Chapter 10: Food Production and the Environment - A pest is species that interferes with human welfare by development
elfare by development where land above aquifers collapses – making
 Food Security, we produce more than enough food to meet
the basic nutritional needs of every person on the earth.
- 1/6 population in developing, food insecurity —living with
chronic hunger and poor nutrition -> threatens healthy and
productive lives.
- To maintain good health and resist disease, individuals need
fairly large amounts of macronutrients (such as carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats), and smaller amounts of micronutrients—
vitamins (such as A, C, and E) and minerals (such as iron, iodine,
and calcium).
- Factors influencing food supply: war, poverty, bad weather,
climate change, environmental degradation, corruption, etc.
- Many people suffer from chronic undernutrition/ hunger
and malnutrition
- Low income, less developed countries: diets center on high
carbohydrate grains and very little protein
- Food deserts (no access to fresh food) in developed countries:
diets high in fat, sugar, salt, and little protein
- (1/3) Almost 2 billion people suffer from a deficiency of
micronutrients (vitamin A, iron, and iodine)
- Overnutrition occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy
use and causes excess body fat (lower life expectancy, greater
susceptibility to disease and illness, and lower productivity and
life quality)
 How is food produced?
- Food Production Has Increased Dramatically
Hunt, gather -> grow, agriculture, cropland (grain), rangeland,
pasture, feedlots (meat), fisheries, aquaculture (seafood).
- Industrialized: heavy equipment, fossil fuel, commercial
fertilizer/pesticides, and money (monoculture: growing one to
two crops)
- Important shifts:
• From relying on energy from sunlight, human muscle power,
and draft animals to supplementing such energy with cheap
energy from fossil fuels (primarily oil and natural gas).
• From producing a diversity of crops and farm animals
(polycultures) to producing a few types of crops and animals
(monocultures).
• From producing food mostly for local and regional
consumption to producing food for global consumption.
• From relying on supply and demand in the marketplace to
using government subsidies and policies to help manipulate
supply and demand and keep food prices artificially low.
- Plantation agriculture is a form of industrialized agriculture
used primarily in tropical developing countries. It involves
growing cash crops such as bananas, soybeans (mostly to feed
livestock), sugarcane (to produce sugar and ethanol fuel), coffee,
palm oil (used as a cooking oil and to produce biodiesel fuel),
and vegetables.
- Traditional: solar energy and human labor to grow a crop that
will feed a family with no surplus (poly-culture: growing several
crops)
- Organic agriculture: crops grown without the use of synthetic
pesticides and inorganic fertilizers, or genetic engineering.
- Green revolution: higher yields from existing cropland, 3
steps
+ Plant monocultures of selectively bred crops
+ Large amounts of water; synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
+ Multiple cropping
- New and hardier crop varieties are being developed by second
gene revolution methodology (gene splicing)
- Meat production now uses feedlots as well as rangelands and
pastures
- Aquaculture produces more fish and is the world’s fastest
growing type of food production
 Problems Arise from Food Production?
Soil, water, biodiversity, air, human health
- Topsoil Erosion: movement of soil components (Flowing water,
Wind, Farming, deforestation) loss of soil fertility, water
pollution
- Drought and Human Activities Are Degrading Drylands
- Excessive Irrigation Has Serious Consequences salinization,
water logging
- Biodiversity Loss during Food Production: Clearing and
burning forests
- Genetically engineered crop yields seem to be no higher than
for traditional strains
- Population growth, water availability, and climate change limit
irrigation’s potential
- Deforestation speeds up climate change, inc. topsoil erosion,
and lowers biodiversity.
- Genetically modified (GM) food production is controversial.
Advantage: Need less fertilizer, water, pesticides; More
resistant to insects, disease, frost, and drought; Grow faster;
Tolerate higher levels of herbicides; Higher yields.
Disadvantage: Have unpredictable genetic and ecological
effects; Harmful toxins in food; Increase in pesticide-resistant
insects, herbicide-resistant weeds, and plant diseases; Lower
genetic diversity
- Cheap meat produced by industrialized agriculture has harmful
environmental and health costs not included in pricing –
violating full-cost principle of sustainability
- Fishmeal and fish oil, food sources for farmed fish (often
contaminated with toxins), come from wild fish caught from the
oceans – biomagnified in human food web; depletes wild fish
populations
 Protect Crops from Pests More Sustainably
damming, or diversion. (Bacterial decomposition depletes
competing with us for food, invading lawns/gardens, destroying
building materials, spreading disease, invading ecosystems, or
simply being a nuisance.
- Mix of cultivation techniques, biological pest controls, and
selective chemical pesticides
- Natural enemies (predators, parasites, disease organisms)
- Pesticides to Help Control Pest Populations: chemicals - kill or
control population of organisms that we consider undesirable
such as insects, weeds, rats, and mice.
- broad-spectrum agents, selective, or narrow-spectrum,
agents
- Advantages of Synthetic Pesticide Use: They save human lives,
They increase food supplies, They increase profits for farmers.
They work fast, When used properly, the health risks of some
pesticides are very low, Newer pest control methods are safer
and more effective. Disadvantages: The development of genetic
resistance to pesticides in pest organisms. Long term usage
diminishes effectiveness – costing farmers more for less return,
Insecticides kill the pest’s natural enemies Pesticides do not stay
put and can pollute the environment, wildlife and human health
are affected.
- Alternatives: Crop rotation/ adjusting planting time starves
pests/allows enemies to eat them, Poly-culture provides homes
for pest’s enemies, Implant genetic resistance, Biological control:
use natural enemies, Disrupt the life cycles of insects by altering
their hormones, use insect perfume, Integrated pest
management (IPM) – use of a coordinated combination of
cultivation, biological and chemical tools
 Improve Food Security:
- Control food prices, provide food subsides
 Produce Food More Sustainably
- Reducing Soil Erosion and Salinization, and Increasing Soil
Fertility: Soil conservation (terracing, contour planting, strip-
cropping, planting cover crops, and setting up windbreaks),
Alley cropping, agroforestry (planting crops in orchards) and
tillage farming, Organic fertilizer use (animal/green manure,
compost) to restore soil fertility, Reducing irrigation
dependence; rotating crops/switching to salt tolerant varieties.
