Chapter 10: Food Production and the Environment - Natural enemies (predators, parasites, disease organisms) -Disadvantages: Dam/reservoirs
s) -Disadvantages: Dam/reservoirs displace millions of people, flood
 Food Security: Produce > enough food to meet the basic nutritional
needs.
- 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: a form of industrialized agriculture used primarily
in tropical developing countries; 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: 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
- A pest: species interfering with human welfare by 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
- Too Little Mixing and Low Water Flow Make Lakes Vulnerable to Water
- Pesticides => 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: 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, 1 in 9 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%: irrigate crops and raise livestock,
20%: industry,10%: drinking, cooking, etc.), Indirect and virtual water:
water used to produce food and other products – 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, 2 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: Over-
pumping 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 development where land above aquifers
collapses – making 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
Lower CO2 emissions than other fossil fuels ; Easily transported by
productive lands, impair the ecosystem services of rivers, and have a Pollution: contain stratified layers that undergo little vertical mixing and
useful life expectancy of only 50 years; Water transfer projects reduce a they have little or no flow. Eutrophication is the natural nutrient
river’s flow and flushing action (leading to pollution), and threaten fisheries enrichment of a shallow lake, estuary, or slow-moving stream. Near urban
and artificially cheapen costs – leading to inefficient and wasteful water and agricultural areas chemical runoff cause nutrient enrichment of lakes
use. and the mouths of rivers (cultural eutrophication); Nutrient overload
- Desalination involves removing dissolved salts from ocean water or from produces algal/bacteria overgrowth, which depletes dissolved oxygen and
brackish (slightly salty) water in aquifers or lakes for domestic use. kills off fish and marine organisms in bottom waters (dead zones)
Distillation involves heating saltwater until it evaporates (leaving behind - Groundwater cannot cleanse itself of degradable wastes as quickly as
salts in solid form) and condenses as freshwater. Reverse osmosis (or flowing surface water (thousands of years) (has lower concentrations of
microfiltration) uses high pressure to force saltwater through a membrane dissolved oxygen/smaller populations of decomposing bacteria; Cold
filter with pores small enough to remove the salt. (high cost, kills many temperatures reduce chemical reaction rates)
marine organisms and also requires large inputs of energy, produces salty - Purifying Drinking Water: Temporarily store water in reservoirs, Protect
wastewater) forests/wetlands in watersheds that flow into reservoirs, Convert sewer
 Use Fresh Water More Sustainably water to drinking water (Microfiltration, Reverse osmosis, Hydrogen
- Reducing Water Waste: ½ lost due to evaporation, and inefficient use peroxide/ ultraviolet light)
(irrigation) - low cost to users, lack of government subsidies for improving - Ocean Pollution: Viruses in raw sewage; Toxic chemicals, garbage,
the efficiency of water use sewage, and waste oil from cruise ships; Nitrates/phosphates and sewage
Irritation: Line canals bringing water to irrigation ditches, Irrigate at night from agricultural waste; Crude and refined petroleum, Urban and industrial
to reduce evaporation, Monitor soil moisture to add water only when runoff.
necessary, Grow several crops on each plot of land (poly-culture), - Reduce non-point: slow release fertilizer, organic farming, and cover
Encourage organic farming, Avoid growing water-thirsty crops in dry areas, crop land with vegetation (reduce soil erosion)
Irrigate with treated urban wastewater, Import water-intensive crops and - Sewage treatment plants (through pipes): Primary sewage treatment:
meat. physical/ mechanical process; Secondary sewage treatment: biological
Industry and Homes: Redesign manufacturing processes to use less process
water, Recycle water in industry, Landscape yards with plants that require - Solutions: Find substitutes for toxic pollutants, Remove hazardous
little water, Use drip irrigation, Fix water leaks, Use water meters, Raise waste before it reaches sewage treatment facilities, Use natural sewage
water prices, Use waterless composting toilets, Require water treatment methods, Reduce non-point runoff, Slow population
conservation in water-short cities, Use water-saving toilets, showerheads, growth/reduce poverty, Eliminate air pollution, Encourage recycling/reuse
and front-loading clothes washers, Collect and reuse household water to of resources.
