Chapter 2

Principles of Ecology: Energy,

Matter & Life

Dr. Dheaya Alrousan

1
 Chapter 2 - Topics

• Energy and Matter in the Environment

• Organizing Living Things: Species and Ecosystems

• Biochemical Cycles and Life Processes

2
 Matter
• everything that takes up space and has mass

• Matter consist of elements that cannot be broken down into two

or more simpler form by ordinary physical or chemical means.

• Matter exist in three interchangeable states:

• Solid

• Liquid

• Gas
Abundant Elements in the Continental Crust

Oxygen
Silicon
Aluminum
Iron
Calcium
Magnesium
Sodium
Potassium
Titanium
Hydrogen
Manganese
Phosphorous
Rest of elemnts
Atom
 Atom
• Atoms: is the smallest particle that exhibits the characteristics
of an element

• Atoms are tiny units of matter composed of

• +ve protons: 1.6726 x 10-27 kg
• -ve electrons: 9.11 x 10-31 kg
• neutrons: 1.6749 x 10-27 kg

• Neutrons and protons have approximate mass and clustered in

the nucleus.

• Electrons are orbiting the nucleus

• Atoms gain or loss electrons acquiring +ve and –ve charges.

Atom (carbon-12)
 Atom
• Cation is +ve charge and anion is –ve charge
• Isotopes : the elements that have different atomic mass
e.g Hydrogen
• H has one proton (and no neutrons)
• Deuterium (1 proton + 1 neutron)
• Tritium (1 Proton + 2 neutrons)

• The half life of Tritium is about 13 years which means

that over 13 years, half of tritium sample will
spontaneously convert to deuterium.
Periodic table of the elements
 Atoms, Molecules, and Compounds
• Element:
– substance that cannot be broken down into simpler
substances by ordinary chemical reactions
• Atom:
– the smallest particle that exhibits the characteristics of
an element
• Molecule:
– a combination of two or more atoms
• Compound:
– a molecule made up of two or more kinds of atoms held
together by chemical bonds
11
 A chemical reaction
• Chemical reactions, the breaking and forming of
molecular bonds, create all the simple and complex
compounds and substances on which life depends.
 The pH Scale

Acids - compounds
that release hydrogen
ions (H+) in water.

Bases - substances
that readily bond
with hydrogen ions.

acidic : pH<7
basic: pH>7
neutral: pH=7
Isotopes
Molecules and
compounds
Organic molecules
 Water: A Unique Compound

• Sixty to 70 percent of the weight of living organisms

• Medium in which all of life’s chemical reactions occur
• Good electrical conductor
• Highest surface tension of any common, natural liquid
• Liquid over a wide temperature range
• Expands when it crystallizes, unlike most substances
• High heat of vaporization
• High specific heat
17
18
 Energy
• Energy - the capacity to do work
• kinetic energy - the energy of motion
• potential energy - stored energy ready for use
– Energy units: (J) = 1 kg. m2/s²
– One calorie: is the amount of energy needed to heat 1 g
of pure water 1 C° and = 4.184 J
– Heat: describes the total kinematic energy of atoms and
molecules in a substance not associated with bulk
motion of the substance.
– Temperature: is a measure of speed of motion of a
typical atom or molecule in a substance.
– Power: is defined as the rate of doing work
 Energy
• A substance can have low temperature (low average
molecule speed) but high heat content (much mass and
many moving molecules and atoms).
– Low quality energy: is diffused, dispersed or low in
temperature, so it is difficult to gather and use for
productive purposes e.g. oceans stored vast amount of
heat but converting that heat to useful purposes is
difficult.

– High quality energy: is intense, concentrated or high in

T and is useful in carrying out work.
 Thermodynamics and Energy Transfer

• 1st Law of Thermodynamics: states that energy is

conserved, it is neither created nor destroyed under
normal condition. It can be transferred or transformed,
but the total amount of energy remains the same.

• 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: states that with which

successive energy transfer or transformation in a
system, less energy is available to do work.
 Energy
• no transformation of energy is completely efficient

• The second low recognizes the principle of entropy,

the tendency of all natural systems to go from state of
order (for example intense, high-quality energy)
toward a state of increasing disorder (highly dispersed,
low quality energy).
 Sunlight; Energy for life

• Solar energy is essential for life.