- Sustainable Food Production Solutions: Open-
ocean/polyaquaculture, Re-circulating aquaculture systems, Eat
more chicken and eat less grain-efficient species (beef, pork and
lamb), Eat more locally sourced, organic food, and have two
meatless meals per week , Switch to organic farming, perennial
polyculture, renewable energy usage, and subsidies for
sustainable food production.
- Vertical Farming: is the practice of producing food and
medicine in vertically stacked layers, vertically inclined surfaces
and/or integrated in other structures (such as in a skyscraper,
used warehouse, or shipping container). The modern ideas of
vertical farming use indoor farming techniques and controlled-
environment agriculture (CEA) technology, where all
environmental factors can be controlled. The availability of
healthy, fresh food helps eliminate both hunger and overeating,
Vertical farming has a beneficial impact on the environment –
especially in formerly industrialized areas, In the U.S., vertical
farming can supply fresh food to urban food deserts at minimal
cost – allowing people to have a healthier diet.
Chapter 11: Water Resources and Water Pollution
 Freshwater Is an Irreplaceable Resource That We Are
Managing Poorly
- Access to water is a global health issue; water is economic,
national and global security, environmental issue. Most of the
Earth’s Freshwater Is Not Available to Us, one in nine people do
not have access to clean, fresh water, Fresh Water is Not
Distributed Evenly or Managed Properly
- Crucial Freshwater Resources: Groundwater infiltrates
downward through spaces in soil and rocks (Zone of
saturation: underground areas of soil/rock where freshwater
fills spaces between particles, Water table: the top of the
groundwater zone; fluctuates up and down depending on
weather, removal/ replenishment rates), Aquifer: underground
body of rock that absorbs and holds flowing water.
- Additional Freshwater Resources: Surface water: the fresh
water from rain and melted snow stored at the surface
(Annually, 34% of the world’s reliable surface runoff is used -
70% goes to irrigate crops and raise livestock, 20% is used by
industry, and 10% is used by cities for drinking, cooking, etc.),
Indirect and virtual water: water used to produce food and
other products – this is a large part of our water footprint.
- Fresh Water Shortages: dry climate, drought,
overuse/inefficient use, and using water faster than it can be
replenished, Freshwater scarcity stress: a calculation that
compares fresh water availability with the amount used by
humans , In 263 of the world’s water basins, two or more
countries share the available freshwater supplies – not always
amicably.
 Increase Freshwater Supplies:
- Groundwater for food production and use by cities is being
pumped from aquifers faster than it can be replenished by
nature, Although dam-and-reservoir systems and water transfer
projects expand water distribution, they also disrupt ecosystem
and displace people, Freshwater supplies can be augmented by
desalination of ocean water (expensive)
- Groundwater/Aquifer Usage Exceeds Replenishment Rate:
Overpumping limits food production, raises food prices, and
widens the gap between the rich and the poor (As water tables
drop, water must be pumped from lower depths (more energy
and money); Can cause land subsidence and sinkhole
land disruption; Severe water pollution; Air pollution and CO2
recharge impossible; Can draw saltwater into freshwater
aquifers – making it undrinkable/unusable for irrigation)
- Advantages of Large Dams and Water Transfer Projects:
Dams/reservoir systems capture and store surface runoff from a
river’s watershed, Water is released as needed to control
upstream flooding, generate electricity (hydropower), supply
fresh/irrigation water and provide recreational opportunities;
Water transfer projects use dams, pumps, and aqueducts to
transfer water from water rich to water poor regions
-Disadvantages: Dam/reservoirs displace millions of people,
flood productive lands, impair the ecosystem services of rivers,
and have a useful life expectancy of only 50 years; Water
transfer projects reduce a river’s flow and flushing action
(leading to pollution), and threaten fisheries and artificially
cheapen costs – leading to inefficient and wasteful water use.
- Desalination involves removing dissolved salts from ocean
water or from brackish (slightly salty) water in aquifers or lakes
for domestic use. Distillation involves heating saltwater until it
evaporates (leaving behind salts in solid form) and condenses as
freshwater. Reverse osmosis (or microfiltration) uses high
pressure to force saltwater through a membrane filter with
pores small enough to remove the salt. (high cost, kills many
marine organisms and also requires large inputs of energy,
produces salty wastewater)
 Use Fresh Water More Sustainably
- Reducing Water Waste: ½ lost due to evaporation, and
inefficient use (irrigation) - low cost to users, lack of
government subsidies for improving the efficiency of water use
Irritation: Line canals bringing water to irrigation ditches,
Irrigate at night to reduce evaporation, Monitor soil moisture to
add water only when necessary, Grow several crops on each plot
of land (poly-culture), Encourage organic farming, Avoid
growing water-thirsty crops in dry areas, Irrigate with treated
urban wastewater, Import water-intensive crops and meat.
Industry and Homes: Redesign manufacturing processes to use
less water, Recycle water in industry, Landscape yards with
plants that require little water, Use drip irrigation, Fix water
leaks, Use water meters, Raise water prices, Use waterless
composting toilets, Require water conservation in water-short
cities, Use water-saving toilets, showerheads, and front-loading
clothes washers, Collect and reuse household water to irrigate
lawns and nonedible plants, Purify and reuse water for houses,
apartments, and office buildings.
- Sustainable Water Use: Waste less water and subsidize water
conservation; Do not deplete aquifers; Preserve water quality;
Protect forests, wetlands, mountain glaciers, watersheds, and
other natural systems that store and release water; Get
agreements among regions and countries sharing surface water
resources; Raise water prices; Slow population growth.
 Reduce threat of flooding: Protecting more wetlands and
natural vegetation in watersheds and by not building in
areas subject to frequent flooding.
- Prevention: Preserve forests on watersheds, Preserve and
restore wetlands in floodplains, Tax development on floodplains,
Use floodplains primarily for recharging aquifers, sustainable
agriculture and forestry.