irrigate lawns and nonedible plants, Purify and reuse water for houses, Chapter 13: Energy
apartments, and office buildings.  Net Energy, Major source of energy
- Sustainable Water Use: Waste less water and subsidize water - Net energy yield: the amount of energy obtained from a resource minus
conservation; Do not deplete aquifers; Preserve water quality; Protect the amount of energy needed to produce it (Energy input: energy needed
forests, wetlands, mountain glaciers, watersheds, and other natural to produce energy) (Scientists net energy yield - the best measure for
systems that store and release water; Get agreements among regions and determining long-term usefulness of an energy resource; net energy yield
countries sharing surface water resources; Raise water prices; Slow is zero or a negative number – the resource cannot compete in the
population growth. marketplace)
 Reduce threat of flooding: Protecting more wetlands and natural - Solar energy, several other forms of renewable energy resources that
vegetation in watersheds and by not building in areas subject to can be thought of as indirect solar energy: wind (moving air masses
frequent flooding. heated by the sun), hydropower (flowing water kept fluid by heat from the
- Prevention: Preserve forests on watersheds, Preserve and restore sun), and biomass (solar energy converted to chemical energy and stored
wetlands in floodplains, Tax development on floodplains, Use floodplains in trees and other plants).
primarily for recharging aquifers, sustainable agriculture and forestry. - Commercial energy – 91% nonrenewable energy resources: 87%
- Control: Straighten and deepen streams (channelization), Build levees carbon-containing fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) and 4% nuclear
or floodwalls along streams; Build dams. power. 9 % of the commercial energy we use comes from renewable
 Deal with Water Pollution: Humans can use natural methods to treat energy resources—biomass, hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar
sewage, cut resource use and waste, reduce poverty, and slow energy. (World 2007)
population growth to reduce water pollution – but the best way to  Fossil Fuel
reduce water pollution is to prevent it - Petroleum/Crude oil/Light oil: a black, gooey liquid consisting of
- Water pollution: water quality changes that harm living organisms or hundreds of different combustible hydrocarbons along with small amounts
make water unfit for drinking/ irrigation/recreation of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities. Crude oil and natural gas: fossil
- Point sources: specific identifiable locations fuels => formed from the decaying remains (fossils) of organisms that
- Non-point sources: diffuse areas (Difficult to identify/control, expensive lived 100 – 500 million years ago. (Available, inexpensive)
to manage) - Finding/extracting oil: 3-D seismic maps and computers to find
- The leading causes of water pollution are agriculture activity/industrial deposits; drill to check deposits, then drill production wells. Then oil, drawn
facilities/mining. by gravity out of the rock pores, flows into the bottom of the well and is
Type/Effects Examples Major sources pumped to the surface (Peak production: highest return on well – as time
Infectious agents passes, production of well declines); Crude oil must be refined to be
Bacteria, viruses, Human and animal usable – reduces net energy yield. Heated to separate it into components
(pathogens)
protozoa, parasites wastes with different boiling points in refinery.
Cause diseases
Oxygen-demanding - Some of the products of crude oil distillation: Petrochemicals.
Biodegradable Sewage, animal feedlots, - Proven oil reserves: identified deposits from which crude oil can be
wastes
animal wastes and food processing facilities, extracted profitably at current prices with current technology. (80% - 2050-
Deplete dissolved oxygen
plant debris pulp mills 2100)
needed by aquatic species
Plant nutrients - Advantages of crude oil: Ample supply for 42–93 years; Low cost; High
Nitrates (NO3–) and Sewage, animal wastes, net energy yield; Easily transported within and between countries; Low
Cause excessive growth of
phosphates (PO43–) inorganic fertilizers land use; Technology is well developed; Efficient distribution system.
algae and other species
Disadvantages: Need to find substitutes within 50 years; Large
Organic chemicals Oil, gasoline,
Industry, farms, government subsidies; Environmental costs not included in market price;
Add toxins to aquatic plastics, pesticides,
households Artificially low price encourages waste and discourages search for
systems cleaning solvents
alternatives; Pollutes air when produced and burned; Releases CO2 when
Inorganic chemicals
Acids, bases, salts, Industry, households, burned; Can cause water pollution.