• Most organisms survive within a narrow temperature
range.
• The necessary heat is provided by the sun.
• Organisms depend on solar radiation for life-sustaining
energy, which is captured by green plants, algae, and some
bacteria in a process called photosynthesis. However, only
about 1-2% of the total solar radiation hitting the earth is
utilized by living organisms.
Solar radiation spectrum

Electromagnetic spectrum
 How Does Photosynthesis Capture Energy?
• Chlorophyll, a green molecule found in chloroplasts
within plant cells, absorbs light energy and uses it to
create high-energy chemical bonds in substances that
serve as the fuel for all subsequent cellular
metabolism.

• Chlorophyll is assisted in this process by a large group

of sugar, lipid, protein, and nucleotide molecules.

• The light reactions of photosynthesis occur only while

the chloroplast is receiving light energy.
 How Does Photosynthesis Capture Energy?
• They result in the splitting of water to form molecular
oxygen and small high energy molecules that serve as
fuel for the dark reactions of photosynthesis.

• The dark reactions of photosynthesis can occur after

light is no longer being received. They result in the
addition of a carbon atom to a small sugar molecule.

• Photosynthesis can be summed as

6H2O + 6CO2 + solar energy  C6H12O6 + 6O2
 Respiration

• Cellular respiration is the process in which glucose

(the sugar) is split apart and its energy released for use
by cellular metabolism.

• Animals do not have chlorophyll and gain their

energy by eating other plants or animals and breaking
down their organic molecules for energy.
Part 2: Organizing
Living Things

 Organism

 Population

 Biological Community

 Ecosystem

 Biosphere
 Populations, Communities & Ecosystems

• Population: consists of all members of a species living

in a given area at the same time.

• All the population of organisms living and interacting

in a particular area make up a biological community.

• An ecosystem is composed of a biological community

and its physical environment.
 Populations, Communities & Ecosystems
• The environment includes abiotic factors such as
climate, water, minerals and sunlight;

• Biotic such as organisms, their products (secretions,

wastes and remains) and their effects in a given area

• An ecological perspective concerned with both the

biological community and its surrounding, study of the
way energy and materials are obtained, processed,
stored and cycled among the components of the
ecosystem.
 Food chains, food webs & Trophic levels
• Productivity: the amount of biomass (biological material)
produced in a given area during a given period of time, is
one of the major properties of ecosystem.

• Primary producers; organisms that do photosynthesis

plants, algae bacteria

• Producers - Trap energy and make organic material from

atoms in the environment.
– Photosynthesis
• CO2+H20 ---> C6H12O6 +O2
– Respiration
• C6H12O6 + 6O2  6H2O + 6CO2
 Food chains, food webs & Trophic levels
• Consumers - Consume organic matter to provide
themselves with energy and organic matter necessary
for growth and survival.
– Herbivores (plants)
– Carnivores (meat)
– Omnivores (plants and meat)
– Detritivores (detritus)

• Food chain: the linkage of who feeds whom

• Food web: individual food chains interconnected to

form a food web
 Food chains, food webs & Trophic levels
– Decomposers
• Digest organic molecules in detritus into simpler organic
compounds, and absorb soluble nutrients. (Bacteria and
fungi)

• Without decomposers, many compounds would remain

permanently in dead organisms and hence would be
unavailable for use by other organisms.
 Energy Flow Through Ecosystems
• Each step in the flow of energy through an ecosystem
is known as a trophic level, or feeding level.

• As energy moves from one trophic level to the next,

most of the useful energy (90%) is given off as heat.

• Because energy is difficult to track, biomass is often

used as a proxy.
 Energy Flow Through Ecosystems

•Food Chain - Passage of energy from one trophic

level to the next due to one organism consuming
another.
•A food chain is a linked feeding series of
organisms.
•Who eats Who
•Food Web - series of multiple food chains. (A
single predator can have multiple prey species)
•Individual food chains may be interconnected to
form food webs.
Food Web: Cross-connected Food Chains
 Energy Pyramid
• Most energy in most ecosystems is stored in the bodies
of primary producers. Only about 10 percent of the
energy at one energy level passes to the next highest
trophic level.
It takes numerous small organisms to feed
one large organism.
 Material Cycles and Life Processes

• Maintenance of conditions suitable for life on earth

requires constant cycling and recycling of essential
nutrients and substances.