- Control: Straighten and deepen streams (channelization),
Build levees or floodwalls along streams; Build dams.
 Deal with Water Pollution: Humans can use natural
methods to treat sewage, cut resource use and waste, reduce
poverty, and slow population growth to reduce water
pollution – but the best way to reduce water pollution is to
prevent it
- Water pollution: water quality changes that harm living
organisms or make water unfit for drinking/
irrigation/recreation
- Point sources: specific identifiable locations
- Non-point sources: diffuse areas (Difficult to identify/control,
expensive to manage)
- The leading causes of water pollution are agriculture
activity/industrial facilities/mining.
Type/Effects Examples Major sources
Infectious agents
Bacteria, viruses,
(pathogens)
protozoa, parasites
Human and animal wastes
Cause diseases
Oxygen-demanding wastes Biodegradable Sewage, animal feedlots,
Deplete dissolved oxygen animal wastes and food processing facilities,
needed by aquatic species plant debris pulp mills
Plant nutrients Nitrates (NO3–)
Cause excessive growth of and phosphates Sewage, animal wastes,
inorganic fertilizers
algae and other species (PO43–)
Oil, gasoline,
Organic chemicals
plastics, pesticides,
Industry, farms,
Add toxins to aquatic systems
cleaning solvents
households
Inorganic chemicals Acids, bases, salts, Industry, households,
Add toxins to aquatic systems metal compounds surface runoff
Sediments
Disrupt photosynthesis, food Soil, silt Land erosion
webs, other processes
Unlined landfills,
Heavy metals
Cause cancer, disrupt immune
Lead, mercury, household chemicals,
and endocrine systems
arsenic mining refuse, industrial
discharges
Thermal
Electric power and
Make some species vulnerable Heat
to disease
industrial plants
- Flowing streams and rivers use a combination of dilution and
bacterial biodegradation to naturally eliminate waste if Not
overloaded with pollutants or when flow is reduced by drought,
dissolved oxygen – eliminating populations of high-oxygen using
organisms until the stream is cleansed)
- Too Little Mixing and Low Water Flow Make Lakes Vulnerable
to Water Pollution: contain stratified layers that undergo little
vertical mixing and they have little or no flow. Eutrophication
is the natural nutrient enrichment of a shallow lake, estuary, or
slow-moving stream. Near urban and agricultural areas
chemical runoff cause nutrient enrichment of lakes and the
mouths of rivers (cultural eutrophication); Nutrient overload
produces algal/bacteria overgrowth, which depletes dissolved
oxygen and kills off fish and marine organisms in bottom waters
(dead zones)
- Groundwater cannot cleanse itself of degradable wastes as
quickly as flowing surface water (thousands of years) (has lower
concentrations of dissolved oxygen/smaller populations of
decomposing bacteria; Cold temperatures reduce chemical
reaction rates)
- Purifying Drinking Water: Temporarily store water in
reservoirs, Protect forests/wetlands in watersheds that flow
into reservoirs, Convert sewer water to drinking water
(Microfiltration, Reverse osmosis, Hydrogen peroxide/
ultraviolet light)
- Ocean Pollution: Viruses in raw sewage; Toxic chemicals,
garbage, sewage, and waste oil from cruise ships;
Nitrates/phosphates and sewage from agricultural waste; Crude
and refined petroleum, Urban and industrial runoff.
- Reduce non-point: slow release fertilizer, organic farming,
and cover crop land with vegetation (reduce soil erosion)
- Sewage treatment plants (through pipes): Primary sewage
treatment: physical/ mechanical process; Secondary sewage
treatment: biological process
- Solutions: Find substitutes for toxic pollutants, Remove
hazardous waste before it reaches sewage treatment facilities,
Use natural sewage treatment methods, Reduce non-point
runoff, Slow population growth/reduce poverty, Eliminate air
pollution, Encourage recycling/reuse of resources.
Chapter 13: Energy
 Net Energy, Major source of energy
- Net energy yield is the amount of energy obtained from a
resource minus the amount of energy needed to produce it
(Energy input: energy needed to produce energy) (Scientists
net energy yield - the best measure for determining long-term
usefulness of an energy resource; net energy yield is zero or a
negative number – the resource cannot compete in the
marketplace)
- Solar energy, several other forms of renewable energy
resources that can be thought of as indirect solar energy: wind
(moving air masses heated by the sun), hydropower (flowing
water kept fluid by heat from the sun), and biomass (solar
energy converted to chemical energy and stored in trees and
other plants).
- Commercial energy – 91% nonrenewable energy resources:
87% carbon-containing fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal)
and 4% nuclear power. 9 % of the commercial energy we use
comes from renewable energy resources—biomass,
hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar energy. (World 2007)
 Fossil Fuel
- Petroleum, or crude oil, light oil, is a black, gooey liquid
consisting of hundreds of different combustible hydrocarbons
along with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen
impurities. Crude oil and natural gas are called fossil fuels
because they were formed from the decaying remains (fossils)
of organisms that lived 100 – 500 million years ago. (Available,
inexpensive)
- Finding/extracting oil: 3-D seismic maps and computers to
find deposits; drill to check deposits, then drill production wells.
Then oil, drawn by gravity out of the rock pores, flows into the
bottom of the well and is pumped to the surface (Peak
production: highest return on well – as time passes, production
of well declines); Crude oil must be refined to be usable –
reduces net energy yield. Heated to separate it into components
with different boiling points in refinery.
- Some of the products of crude oil distillation, called
Petrochemicals.
- Proven oil reserves are identified deposits from which crude
oil can be extracted profitably at current prices with current
technology. (80% - 2050 to 2100)
- Advantages of crude oil: Ample supply for 42–93 years; Low
cost; High net energy yield; Easily transported within and
between countries; Low land use; Technology is well developed;
Efficient distribution system. Disadvantages: Need to find
substitutes within 50 years; Large government subsidies;
Environmental costs not included in market price; Artificially
low price encourages waste and discourages search for
alternatives; Pollutes air when produced and burned; Releases
CO2 when burned; Can cause water pollution.