Add toxins to aquatic
metal compounds surface runoff - Tar sand/Oil sand: a mixture of clay, sand, water, and a combustible
systems
organic material called bitumen. Shale oil: oil found within layers of rock,
Sediments
is extracted from crushed oil shales after they are heated in a large
Disrupt photosynthesis, Soil, silt Land erosion
container (heated to increase its flow rate and processed to remove sulfur,
food webs, other processes
nitrogen, and other impurities). Advantages: Moderate cost (tar sand)
Heavy metals Unlined landfills,
Large potential supplies, especially tar sands in
Cause cancer, disrupt Lead, mercury, household chemicals,
Canada; Easily transported within and between countries; Efficient
immune and endocrine arsenic mining refuse, industrial
distribution system in place; Technology well-developed (tar sand).
systems discharges
Disadvantages: High cost (oil shale); Low net energy yield;
Thermal Environmental costs not included in market price; Large amounts of water
Electric power and
Make some species Heat needed for processing; Severe land disruption; Severe water pollution; Air
industrial plants
vulnerable to disease pollution and CO2 emissions when produced and burned.
- Flowing streams and rivers use a combination of dilution and bacterial - Natural gas: a mixture of gases of which 50–90% is methane (propane
biodegradation to naturally eliminate waste if Not overloaded with and butane)
pollutants or when flow is reduced by drought, damming, or diversion. - Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (not propane and butane): tapped from
(Bacterial decomposition depletes dissolved oxygen – eliminating deposits and stored in pressurized tanks. Advantage: Ample supplies;
populations of high-oxygen using organisms until the stream is cleansed) High net energy yield; Low cost; Less air pollution than other fossil fuels;
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 => form 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, heat high heat, sulfur Highly
matter in content, limited content and large desirable fuel;
swamps and supplies in most supplies supplies
bogs, low heat areas are limited, low
content sulfur
- Solid coal can be converted into synthetic natural gas (SNG) by a
process called coal gasification => 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 + 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 2 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 = using our brains and technology to
do more and better work with less energy and money.
- In Industry: Cogeneration/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+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: 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: composed of several spherical layers: Thermosphere-
Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Ozone layer-Troposphere.
 Major Air Pollution Problems
- Air pollution: 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; 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: 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.
- 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 = 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 3-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: 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: 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: a social science => 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: an increase in a nation’s capacity to provide goods
and services to people; economic development: 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: 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 (Propose sustainable changes to reduce costs (Buying locally grown food,
ecological economists, but accomplish this by fine-tuning existing shifting to renewable energy, and making universities retrofit buildings to
economic systems and tools, instead of redesigning some of them. make them more energy efficient); Pressure universities to stop investing
 Use Economic Tools - Environmental Problems: endowment funds in environmentally harmful companies)
- Full-cost pricing, subsidizing environmentally beneficial goods and  Major Environmental Worldviews
services, taxing pollution and waste instead of wages and profits, and - Environmental ethics: play a role in environmental decision-making.;
reducing poverty. Environmental worldviews: human-centered, life-centered or earth-
- Most Things Cost More Than We Might Think: Direct/Market pricing centered.
usually ignores the hidden cost (indirect, or external, costs) of harm to the - Most People Have Human-Centered Environmental Worldviews:
environment and human health; Environmentally honest market Planetary Management: We are apart from the rest of nature and can
system: Full-cost pricing (internal costs plus external costs) reduces manage nature to meet our increasing needs and wants; Because of our
resource waste/ pollution/ environmental degradation, improves human ingenuity and technology, we will not run out of resources; The potential
health, and supports principles of sustainability – informed spending for economic growth is essentially unlimited; Our success depends on how
decisions; Not used widely as producers of harmful goods and services well we manage the earth's life-support systems mostly for our benefit.