• You should become familiar with the cycles for

carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Each cycle is
under the direction of

• natural and human-influenced factors. Point the mouse

to each of the cycle names in the figure above to see
some important components of the cycles.
 The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon serves two purposes for organisms;
1) it is a structural component of organic molecules
2) the energy-holding chemical bonds it forms represent
energy "storage".

• The carbon cycle begins with the intake of carbon

dioxide by photosynthetic organisms. Carbon and
oxygen are incorporated into sugar molecules. These
molecules are taken up by other organisms, and carbon
dioxide is released following respiration, closing the
cycle.
 The Carbon Cycle
• Not all carbon is cycled. Some forms (coal and oil)
may be sequestered for millions of years without being
released.

• Tying up carbon in the bodies and byproducts of

organisms favorably affects the biosphere. It helps
balance carbon dioxide generation and utilization and
so regulates the greenhouse effect.

• Oceans and heavily vegetated areas are important

carbon sinks.
 Carbon cycle
• Carbon serves as
– it is structural components of organic matter
– carbon bonds in carbon compounds provides metabolic
energy

• Carbon and Oxygen combine to form Carbon Dioxide.

• Plants use Carbon Dioxide during photosynthesis to

produce sugars.

• Plants use sugars for plant growth.

• Herbivores eat plants, and incorporate molecules into their

structure.
The Carbon Cycle
 The Nitrogen Cycle
• Organisms cannot exist without amino acids, peptides, and
proteins which are all molecules containing nitrogen.

• Although nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the

atmosphere, plants cannot use N2 gas.

• Nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert nitrogen gas (N2) to

nitrites (NO2-). Another group converts nitrites to nitrates
(NO3-) which can be absorbed and used by plants. Plants
convert nitrates into ammonuim (NH4+) which is used to
build amino acids.

• Some plants (legumes) have nitrogen fixing bacteria living

in their roots and so are especially useful to agriculture.
 The Nitrogen Cycle
• Nitrogen reenters the environment in several ways
including the death of organisms and animal wastes.
Denitrifying bacteria break these down back into
nitrogen gas which reenters the atmosphere.

• Synthetic fertilizers may cause an excess of nitrogen

in the environment leading to acidification of lakes
and rivers, blooms of toxic algae, loss of soil nutrients,
and rising atmospheric concentrations of the
greenhouse gas nitroutoxide

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 Nitrogen Cycle
• Nitrogen fixation: N-fixing bacteria include blue green
algae, cyanobacteria ) transform N2 to NH3 or NO3.

• Nitrification: transform of NH3 or NH4 to NO3

2NH4  3O 2 Nitrosomon
  as
 NO2  2H 2O  4H  Enrgy
2NO2  O 2 Nittrobact
  er
 2NO3  Enrgy

• After plant cells absorb NO3, it reduce it to NH3 to

build amino acid that becomes the building blocks for
peptides and proteins
The Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen Fixation

The nodules on the

roots of this plant
contain bacteria that
help convert
nitrogen in the soil to
a form the plant can
utilize.
 The Phosphorus Cycle
• Minerals are available to organisms after they have been
released from rocks. (phosphorus and sulfur are two examples
of this.

• Phosphorus is important because it is an essential component

of many high energy compounds such as ATP.

• The phosphorus cycle begins when phosphorus compounds

are leached from rocks and minerals.

• Inorganic phosphorus is taken in by producer organisms,

incorporated into organic molecules, and passed on to
consumer organisms.

• High concentrations of phosphorus in aquatic systems may

lead to algal blooms, suffocating other life in lakes and
streams.
The Phosphorus Cycle
59
 The Sulfur Cycle

• Sulfur compounds are a minor but essential

portion of protein molecules.

• Inorganic sulfur stored in rocks is released into

the air and water by weathering, volcanic
eruptions, and seafloor vent emissions.

• The sulfur cycle is complicated by the large

number of oxidation states sulfur can assume.
Which of the states it is found in depends on
oxygen concentrations, pH, and light levels.
 The Sulfur Cycle
• Human activities resulting in the release of large
quantities of sulfur contribute to problems such as acid
rain, the greenhouse effect, and human health
problems.

• Release of dimethylsulfide (DMS) by oceanic

phytoplankton could be a feedback mechanism that
keeps temperature within a suitable range for life.
The Sulfur Cycle
DMS
The biogenic
sulfur emissions of
oceanic
phytoplankton
may play a role in
global climate
regulation.
 Summary
• Certain conditions, including the availability of
required chemical elements, a steady influx of solar
energy, mild surface temperatures, the presence of
liquid water, and a suitable atmosphere, are essential
for life on earth.