- Tar sand, or oil sand, is a mixture of clay, sand, water, and a
combustible organic material called bitumen. Shale oil: oil
found within layers of rock, is extracted from crushed oil shales
after they are heated in a large container (heated to increase its
flow rate and processed to remove sulfur, nitrogen, and other
impurities). Advantages: Moderate cost (tar sand)
Large potential supplies, especially tar sands in
Canada; Easily transported within and between countries;
Efficient distribution system in place; Technology well-
developed (tar sand). Disadvantages: High cost (oil shale); Low
net energy yield; Environmental costs not included in market
price; Large amounts of water needed for processing; Severe
emissions when produced and burned.
- Natural gas is a mixture of gases of which 50–90% is methane
(CH4). (propane and butane)
- Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (not propane and butane):
tapped from deposits and stored in pressurized tanks.
Advantage: Ample supplies; High net energy yield; Low cost;
Less air pollution than other fossil fuels; Lower CO2 emissions
than other fossil fuels ; Easily transported by pipeline; Low land
use; Good fuel for fuel cells, gas turbines, and motor vehicles.
Disadvantage: Nonrenewable resource; Releases CO2 when
burned; Government subsidies; Environmental costs not
included in market price; Methane (a greenhouse gas) can leak
from pipelines; Difficult to transfer from one country to another;
Can be shipped across ocean only as highly explosive LNG.
- Coal: solid fossil fuel formed from decaying organic matter
exposed to heat and pressure over millions of years, most
abundant, dirtiest.
- Advantages: Ample supplies (225–900 years); High net energy
yield; Low cost; Well-developed technology; Air pollution can be
reduced with improved technology. Disadvantages: Severe land
disturbance, air pollution, and water pollution; Severe threat to
human health when burned; Environmental costs not included
in market price; Large government subsidies; High CO2
emissions when produced and burned; Radioactive particle and
toxic mercury emissions.
Peat Lignite Bituminous Anthracite
(not a coal) (brown coal) (soft coal) (hard coal)
Decayed plant Low sulfur, high heat, Highly
matter in heat content, sulfur content desirable
swamps and limited and large fuel; supplies
bogs, low heat supplies in supplies are limited,
content most areas low sulfur
- Solid coal can be converted into synthetic natural gas (SNG)
by a process called coal gasification, which removes sulfur and
most other impurities from coal. It is also converted into liquid
fuels such as methanol and synthetic gasoline through a process
called coal liquefaction – synfuel.
 Nuclear Power
- Little environmental impact and a very low accident risk, low
net energy yield; fear of accidents and the long life of radioactive
wastes are also limiting issues.
- How a Nuclear Fission Reactor Work: Task of the reactor is
to boil water to produce steam that spins a turbine and
generates electricity; Nuclear fission chemical reactions provide
the heat inside a reactor – process is complex and costly (Fuel is
uranium ore contained in fuel rods and water as a coolant
circulates through the reactor – reactor is surrounded by a steel
containment shell)
- 3-4 years, the radioactive uranium fuel rods become spent
(useless) and must be replaced, Storage is in water-filled ponds
and then in dry casks – may be sufficient for 100 years, but not
the thousands of years needed for the rods to be safe.
- The prediction that nuclear energy would dramatically replace
traditional sources has not occurred - Nuclear power (low net
energy yield) is only possible because of government subsidies-
new tech. (thorium instead of uranium) may change nuclear
power development.
- Nuclear fusion: when two lighter atoms are forced together at
high temperatures to form a heavier atom, energy is released;
Scientists hope that using controlled nuclear fusion.
 Energy Efficiency -Important Energy Resource
- Energy efficiency: the measure of how much work we can get
from each unit of energy we use. Improving ee means using our
brains and technology to do more and better work with less
energy and money.
- In Industry: Cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP),
systems. 2 useful forms of energy (steam and electricity)
produced from the same fuel source; Replace energy-wasting
electric motors; Recycling materials; Switch from low-efficiency
incandescent lighting to higher-efficiency fluorescent lighting
and efficient LED lighting; Convert electrical grids into smart
grids; Connect solar and wind power to grids.
- In Transportation: Include hidden costs in market pricing –
through higher gas taxes (full-cost pricing); Give consumers tax
breaks/subsidies to buy fuel efficient, smaller vehicles;
Build/improve mass transit systems; Increase funding for
research of hybrid car development and recharging stations.
- Superefficient and ultralight cars: gasoline–electric hybrid car;
plug-in hybrid electric vehicle—a hybrid with a second and
more powerful battery that can be plugged into a conventional
electrical outlet and recharged; fuel-cell cars.
- Design Buildings: Build facing sun to use solar power; Green
architecture – solar heating, efficient windows, appliances and
lighting; Green roofs – soil and vegetation roofs that help
insulate a building; Superinsulation (uses 90% less energy) – air
tight structures are heated/cooled mainly with sunlight,
appliances and body heat.
- Existing Buildings: Insulate buildings/plug leaks; Use
superinsulation, geothermal heat pumps, and solar heating to
heat buildings; Heat water more efficiently by using tankless hot
water systems/energy saving appliances; Plug electrical devices
into smart power strips and don’t leave electronics in standby
mode; Use energy-efficient computers and lighting.
- Wasting So Much Energy: Fossil fuels are cheap, but violate
full-cost pricing principle of sustainability; Lack of economic
incentives for encouraging energy efficiency, public education
about energy use.
 Renewable Energy
- Government tax breaks, subsidies, and funding for research
and development much lower than those for fossil fuels
(especially oil) and nuclear power; Subsidies must be renewed
more often – resulting in political pressure possibilities; Free-
market competition with fossil fuels does not include full-cost
pricing.
- Heat buildings and water with solar energy: Passive (building
absorbs heat directly); Active solar heating (energy stored in
rooftop solar collectors)
- Cool buildings: Plant trees for shade; Use light colored roofs to
reflect heat and geothermal heat pumps to pump cool air from
underground.
