
 In February 2012, Public Safety Canada identified environmentalists as “issue-based domestic
terrorists” in its counter-terrorism strategy
 The CBC released a list of seven environmental groups being audited by the CRA: The David Suzuki
Foundation, Tides Canada, West Coast Environmental Law, The Pembina Foundation,
Environmental Defence, Equiterre and Ecology Action Centre.
Mining
 Legislation to protect massive boreal forests
o Key to cleansing carbon emissions from the air Ontario will protect at least 225, 000
square kilometers of the Far North Boreal region under its Far North Planning initiative
(2008)
 Funding not sufficient to hire government employees to police the mining claims in the north
 Mining companies staked two lines (hundreds of kilometers long) for future railway tracks for the
“Ring of Fire”
o Areas rich in gold, diamonds and chromite
 Companies are building mining camps and airstrips without supervision
o Quote – “Ontario’s north is turning into a Wild West for miners and forestry companies”
24 | P a g e
Water?
 27 years since the province tightened up standards for sewage treatment plants emptying waste
into the Great Lakes
 Population (Ontario)
o 1981 – 8.6 million
o 2006 – 12.1 million
o If include all pop. In state and provinces in the basin – 34 million 2011
 Americans have introduced a Clean Water Act with pushes for modern technology
o Their beaches and shorelines are cleaner
A ‘Black’ or ‘Green Decade?

 Federal Government has chosen to ignore the possibility of climate change and to weaken the
previous decades legislations that protected the environment
 BUT the private sector and the Provincial and Municipal levels have, on the whole, attacked more
problems than those they have ignored
Private
 Many businesses are trying to reduce our impact on the planet – without legislation
 The incorporation of environmental standards is becoming more common in development and
growth plans
Governments
 Greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto were 2012, 15% lower than they were in 1990
o Closing of coal plants in Ontario
o Initiatives in controlling emissions from government vehicles
 Carbon taxes in BC – associated with increases in economic performance
o Quebec, Ontario and Alberta considering the same approach
 Cities and provinces have looked at the overuse of pesticides and weed killers
 Cities have looked at improving storm water management
 Increasing the provision of public transit
 Change in attitude towards public parks
o High Park in Toronto
Energy and Garbage?

 Province trying to introduce gas fired plants –but political considerations- plants have been
eliminated in higher population areas
 Old landfills closed years ago are now posing risks – leaking into the system
 The climate of Southern Ontario will shift 500 K north
o Weather of Toronto will be found in Warwa and Thunder Bay
o Dry forests that now have problems with fire – probability will increase
o Snow will be replaced by freezing rain – impact on animal populations – moose and
polar bears
 Water levels in the Great Lakes will drop by 115 centimetres in the next 40 years
25 | P a g e
Lecture 11 Recognition of Trouble

Recognition of Trouble
 No doubt of a system in trouble
o Interconnections
o Upper level susceptibility
o Biomagnification
 Academic theory seemingly backed up by the facts of real life
 Ecological Succession:
New Bare Substrate -> Colonizing Stage -> Successionist Stage -> Climax Stage
 1-3 years: Tall grass/herbaceous plants establish
 3-10 years: Pines invade
 10-30 years: Pine forest is established
 30-70 years: Hardwoods Invade
Evidence
 In 1854 it took 1200 lobsters to fill a fishing smack’s well in Chesapeake Bay
 By 1880, it took 8000
 In 1879, the Maryland catch from part of Chesapeake Bay was 5 million pounds of striped bass
 In 1983, it was under 0.5 million pounds
 In the Canadian Maritimes between 1989 and 1993, the top 10 fish populations dropped by 90%
Lack of Awareness
 Seem that indications from the mid 1850’s up to the present would be obvious
 Problem of time and spatial scales again
 Plus the problem of individual or corporate self-interest
Switch to other fish

 The ever popular Slimehead -> Orange Roughy
 Monkfish -> Toothfish
 Chileansea Bass
Ignorance of Problems Resource Economics