• Only the earth in our solar system has all these

conditions. Life requires, and makes possible, highly
organized exchanges of matter and energy between
organisms and their environments
 Summary
• Matter is the observable material of which the
universe is composed. It exists in three
interchangeable phases: gas, liquid, and solid. Matter
is made up of atoms, which are composed of particles
called protons, neutrons, and electrons. The energy
that holds atoms together forms the basis for energy
transfers in the bodies of living organisms and,
therefore, in the biosphere.

• A steady influx of solar radiation provides the heat and

light energy needed to support life in the biosphere.
Water, which covers approximately three-fourths of
the earth's surface, is a remarkable substance.
 Summary
• Because of its unique characteristics, it stabilizes the
biosphere's temperature and provides the medium in
which life processes occur

• The earth's atmosphere provides gases necessary for

life, helps maintain surface temperatures, and filters
out dangerous radiation.

• Ecosystem dynamics are governed by physical laws,

including the law of conservation of matter and the
first and second laws of thermodynamics
 Summary
• The recycling of matter is the basis of the cycles of
elements that occur in ecosystems. Unlike matter,
energy is not cycled. Energy always flows through
systems in a one-way process in which some energy is
converted from a high-quality, concentrated form to a
lower-quality, less useful, dispersed form

• We describe this increase in disorder as entropy, a

fundamental limit to life. In ecosystems, solar energy
enters the system and is converted to chemical energy
by the process of photosynthesis. The chemical energy
stored in the bonds that hold food molecules together
is available for metabolism of organisms.
 Summary
• species is all the organisms of the same kind that are
genetically similar enough to breed in nature and produce
live, fertile offspring

• The populations of different species that live and interact

within a particular area at a given time make up a
biological community

• An ecosystem is composed of a biological community

together with all the biotic and abiotic factors that make up
the environment in a defined area. Although ecosystem
boundaries may be rather arbitrary, the holistic or systems
approach to biology has provided rich insights into who
lives where, when, how, and why.
 Summary
• Matter and energy are processed through the trophic
levels of an ecosystem via food chains and food webs

• At each energy transfer point less energy is available

to work because of the laws of thermodynamics, so
energy must be supplied to an ecosystem continuously.
The relationships between producers and consumers in
an ecosystem, often depicted as pyramids, demonstrate
this principle. Most of the energy that enters an
ecosystem comes, ultimately, from the sun.
 Summary
• The biosphere is a source of large quantities of
essential elements. In a given ecosystem, these
elements are constantly used and reused by living
organisms. Water, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and
phosphorus, for instance, are recycled in ecosystems
through complex biogeochemical cycles.
 Environmental science

Chapter 1
Understanding our Environment

Dr. Dheaya Alrousan

 Topics

• Understanding Our Environment

• Science as a Way of Knowing
• Applied Science
• Thinking About Thinking
• Human Dimensions of Environmental
Science
• Environmental Perspectives
 Objectives
• Define the term, environment, and identify some
important environmental concerns that we face
today.

• Explain the scientific methods and why it refutes

or supports theories but never proves them
beyond any doubt.

• Apply the scientific method to problem solving.

• Explain how restoration ecology can be used to

repair damaged ecosystem.
 Objectives

• Distinguish among analytical, creative, logical,

critical and reflective thinking.

• Briefly describe some major environmental

dilemmas and issues that shape our current
environmental agenda.

• Understand the connection between poverty and

environmental degradation.

• Recognize some of the reasons for feeling both

optimistic and pessimistic about our environmental
future.
Introduction What’s Happening to the Frogs?
In some places, up to 60 percent
of frogs and salamanders have
abnormal limbs, digits, eyes, or
internal organs.
Observational and Experimental Approaches

• Observational approach (Natural Experiments):

collecting data, analyze them and find a pattern in the
data trying to explain the reasons for the pattern and
construct a qualitative or quantitative relationship.

• Experimental approach (Models): test various factors

under carefully controlled conditions in order to find the
controlling factor.
 This
This isisour
Ourenvironment
Environment
 What Is The Environment?