- Solar cells convert sunlight to electrical energy (no
pollutants/greenhouse gases); May provide electricity to
isolated areas of less-developed countries; Low to medium net
energy yield, but efficiency technology is improving; May be the
number one source of energy for the world by 2100.
- Hydropower: use of (kinetic energy) falling or flowing water
to generate electricity; Building dams, but sediment accumulates
behind them and new systems need to be built – decomposing
sediments can release greenhouse gases (Only 13% of
hydropower potential developed; Microhydropower generators:
portable floating turbines that can use a stream or river for
power without altering the environment)
- Wind Power: Onshore wind farms/ Offshore wind farms
Advantages: Moderate to high net energy yield; High efficiency;
Moderate capital cost; Low electricity cost (and falling); Very
low environmental impact; No CO2 emissions; Quick
construction; Easily expanded; Can be located at sea; Land
below turbines can be used to grow crops or graze livestock.
Disadvantages Steady winds needed; Backup systems needed
when winds are low; Plastic components produced from oil;
Environmental costs not included in market price; High land use
for wind farm; Visual pollution; Noise when located near
populated areas; Can kill birds and interfere with flights of
migratory birds if not sited properly.
- Biomass consists of plant materials (such as wood and
agricultural waste) and animal wastes that can be burned
directly as a solid fuel or converted into gaseous or liquid
biofuels.
- Ethanol (from plants and plant wastes) and biodiesel (from
vegetable oil) have advantages over gasoline: Biofuel crops grow
anywhere and reduce dependence on imported oil; If used
sustainably – no increase in CO2 gas; Easy to store/transport,
especially in cars. Advantages of biodiesel: Reduced CO
emissions; Reduced CO2 emissions (78%); High net energy yield
for oil palm crops; Moderate net energy yield for rapeseed
crops; Reduced hydrocarbon emissions; Better gas mileage
(40%); Potentially renewable. Disadvantages: Increased NOx
emissions and more smog; Higher cost than regular diesel;
Environmental costs not included in market price; Low net
energy yield for soybean crops; May compete with growing food
on cropland and raise food prices; Loss and degradation of
biodiversity from crop plantations; Can make engines hard to
start in cold weather. Advantages of Ethanol: High octane;
Some reduction in CO2 emissions (sugarcane bagasse); High net
energy yield (bagasse and switchgrass); Can be sold as a mixture
of gasoline and ethanol or as pure ethanol; Potentially
renewable. Disadvantages: Lower driving range; Low net
energy yield (corn); Higher CO2 emissions (corn); Much higher
cost; Environmental costs not included in market price; May
compete with growing food and raise food prices; Higher NOx
emissions and more smog; Corrosive; Can make engines hard to
start in cold weather.
- Geothermal energy is heat stored in soil, underground rocks,
and fluids in the earth’s mantle. We can tap into this stored
energy to heat and cool buildings and to produce electricity
captured by: Geothermal heat pump systems; Hydrothermal
reservoirs of geothermal energy; Hot, dry rocks deep
underground. Advantages: Very high efficiency; Moderate net
energy at accessible sites; Lower CO2 emissions than fossil fuels;
Low cost at favorable sites; Low land use and disturbance;
Moderate environmental impact. Disads: Scarcity of suitable
sites; Can be depleted if used too rapidly; Environmental costs
not included in market price; CO2 emissions; Moderate to high
local air pollution; Noise and odor (H2S); High cost except at the
most concentrated and accessible sources.
 Transition To a More Sustainable Energy Future
- There will be a gradual shift from large, centralized
macropower systems to smaller, decentralized micropower
systems; Combination of greatly improved energy efficiency and
the temporary use of a natural gas will best help us to make the
transition to a diverse mix of locally available renewable energy
resources over the next several decades; Because of their
supplies and artificially low prices, fossil fuels will continue to
be used in large quantities (reduce the harmful environmental
impacts of widespread fossil fuel use and include the harmful
environmental costs of using fossil fuels in their market prices)
- Solution: Improve Energy Efficiency, More Renewable Energy,
Reduce Pollution and Health Risk.
Chapter 15: Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Ozone
Depletion.
 Nature Of the Atmosphere
- The atmosphere is composed of several spherical layers.
- The troposphere contains the air we breathe and is composed
mainly of nitrogen and oxygen – but also contains greenhouse
gasses (H20, CO2, CH4, N2O), 75–80% of the earth’s air mass, 17
kilometers (11 miles) above sea level at the equator and 8
kilometers (5 miles) over the poles. The stratosphere is similar
in composition to the troposphere, but has much less water
vapor and contains the ozone layer, 17 to about 48 kilometers
(from 11 to 30 miles) above the earth’s surface, ozone layer,
found roughly 17–30 kilometers (11–19 miles) above sea level.
Stratospheric ozone is produced when some of the oxygen
molecules there interact with ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted
by the sun (3 O2 UV 2 O3); keeps about 95% of the sun’s
harmful UV radiation from reaching the earth’s surface.
 Major Air Pollution Problems
- Air pollution is the presence of chemicals in the atmosphere
in concentrations high enough to harm organisms, ecosystems,
or human made materials, or to alter climate. (Natural: dust,
wildfires, volcanoes, and plants; Human activities: burning fossil
fuels; car use) Indoor pollution includes smoke/soot from
wood/ coal fires, cigarette smoke, and chemicals in building
materials and cleaning products; Outdoor pollution includes
industrial smog (burning coal), photochemical smog (industrial
emissions and cars), and acid deposition (coal-burning power/
industrial plant and cars) - Primary: emitted directly into air;
Secondary: chemicals formed from primary pollutants.
- Major Outdoor Air Pollutants: Carbon oxides; Nitrogen oxides
and nitric acid; Sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid; Particulates:
suspended particulate matter; Ozone; Volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) (Hydrocarbons, methane, benzene, and
liquid solvents).