oppose it – difficult to determine these indirect costs. Stewardship: We have an ethical responsibility to be caring managers, or
- Shifting from Environmentally Harmful to Environmentally stewards, of the earth; We will probably not run out of resources, but they
Beneficial Subsidies should not be wasted; We should encourage environmentally beneficial
- Historic Economic Indicators: Economic growth: usually measured by forms of economic growth and discourage environmentally harmful forms;
the percentage of change in a country’s gross domestic product (GDP): Our success depends on how well we manage the earth's life-support
the annual market value of all goods and services produced by all firms systems for our benefit and for the rest of nature.
and organizations, foreign and domestic, operating within a country. - Environmental Wisdom: We are a part of and totally dependent on
Changes in a country’s economic growth per person are measured by per nature, and nature exists for all species.; Resources are limited and should
capita GDP: the GDP divided by the country’s total population at midyear. not be wasted; We should encourage earthsustaining forms of economic
- Newly Proposed Environmental Economic Indicators - green indicators growth and discourage earthdegrading forms.; Our success depends on
- genuine progress indicator (GPI) = the GDP + the estimated value of learning how nature sustains itself and integrating such lessons from
beneficial transactions that meet basic needs, no money changes hands - nature into the ways we think and act.
the estimated harmful environmental, health, and social costs of all  Live More Sustainably
transactions. - Foundations of environmental literacy: Natural capital matters; Our
- Taxing Pollution and Wastes Instead of Wages and Profits: Green taxes ecological footprints: immense and expanding rapidly; Should not exceed
can be applied to those who produce large amounts of pollution and estimated planetary boundaries or ecological tipping points.
hazardous waste (three requirements: Increases applied over time – 10-20 - The bottom line: minimize the impacts of food production, transportation,
years; Reduces other taxes to equal increase in green taxes, resulting in and home energy use/overall resource use.
no net tax increase; Provides a safety net for lower-income populations); - Some Guidelines for Living More Sustainably: Learn about, respect,
Many countries already have such taxes. Ads: Help bring about full-cost and mimic how nature sustains itself; Do not degrade or deplete the
pricing; Encourage businesses to develop environmentally beneficial earth's natural capital; Take no more from nature than what nature can
technologies and goods to save money; Easily administered by existing replenish; Do not waste matter and energy resources; Protect biodiversity;
tax agencies; Fairly easy to detect cheaters. Disads: Low-income groups Avoid climate-changing activities; Help maintain the earth's capacity for
are penalized unless safety nets are provided; Hard to determine optimal self-repair; Repair ecological damage that we have caused; Leave the
level for taxes and fees; Governments may use money as general revenue world in as good a condition as we found or better; Cultivate a passion for
instead of improving environmental quality and reducing taxes on income, sustaining all life and let this passion energize your actions.
payroll, and profits. - Current Emphasis -> Sustainability Emphasis: Pollution cleanup -
- Environmental regulation: government intervention to reduce Pollution prevention; Waste disposal (bury or burn) - Waste prevention;
environmental degradation. Command-and-control approach: Protecting species - Protecting habitat; Environmental degradation -
regulations that focus on cleanup rather than prevention. Incentive-based Environmental restoration; Increasing resource use - Less resource waste;
environmental regulations: incentives for companies to innovatively Population growth - Population stabilization; Depleting and degrading
reduce pollution and waste – motivates companies to develop green natural capital - Protecting natural capital. Interrelated components:
products and industrial processes that create jobs. Cap-and-trade Biodiversity protection; commitment to eco-efficiency; energy
approach: Government gives/sells companies tradable pollution or transformation; Pollution prevention; emphasis on sufficiency;
resource-use permits (unused credits can be saved for future expansion); Demographic equilibrium; Economic and political transformations.
Reduces pollution and resource waste by selling services instead of - Environmental Concerns; Social Trends; Economic Tools;
things; Reduces the harmful health effects of pollution by reducing poverty. Technologies
- Reducing Poverty Can Help Us to Deal with Environmental Problems:
Poverty = 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: 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: government by the people
through elected officials and representatives. 3 branches of government:
Legislative/Executive/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 7 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