Environment: French word “environner” (to encircle or

surround)

The circumstances or conditions that surround an organism

or group of organisms

The complex of social or cultural conditions that affect an

individual or community.
Since humans inhabit the natural world as well as the "built"
or technological, social, and cultural world, all constitute
important parts of our environment.
 What Is Environmental Science?
It is a systematic study of our environment and our
proper place in it.
• Highly interdisciplinary integrating natural
sciences, social sciences, and humanities
in a broad, holistic study of the world
around us

• Mission-oriented, problem solving science

• Seeks new knowledge about (and impacts

of humans on) the natural world

• Identifies solutions to environmental

problems. These solutions often involve
human social systems as well as natural
science
Ecosystem?
Region in which the organisms and the physical
environment form an interacting unit

Ecology?
Is the scientific discipline that is concerned with
the relationships between organisms and their
past, present, and future environments.
 Science as a Way of Knowing

• Science is a way of exploring

and understanding the world.
Ideally, science provides an
orderly, methodical approach to
exploring the world around us
and suggest a testable
explanations of why things work
as they do.

• Modern science has its roots in

antiquity
– Greek philosophers
– Arabic mathematicians and astronomers
– Chinese naturalists
 Science as a Way of Knowing

Positivism? Is a modern science which believes that the

world is knowable and that we can fined the truth
through empirical examination (no speculation)

Deductive reasoning? starting with a general principle

and test it (top-down reasoning)

Inductive reasoning? in which we study specific

examples and try to derive general explanations based
on our observations (bottom-up reasoning)
 Hypothesis, Theory and Law?

 Hypothesis: a conditional explanation (prediction) that

can be verified or falsified.
(A good hypothesis will take into account all known facts,
and will be as simple as possible)

 Theory: A broad statement covering a large body of

knowledge; generally accepted by scientists to be “true”.

 Law: A hypothesis that basically every scientists accepts

as fact. Often supported by multiple theories, and holds
a central place in science.
 Scientific Investigation

Test
Make Formulate a
Hypothesis
Observations Hypothesis
(Experiment)

Draw
Collect Data Interpret Data Conclusions
(Evaluation)

Publish your
results or start
again
 Scientific Thinking

 Science: A body of knowledge gathered and evaluated

by impartial testing of hypotheses and shared so that it
can be evaluated by others.

 Scientific Method
 Observation
 Hypothesis Formation
 Hypothesis Testing
 Results Evaluation
 Publishing
 Limitations of Science

 Important to differentiate between data collected

during an investigation, and scientists’ opinions
of such data.

 Scientists may know more about the scientific

aspects of an issue, but that doesn’t mean that
their opinions are anymore valuable.

 Science cannot shed light on all issues - It is

very easy to confuse hypotheses with fact.
Open Minds are Learning Minds

• In some ways, children are the

“ultimate” practical scientists
…no pre-conceived bias in their
investigations.

• However, Society uses

numbers, called “statistics” to
let you evaluate and compare
things. Information known by
only one person isn’t useful to
Society, and communication is
essential.

• This is one reason why

scientists are rewarded so
much for publishing in scientific
journals. “Publish or Perish” is
a real threat in academia.
 Scientific Design

• Blind Experiment
Conducted so investigators do not know which is the
control and which is the experimental group, until
after data have been gathered and analyzed.

• Double-Blind
Neither the subject nor the investigators know which
participants are receiving an experimental treatment.
 Statistics and Probability

• Quantitative data
– Precise and easily compared; and
– Good benchmarks for measuring change.

• Probability
– Measure of how likely something is; and
– High degree of scientific certainty: 95% probability.

• Statistics
– Important tool in both planning and evaluating scientific studies
– The sample size, number of replications are important.
 Paradigms and Scientific Consensus

Paradigms
• Overarching models of the world that guide our
interpretation of events
• Examples: tectonic plate movement, Einstein's theory of
relativity

Paradigm shift
• Occurs when a majority of scientists accept that the old
explanation no longer explains new observations very
well
• Paradigm shifts are sometimes contentious and political.
Scientific Thinking uses different approaches to
study environmental issues
 Applying Critical Thinking
1. Identify and evaluate premises and conclusions
in an argument

2. Acknowledge and clarify uncertainties,

vagueness and contradiction

3. Distinguish between facts and values

4. Recognize and assess assumptions

5. Distinguish source reliability and unreliability

6. Recognize and understand conceptual

framework.
 Applied Science
• Restoration ecology: attempt to re-create species
composition and ecosystem functions in areas disrupted by
human action. This applied science is often uses active
management to rebuild or replace damaged habitats or to re-
introduce endangered species.