- Industrial smog: a mix of sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid, and
particulates; Photochemical smog: a mix of primary/secondary
pollutants/chemicals formed in light activated reactions
- Factors Influencing Outdoor Air Pollution: Reduced by:
Settling of particles heavier than air, cleansing by rain/snow,
salty sea spray from the oceans, wind dilution and removal,
chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Increased by: Urban
structures that block winds, hills and mountains that block
valley ventilation, high temperatures, emission of VOCs,
grasshopper effect, temperature inversions.
- Acid Deposition: Acidic compounds (H2SO4, HNO3, SO2-4 and
NO-3) formed during wind dispersal of outdoor pollutants can on
descent result in far flung acid deposition (a mix of wet/dry
deposition). Wet deposition: acid rain/snow/cloud vapor;
happens slowly in distant downwind areas. Dry deposition:
acidic particles; happens quickly close to industrial sources.
- Problems: Harms crops, reduces plant productivity, leaches
essential nutrients from soil, damages buildings, contributes to
human respiratory disease, and leaches toxic metals into the
environment that get biomagnified into food webs.
- Solution: Prevention: Reduce coal use; Burn low-sulfur coal
Increase natural gas use; Increase use of renewable energy
resources; Remove SO2 particulates and NOx from smokestack
gases; Remove NOx from motor vehicular exhaust; Tax
emissions of SO2; Reduce air pollution by improving energy
efficiency. Cleanup: Add lime to neutralize acidified lakes
Add phosphate fertilizer to neutralize acidified lakes.
- Indoor Air Pollution: In less-developed countries, mainly
from indoor burning of wood, charcoal, dung, and coal in open
fires/poorly vented stoves; In more-developed countries, from
fumes given off by building materials/furniture (11 common air
pollutants are higher inside U.S. buildings than outside; Air
pollution inside cars in congested traffic can be almost 20 times
higher than outside.)
- Air Pollution Is a Big Killer: Hairs in your nose filter out large
particles; Mucus in upper respiratory tract traps smaller
particles/ dissolves some gaseous pollutants; Sneezing/
coughing expel contaminated air; Hair-like cilia in the upper
respiratory tract oscillate and transport mucus/ pollutants to
your throat (swallowed or expelled); Prolonged or acute
exposure to air pollutants can break down these natural
defenses.
 Deal with Air Pollution best solution is prevention
- Stationary Source Air Pollution: Prevention: Burn low-
sulfur coal; Remove sulfur from coal; Convert coal to a liquid or
gaseous fuel; Shift to less polluting energy sources. Dispersion
or Cleanup: Disperse emissions above thermal inversion layer
with tall smokestacks; Remove pollutants after combustion; Tax
each unit of pollution produced.
- Motor Vehicle Air Pollution: Prevention: Use mass transit;
Walk or bike; Use less polluting fuels; Improve fuel efficiency;
Get older, polluting cars off the road; Give large tax write-offs or
rebates for buying low-polluting, energy efficient vehicles.
Cleanup: Require emission control devices; Inspect car exhaust
systems twice a year; Set strict emission standards.
- Indoor Air Pollution: Prevention: Clean ceiling tiles and line
AC ducts to prevent release of mineral fibers; Ban smoking or
limit it to well-ventilated areas; Set stricter formaldehyde
emissions standards for carpet, furniture, and building
materials; Prevent radon infiltration; Use office machines in
well-ventilated areas; Use less polluting substitutes for harmful
cleaning agents, paints, and other products. Cleanup or
Dilution: Use adjustable fresh air vents for work spaces;
Increase intake of outside air; Change air more frequently;
Circulate a building’s air through rooftop greenhouses; Use
efficient venting systems for wood-burning stoves; Use exhaust
hoods for stoves and appliances burning natural gas.
- Over the next 30–40 years: Outdoor: Improve energy
efficiency to reduce fossil fuel use; Rely more on lower-polluting
natural gas; Rely more on renewable energy (especially solar
cells, wind, geothermal and solar-produced hydrogen); Transfer
energy efficiency, renewable energy, and pollution prevention
technologies to developing countries. Indoor: Reduce poverty;
Distribute cheap and efficient cookstoves or solar cookers to
poor families in developing countries; Reduce or ban indoor
smoking; Develop simple and cheap tests for indoor pollutants
such as particulates, radon, and formaldehyde.
 Earth’s Climate Change In the Future
- Weather consists of short-term changes in atmospheric
variables such as the temperature and precipitation in a given
area over a period of hours or days. Climate is determined by
the average weather conditions of the earth or of a particular
area, especially temperature and precipitation, over decades to
thousands of years. The minimum period considered is usually 3
decades.
- Climate Change: Over the earth’s 3.5 billion year history
climate has changed many times; For the last 100 thousand
years, humans have lived/developed in a reasonably steady,
inter-glacial (thawing) climate; Over the last 200 years,
atmospheric temperatures have risen with urban growth; The
rate of climate change has been accelerating since 1978.
- How do we know it is happening now?
(Earth’s average global surface temperature 1.4 degrees F. than
1906; Nine of the warmest years since 2000; Glaciers/summer
arctic sea ice are shrinking; Melting permafrost; rising sea
levels; More atmospheric greenhouse gasses; Migration of
terrestrial/ freshwater/marine species towards the poles)
- Greenhouse effect: lower atmospheric warming caused by the
reflection and interaction of some of the earth’s incoming solar
radiation with molecules in the air (Life on the earth and the
world’s economies are totally dependent on the natural
greenhouse effect); CO2/heat uptake by oceans helps to
moderate the earth’s average surface temperature and slows
climate change; Cloud cover leads to atmospheric warming –
content and reflectivity.
 Possible Effects of a Warmer Atmosphere
- The projected increases in atmospheric temperatures can have
long-lasting effects: Flooding; Rising sea levels; Shifts in the
locations of croplands; Wildlife habitats; More extreme weather.
- Worst case scenario: rising atmospheric temperatures will
likely lead to rising sea levels, increased flooding, heat waves,
forest fires, grasslands will turn to dust bowls, rivers will dry up,
ecosystems will collapse, and ¼ of the world’s species will go
extinct -> Result: increased poverty and loss of food security.