 Part of the problem lies in how we see resources
 Ruff “pollution is an economic problem”
 Economics is the study of the exchange of goods, essentially and exclusively determined by market
value
o Influence of incentives and disincentives
 Therefore the majority of economics are based on exploitation of environmental features
 Resources are of value - link to Zimmermann
 Resources are perceptual and linked to a function – therefore change
 Therefore resources are commodities substitutable
26 | P a g e
Substitution
 We have always had substitutions
 Here the function is the need for energy
 We have had a sequence through natural resource products to meet the same need
 Note fall in original resource as price of substitute is lower
Costa Rica
 1970 – Mandate to open 4 national parks – start of ecotourism
 By June of ’95, the government presented a plan to protect 18% of the country in national parks
and another 13% in privately owned preserves. Areas targeted for protection were those with high
biodiversity. The government paid for the project by issuing landowners forest protection
certificates which annually paid landowners about $50 for every forest hectare (2.5 acres) with the
agreement that the forest will be protected
Link to Ecotourism
 Costa Rica has initiated numerous inventive programs to promote sustainable development
 One such project, organized by FUNDECOR (Foresta Project of the Foundation for the Development
of the Central Volcanic Mountain Range), works to sustainably manage than 13,000 hectares
(30,000 acres) of forest by developing forest management plans for landowners
 Not only do the landowners end up with more money in their pocket, but also do less damage to
the forests as they remove valuable trees
 Land, Labour and Capital are readily interchangeable
 If one is perceived to be in short supply then the value relative to the others is increased
 Assumption of a rational system – homo economicus
 Goal of system is to maximize benefits
 THE SYSTEM SHOULD WORK
Perception
 Different perceptions produce a feeling that the system will continue
o Engineers positive that magic gadgets exist
o Politicians assume that laws and bureaucracy will solve the problems
o Activists assume that saints have no garbage
 So past practice would seem to indicate that we will always find a substitute that fits with our
economic situation
 Therefore we can relax
27 | P a g e
Midterm Format
 There are 6 questions. You must answer FIVE (5)
 Use sentences. There are mini-essays.
 Each one deserves about 9 minutes (50 minute test)
 Each one has a blank sheet of paper beneath the question – you answer on the question sheet.
 Do not forget your name and student number on the cover page.
 Sample Questions:
o Test covers lecture up to and including “The Basics of Ecosystems”
o 1. Why is ecology referred to as the “the dismal science”?
o 2. Why is the loss of the U.S.A. frontier important when trying to explain the first
conservation movement?
o 3. Why is George Marsh an important individual when looking at the study of the
environment?
28 | P a g e
About the Author
Brian Yip is a Chemical Engineer from Ryerson. He was born on November 26, 1994 and is of Chinese
descent. He enjoys studying very much and likes to take long walks on the beach. He currently hates
Kevin Qian who is known as Yupeng Qian. Brian Yip is on a mission to try and find him and kill him. If
you know Kevin Qian or of his whereabouts, contact Brian Yip through Ryerson and you will be
rewarded.
29 | P a g e

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Fall 2015

GEO702 Technology &

To my good friend Brian Duong.

Ingersoll’s Law of Nature

Lecture 2 Hazard and Risk

 Produce with highest levels of pesticide residues:

Lecture 3 Chances of Solving Problems

Lecture 4 Perception of Environments by Culture

Resources are defined in terms of:

Other Factors: Property Rights Environmental Laws

Lecture 5 Christianity Malthus Darwin

How we got here from There North American viewpoint

Survival and Usage

The Consequence of Dominion

Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution

The Imperial Viewpoint of Nature

Development to this Point

The Downplaying of Malthus, the Rise of Darwin

George Marsh (1801-1882)

Lecture 6 Extinction Preservation Conservation

Turning Point Viewpoint

The Sense of Loss

Last Passenger Pigeon died in 1916 in a Zoo

Bison in North America

Lecture 8 1st and 2nd Conservation Movements

First Conservation Movement – 1890’s

3. Social Reform Movements

First Conservation Movement

End of the Period

Summary of the 20’s

Second Conservation Movement

40’s and 50’s

Lecture 9 Basics of Ecosystems

Problems from the Structure of Ecosystems: Interdependence

Canadian Forests threatened by spruce budworm

Decreasing Biomass with Pyramid Shape

Lecture 10 Modern Period

Averages Levels DDT 1970 “Pushes along the way”

A ‘Black’ or ‘Green Decade?

Energy and Garbage?

Lecture 11 Recognition of Trouble

Switch to other fish

Ignorance of Problems Resource Economics

About the Author

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