• Restoration: means to bring something back to a former

condition

• Rehabilitation: refers to attempts to rebuild elements of

structure or function in an ecological system without
necessarily achieving complete restoration to its original
condition. AND to bring an area back to a state useful for
human purposes rather than to a truly state.

• Remediation: is a process of cleaning chemical contaminants

from the polluted areas by physical or biological methods as
first step toward protecting human and ecosystem health
 A Marvelous Planet

We are fortunate to live on 

We should ask ourselves:

what is our proper place in nature?
What ought we do and what can we do to protect
the irreplaceable habitat that produced and
supports us?
History of Conservation and Environmentalism

1. Pragmatic Resource Conservation

2. Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation
3. Modern Environmentalism
4. Global Environmental Citizenship
 1- Pragmatic Resource Conservation
President Theodore Roosevelt and his chief
conservation advisor, Gifford Pinchot, believed in
utilitarian conservation.

– Forests should be saved so they can be used to

provide homes and jobs.
– Should be used for “the greatest good for the
greatest number, for the longest time.”
 2- Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation

John Muir, first president of the Sierra Club, opposed

Pinchot’s utilitarian policies.

– Biocentrism Preservation
– emphasizes the fundamental right of all
organisms to pursue their own interests
 3- Modern Environmentalism

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) started the

modern environmental movement.

– awakened the public to threats of pollution and

toxic chemicals to humans as well as other
species

– modern environmentalism extends concerns to

include both natural resources and environmental
pollution.
 4- Global Concerns

• Increased travel and communication enables people

to know about daily events in places unknown in
previous generations.

• Global environmentalism is the recognition that we

share one environment that is common to all
humans.
 Current Environmental Conditions

• Half the world's wetlands were lost in the last 100

years.

• Land conversion and logging have shrunk the

world's forests by as much as 50%.

• Nearly three-quarters of the world's major marine

fish stocks are over-fished or are being harvested
beyond a sustainable rate.

• Soil degradation has affected two-thirds of the

world's agricultural lands in the last 50 years.
 Major Causes of Environmental Degradation

1- Population Growth

– Almost 6.5 billion people now occupy the earth, and we are
adding about 85 million more each year.

– In the next decade, most population growth will be in the

poorer countries - countries where present populations
already strain resources and services
Major Causes of Environmental Degradation

2- Resource Extraction and

Use

– burning of fossil fuels

– Destruction of tropical
rainforests and other
biologically rich landscapes

– production of toxic wastes

 Major Causes of Environmental Degradation
3- Acid Deposition
Human Dimensions of Environmental Science

• More than 1.3 billion people live in acute poverty,

with an income of less than $1 (US) per day. These
people generally lack access to an adequate diet,
decent housing, basic sanitation, clean water,
education, medical care, and other essentials.

• Four out of five people in the world live in what

would be considered poverty in industrialized
countries.

• The world's poorest people are often forced to meet

short-term survival needs at the cost of long-term
sustainability.

36
 Signs of Hope
• In spite of the seemingly overwhelming problems,
progress has been made in many areas that provide
signs of hope for the future of our global
environment.

• We live in a world of haves and have-nots; a few

of us live in increasing luxury while many others
lack the basic necessities for a decent, healthy,
productive life.
•Generally, "environmental quality" is perceived
as access to adequate diet and housing, basic
sanitation, clean water, education,
and medical care.

•In this case, then, the richest countries in the

world have the best environmental quality.
Rich and Poor Countries
10 poorest 10 richest
Mozambique Switzerland
Tanzania Luxembourg
Ethiopia Japan
Congo Finland
Malawi Norway
Rwanda Sweden
Chad Iceland
Sierra Leone U.S.
Nepal Denmark
Niger Canada
 Fair share of resources?
• Many of the poorest countries are those which have the highest
levels of cultural and biological diversity (i.e., have much
natural resources to protect).

• The richest countries (highest "quality of life") consume the

majority of resources and produce the majority of wastes.
• In large part the world is divided into North ("haves")
and South ("have-nots").

Exceptions are countries like Australia and New

Zealand ("haves"), and India, China, and Baltics
("have nots").