- Light-colored ice and snow in Polar Regions helps to cool the
earth by reflecting incoming solar energy back into space
(albedo effect) -> Melting ice and snow will expose darker land
and sea surfaces which reflect less sunlight and absorb more
solar energy – this warms the atmosphere.
- Sea Levels: a three foot rise could have the following effects:
Degradation/destruction of coastal estuaries, wetlands, coral
reefs, and deltas; Destruction of coastal fisheries; Flooding of
low-lying countries and cities, erosion of low-lying barrier
islands (especially in U.S.) and submersion of island nations;
Saltwater invasion of coastal aquifers.
- Extreme Weather Could Become More Common: Some
regions will experience increased chance of extreme drought,
more intense heat waves, and expansion of deserts; Other
regions will experience increased flooding, precipitation (snow,
rain), stronger hurricanes and typhoons, and colder winters.
- Climate Change Is Likely To Alter Ecosystems: Up to 85% of
the Amazon Rain Forest (a major center of biodiversity) could
be lost and converted to tropical savannah; 25-50% of the
world’s species could face extinction (especially polar bears,
penguins, and corals); Insect and fungi populations could
explode; As crop production falls, the diversity of crops will also
decrease.
- Threaten Human Health: More frequent and prolonged heat
waves could increase illnesses/the death rate; Fewer people will
die from cold weather; With a warmer, more CO2 rich
atmosphere, disease transmitting insects, microbes/mold
populations will multiply; Heavy photochemical smog will cause
pollution related respiratory problems and often death.
 How to Slow Projected Climate Change:
- Prevention Cut fossil fuel use (especially coal); Shift from coal
to natural gas; Improve energy efficiency; Shift to renewable
energy resources; Transfer energy efficiency and renewable
energy technologies to developing countries; Reduce
deforestation; Use more sustainable agriculture and forestry;
Limit urban sprawl; Reduce poverty; Slow population growth.
Cleanup: Remove CO2 from smokestack and vehicle emissions;
Store (sequester) CO2 by planting trees; Sequester CO2 in soil
by using no-till cultivation and taking cropland out of
production; Sequester CO2 deep underground (with no leaks
allowed); Sequester CO2 in the deep ocean (with no leaks
allowed); Repair leaky natural gas pipelines and facilities; Use
animal feeds that reduce CH4 emissions from cows (belching).
 How Have We Depleted Ozone In the Stratosphere?
- CFCs are persistent chemicals that destroy protective ozone.
- Effects of Ozone Depletion : Human Health (Worse
sunburns; More eye cataracts; More skin cancers; Immune
system suppression); Food and Forests (Reduced yields for
some crops; Reduced seafood supplies from reduced
phytoplankton; Decreased forest productivity for UV-sensitive
tree species); Wildlife (Increased eye cataracts in some species;
Decreased populations of aquatic species sensitive to); UV
radiation (Reduced populations of surface phytoplankton;
Disrupted aquatic food webs from reduced phytoplankton); Air
Pollution and Materials (Increased acid deposition; Increased
photochemical smog; Degradation of outdoor paints and
plastics); Climate Change (While in troposphere, CFCs act as
greenhouse gases)
Chapter 17: Environmental Economics, Politics, and
Worldviews
 Economic Systems Related to the Biosphere
- Ecological economists regard human economic systems as
subsystems of the biosphere.
- Economics is a social science that deals with the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods and services to satisfy
people’s needs and wants. Market-based economies: buyers
and sellers interact competitively for goods and services
Free-market economies: decisions are based on supply,
demand, and price. Economic Systems Are Supported by Three
Types of Resources: Natural capital: resources and ecosystem
services produced by the earth’s natural processes; Human
capital: labor, organizational, and management skills of people;
Manufactured capital: machinery, materials, and factories
created to process natural resources.
- Economic growth is an increase in a nation’s capacity to
provide goods and services to people; economic development
is the improvement of human living standards made possible by
economic growth. High throughput economy boosts economic
growth by increasing the flow of resources, goods, and services.
This high throughput converts large quantities of high quality
matter/energy into waste, pollutants, and low-quality heat.
- Neoclassical economist: the earth’s natural capital as a subset,
or part, of a human economic system, unlimited growth (Natural
capital is important, but not indispensable (không thể thiếu) –
substitutes can be found)
- Ecological economist: There are no substitutes for many vital
natural resources such as air, water, fertile soil, and biodiversity,
or for nature’s free ecological services such as climate control,
air and water purification, pest control, and nutrient recycling;
Human economies are subsystems of the biosphere, and
dependent on its resources - eco-economies
- Environmental economist: agree with the model proposed by
ecological economists, but accomplish this by fine-tuning
existing economic systems and tools, instead of redesigning
some of them.
 Use Economic Tools - Environmental Problems:
- Full-cost pricing, subsidizing environmentally beneficial goods
and services, taxing pollution and waste instead of wages and
profits, and reducing poverty.
- Most Things Cost More Than We Might Think: Direct or
market pricing usually ignores the hidden cost (indirect, or
external, costs) of harm to the environment and human health;
Environmentally honest market system: Full-cost pricing
(internal costs plus external costs) reduces resource waste/
pollution/ environmental degradation, improves human health,
and supports principles of sustainability – informed spending
decisions; Not used widely as producers of harmful goods and
services oppose it – difficult to determine these indirect costs.
- Shifting from Environmentally Harmful to
Environmentally Beneficial Subsidies
- Historic Economic Indicators: Economic growth is usually
measured by the percentage of change in a country’s gross
domestic product (GDP): the annual market value of all goods
and services produced by all firms and organizations, foreign
and domestic, operating within a country. Changes in a country’s
economic growth per person are measured by per capita GDP:
the GDP divided by the country’s total population at midyear.
- Newly Proposed Environmental Economic Indicators - green
indicators - genuine progress indicator (GPI)—the GDP plus
the estimated value of beneficial transactions that meet basic
needs, but in which no money changes hands, minus the
estimated harmful environmental, health, and social costs of all
transactions.