Political Economies
• First World: industrialized, market-oriented,
democracies of Western Europe, North America,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and their allies.
• Second World: originally included centrally planned,
socialist countries, such as former Soviet Union and
Eastern European allies, as well as several Asian
socialist countries. Most are rapidly changing to
market economies.
• Third World: nonaligned, nonindustrial, ex-colonial
nations (eg., India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Syria,
and many African countries) self-labeled during the
1960's as third world to show independence from
other superpower groups. Typically used now to
describe developing countries.

• Fourth World: poorest nations with neither market

economies nor central planning, as well as the
indigenous communities within wealthy countries.
 Human Development
• United Nations Human Development Index (HDI)

• HDI is an annual report that ranks countries based on average

life expectancy, % of literate adults, mean years of schooling,
annual income per capita, infant mortality rates, daily calorie
supply, child malnutrition and access to clean water.

• HDI ranges from 0 to 1.

• The top 20 nations (HDI >0.92) 18 are in North America or

Western Europe.

• Of the bottom 20 nations (HDI <0.35), 18 are in Africa.

• The lowest HDI was Sierra Leone (0.19).

 Developmental Discrepancies

• Aggregate numbers such as the HDI hide many

important issues.

• Gender inequities
• Race disparities
• Regional / Ethnic differences
 Good News and Bad News

• Over the past fifty years in nearly all areas

around the world there have been significant
improvements in the overall quality of
• life as measured by HDI.

• Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 10-fold

• Higher quality of life
• - 1960 -- 3/4 of population measured <0.5 HDI
• - 1999 -- <1/3 below 0.5 HDI
• Incomes have doubled in developing countries
• Malnutrition declined by almost one-third
• child death rates declined by two-thirds average life
expectancy increased by 30%
• significantly higher access to safe drinking water
• Nonetheless, the gap between the richest and
poorest people worldwide has also increased
significantly.
• Income ratio between richest 20% and poorest
20%
- 1960 -- 30:1
- 1999 -- 100:1
 Sustainability
Sustainable development:
progress in human well-being that we can extend or prolong
over many generations, rather than just a few years.

•How can the nations of the world produce the goods

and services needed to improve life for everyone
without overtaxing the environmental systems and
natural resources on which we all depend?

•To be truly enduring, the benefits of sustainable

development must be available to all humans, not just
to the members of a privileged group.
Can Development Be Truly Sustainable?

• Relationship between sustainable ecology and

sustainable economic growth must be recognized.
While economic growth
• makes possible a more comfortable lifestyle, it
doesn't automatically result in a cleaner
environment.
 The 20:20 Compact for Human Development

• (1995 UN Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen)

• Goals:
• universal primary education (male and female)
• adult literacy doubled (females same as males)
• eliminate severe malnutrition
• availability of family planning services
• safe drinking water and sanitation for all
• credit for all
• Estimated cost: $30-$40 billion per year
• Suggested funding comes from the 20:20 formula:
– 20% of aid to developing countries to humanitarian needs
(current: 7%)
– 20% of developing countries' budgets devoted to human
concerns.
 Indigenous People

• Indigenous homelands harbor more cultural and

biological diversity than all the world's nature
reserves.

• In the world there are 6000 cultures, 5000 are

indigenous ones account for 10% of the total world
population

• These cultures are disappearing along with

biological diversity as natural habitats are destroyed
to satisfy industrialized world appetites for
resources.
 Environmental Perspectives

• "Answer me one question, are these the shadows of the

things that will be or are they shadows of the things that
may be only?“

• Question asked by Scrooge to the Ghost of Christmas

Future after seeing the disparity between the rich and
poor of London (Dickens, Christmas Carol)

• What will be our environmental future and what can we

do to shape it? Think about the following worldviews and
tactical positions as you proceed through the rest of this
course.
 Pessimism and Outrage

• We are faced by a number of very serious

environmental problems. It is easy to assume a grim
view of our future and approach environmental
problems with pessimism and outrage.

• Neo-Malthusian approach -- human nature will result

in a dismal cycle of overpopulation, misery, vice and
starvation.
 Optimism

• Science and technology have provided many

benefits to humanity; they also have caused many
difficulties.

• Technological optimists believe that human

ingenuity and enterprise will find cures for all our
problems.
 Pragmatic realism

• We can strive to understand our world and our place

on it.

• By studying environmental science , a new

generation can find alternative paradigms for living
in the world in an adequate and sustainable manner
and perhaps we all can learn to become
environmental citizens