- Taxing Pollution and Wastes Instead of Wages and Profits:
Green taxes can be applied to those who produce large amounts
of pollution and hazardous waste (three requirements:
Increases applied over time – 10-20 years; Reduces other taxes
to equal increase in green taxes, resulting in no net tax increase;
Provides a safety net for lower-income populations); Many
countries already have such taxes. Ads: Help bring about full-
cost pricing; Encourage businesses to develop environmentally
beneficial technologies and goods to save money; Easily
administered by existing tax agencies; Fairly easy to detect
cheaters. Disads: Low-income groups are penalized unless
safety nets are provided; Hard to determine optimal level for
taxes and fees; Governments may use money as general revenue
instead of improving environmental quality and reducing taxes
on income, payroll, and profits.
- Environmental regulation: government intervention to
reduce environmental degradation. Command-and-control
approach: regulations that focus on cleanup rather than
prevention. Incentive-based environmental regulations:
incentives for companies to innovatively reduce pollution and
waste – motivates companies to develop green products and
industrial processes that create jobs. Cap-and-trade approach:
Government gives/sells companies tradable pollution or
resource-use permits (unused credits can be saved for future
expansion); Reduces pollution and resource waste by selling
services instead of things; Reduces the harmful health effects of
pollution by reducing poverty.
- Reducing Poverty Can Help Us to Deal with Environmental
Problems: Poverty is defined as the inability to meet one’s basic
economic needs.
- Shifting To More Environmentally Sustainable Economies:
Migration away from high throughput (high-waste) economies
and towards low-throughput (low-waste) economies; Reuse,
recycle, and compost solid waste; Improving environmental
sustainability (Fosters the development of major growth
industries; Increases profits and creates green jobs)
 Implement Sustainable and Just Environmental Policies
- Policies—the set of laws and regulations it enforces and the
programs it funds. Politics is the process by which individuals
and groups try to influence or control the policies and actions of
governments at local, state, national, and international levels.
Democracy is government by the people through elected
officials and representatives. Three branches of government—
legislative, executive, and judicial.
- Can Be Difficult: Special-interest groups pressure governments
for subsidies/tax breaks, and the passage of laws/regulations
favorable to their cause; Discord among regulatory agencies and
the creation of policies (often at cross purposes); Politicians may
be more concerned with re-election than environmental policies
- Environmental policies should be governed by seven
principles: Reversibility; Net energy principle; Precautionary
principle; Prevention principle; Polluter-pays principle;
Environmental justice principle; Holistic principle.
- Individuals matter – joining together brings about change
(grassroots approach) (Digital technology, social media, and
global action networks can work to affect change; Inspire
change at regional/national/global level)
- Individual environmental leadership (Lead by example,
work within existing economic and political systems, run for
local office, propose and work for better solutions)
- Citizen Environmental Groups Play Important Roles:
Thousands of nonprofit, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) make up the backbone of the environmental movement
(These politically powerful groups fight attempts to weaken or
repeal laws, and influence Congress in the passage and
strengthening of environmental laws/policies; Loosely
connected network of NGOs is the emerging citizen-based global
sustainability movement).
- Students and Educational Institutions Can Play an Important
Role: Students can make environmental audits of their campus –
gathering data/working together to affect environmental change
(Propose sustainable changes to reduce costs (Buying locally
grown food, shifting to renewable energy, and making
universities retrofit buildings to make them more energy
efficient); Pressure universities to stop investing endowment
funds in environmentally harmful companies)
 Major Environmental Worldviews
- Environmental ethics (what one believes about what is right
and what is wrong in our behavior toward the environment)
play a role in environmental decision-making.; Environmental
worldviews (how people think the world works and what they
believe their role in the world should be): human-centered, life-
centered or earth-centered.
- Most People Have Human-Centered Environmental
Worldviews: Planetary Management: We are apart from the
rest of nature and can manage nature to meet our increasing
needs and wants; Because of our ingenuity and technology, we
will not run out of resources; The potential for economic growth
is essentially unlimited; Our success depends on how well we
manage the earth's life-support systems mostly for our benefit.
Stewardship: We have an ethical responsibility to be caring
managers, or stewards, of the earth; We will probably not run
out of resources, but they should not be wasted; We should
encourage environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth
and discourage environmentally harmful forms; Our success
depends on how well we manage the earth's life-support
systems for our benefit and for the rest of nature.
- Environmental Wisdom: We are a part of and totally
dependent on nature, and nature exists for all species.;
Resources are limited and should not be wasted; We should
encourage earthsustaining forms of economic growth and
discourage earthdegrading forms.; Our success depends on
learning how nature sustains itself and integrating such lessons
from nature into the ways we think and act.
 Live More Sustainably
- Foundations of environmental literacy: Natural capital matters;
Our ecological footprints are immense and expanding rapidly;
We should not exceed estimated planetary boundaries or
ecological tipping points.
- The bottom line: minimize the impacts of food production,
transportation, and home energy use/overall resource use.
- Some Guidelines for Living More Sustainably: Learn about,
respect, and mimic how nature sustains itself; Do not degrade or
deplete the earth's natural capital; Take no more from nature
than what nature can replenish; Do not waste matter and energy
resources; Protect biodiversity; Avoid climate-changing
activities; Help maintain the earth's capacity for self-repair;
Repair ecological damage that we have caused; Leave the world
in as good a condition as we found or better; Cultivate a passion
for sustaining all life and let this passion energize your actions.
- Current Emphasis -> Sustainability Emphasis: Pollution
cleanup - Pollution prevention; Waste disposal (bury or burn) -
Waste prevention; Protecting species - Protecting habitat;
Environmental degradation - Environmental restoration;
Increasing resource use - Less resource waste; Population
growth - Population stabilization; Depleting and degrading
natural capital - Protecting natural capital. Interrelated
components: Biodiversity protection; commitment to eco-
efficiency; energy transformation; Pollution prevention;
emphasis on sufficiency; Demographic equilibrium; Economic
and political transformations.
- Environmental Concerns; Social Trends; Economic Tools;
Technologies