COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

ENVIRNMENTAL POLICY, ETHICS , AND GOVERNANCE

(GeES 4014)
BY: NASIH AWOL

(MSc IN ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE MANAGEMENT)

NOVEMBER, 2022

SAMARA UNIVERSITY

SAMARA, AFAR,

ETHIOPIA
INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENT

Outline
 Evolution of Environmental Issues

 Environmental Values

 Contemporary Environmental Issues

 Global Environmental Problems

Evolution of Environmental Issues
 Environment is broadly defined as all of the physical, chemical, and biological conditions
that together act on an organism or an ecological community and influence its growth and
development. Soil, air, water, climate, plant and animal life, noise level, and pollution are all
components of an environment.

 Environmental issues are defined as harmful effects to Earth and its natural systems due to
the actions of humans.

 The origin of environmental issues has three different origins.

 Purely natural origin
 Caused or aggravated by human activity
 Energy crisis
Cont’d…
1. Purely natural origin
 Natural global environmental catastrophe caused by collision of the earth with an asteroid
was the first to cause changes on life forms and environment.
About thirty million years ago, the earth entered a long-term cooling phase that devastated
the extensive forest cover

 Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, floods, or massive storms afflicted

local populations.
 A much larger and far more serious crisis took place about seventy thousand years ago,
when human species flirted with extinction.
 Abrupt population decline resulted from eruption of the supervolcano Toba on the island of
Sumatra about 70,000 years ago.
 Toba was the second-largest known volcano of the past 450 million years.
 Cont’d…
 Its eruption caused a volcanic winter lasting six years, followed by a long period of the
coldest temperatures of the Late Pleistocene epoch (from about 1.8 million to twelve
thousand years ago).
 Summer temperatures in Europe and northern China instantly dropped about 12 degrees
Centigrade, with devastating effects for ecosystems and their inhabitants, including humans.
 Indeed, only two human species survived the Toba event: Neandertals, who had evolved to
survive cold environments in Europe and western Asia during the ice ages, and Homo
sapiens.
 In any case, while emphasis in contemporary discussions of environmental crises falls
heavily and quite correctly on anthropogenic effects on the natural environment, it is worth
remembering that human activity takes place in a much larger context of natural processes,
some of which stand well beyond human control or influence.
 Indeed, the earth remains vulnerable to a large number of purely natural processes such as
collisions with extraterrestrial objects, volcanic activity, global warming, rising ocean
levels, hurricanes and typhoons, and others as well.
 Cont’d…
2. Environmental issues caused or aggravated by human activity

 Since the emergence of large-scale hunting, and especially after the invention of agriculture,
environmental crises have increasingly reflected the influence of human behavior and
human policies.
 During the course of the Holocene epoch (the period from about 12,000 years ago to the
present), anthropogenic effects on the natural environment have influenced ever-larger parts
of the earth and have posed threats to social stability in regional contexts.
 Since widespread use of fossil fuels in the industrial era, anthropogenic effects have
extended their reach to literally global proportions.
 Indeed, some earth scientists suggest that since about the eighteenth century, the earth has
entered a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene – in which human activities play major
roles in environmental change and hence in the creation of environmental crises as well.
 Cont’d…
3. Energy crisis
 Two points are already clear: first, environmental crises have threatened humans (and other
species) for as long as there has been life on the earth, and second, because of their high
intelligence and abilities to communicate and innovate, human beings have found their own
ways to amplify natural effects or even to create new environmental threats in the course of
pursuing their individual and collective interests.

 Meanwhile, also following from their intelligence, humans have discovered increasingly
ingenious ways to exploit energy resources for their own benefit.
 Over the past 12,000 years or so, human beings have turned ever-larger portions of the
energy available in the world to their own uses. This is a remarkable and even stunning
development.
 Before the turn to agriculture, human beings consumed little more energy than was
necessary for subsistence – about 2,000 calories per capita per day.
 Cont’d…
 With the adoption of agriculture, human energy use more than doubled to about 12,000
calories per capita per day, including food consumption for both humans and animal stocks
as well as energy used for heat, construction, agriculture, commerce, production, and crafts.
 By the time of advanced agricultural societies around 1000 C.E., consumption more than
doubled again to about 26,000 calories per day.
 The advent of industrial production and early exploitation of fossil fuels almost trebled per
capita energy consumption to 77,000 calories per day by 1850.
 Today the rate of human energy consumption is almost a quarter-million calories per capita
per day.
 Their remarkable record of success in extracting energy from natural resources is the
foundation of a special category of environmental crisis having to do with the sources of
energy.
 After they learned to control fire, they captured more energy for their own uses than other
animals but only marginally so, consuming about 5,000 calories per day in food and other
energy uses combined.
 Environmental Values
 Values are principles or standards that an individual considers important.

 Environmental values underlie human environmental beliefs and behaviors – good or bad (or
somewhere in between)

 EVs refers to individual and shared community or societal beliefs about the significance of
environmental resources.

 There are many values that determine environmental decision making.

 Aesthetic Value; what is beautiful or pleasing.

 Economic Value: the gain or loss f money or job.

 Environmental: the protection of natural resources

 Educational: the accumulation and sharing of knowledge

 Cont’d…
Ethical/Moral: what is right or wrong

 Health: the maintenance of human health

 Recreational: human leisure activities

 Sci entific: understanding of the natural world

 Social/cultural: the maintenance of human communities and their values and tradition.

Contemporary Environmental Issues

There are major environmental issues that require urgent attention to make the ecology
friendly.
 Global warming: This has been considered as the most pressing environmental issue.
 Climate change is real and it is influenced by human activities through the production of
green house gases such as methane and carbon dioxide.
 Cont’d…

 Global warming is necessitated by the ability of our ecosystem to respond to climate change
due to compromised environment.
 It has the effect of melting polar ice caps, displacing people form tropical and coastal islands
and can ultimately threaten the survival of human race.

 Clean and Renewable energy

• This is second only to climate change.

• The human race is faced with the environmental problem of cleaning up or replacing the
burning of fossil fuels that enhanced industrial revolution during 18th century.

 Unless a clean and renewable energy is found as an alternative, our planet risks being turned
into an inhabitable and hostile not fit for human survival.

 There is need for the development and adoption of clean energy.

 Cont’d…

   Ocean system collapse

 Oceans are critical part of Earths support system and are considered to pose huge risks and
sink for atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide.

 It is important to prevent ocean systems from collapse since the over exploitation of oceans
might result in the collapse of the fishing industry.

 Acid rain resulting from industrial pollution has pollutes oceans and seas hence killing
coral reefs; this has the effect of threatening tourism.

 Oceans are degraded by spills, run off chemicals.

 Cont’d…

 Electronic & Nuclear Waste

• This type of wastes can cause massive pollution and several health complications.

• Millions of electronic products such as computers, laptops, television sets and mobile
phones are discarded annually in developed countries and dumped into third world
societies.

• The recovery of these products in the developing economies can result in the release of
hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, heavy metals and many other toxic substances.

• This will harm the workers that are exposed to the dangerous materials.

• These wastes are the modern environmental threats due to technological advancements.
 Cont’d…

Water degradation

 In the modern world the quality of water is under threat from the fast growing
population.

 The quality of inland water is under compromise from dumped industrial and chemical
wastes, untreated sewage, medicinal residues and fertilizes and chemical run off.

 The above activities worsen the already existing problem of water pollution.

 The increased use of underground water in coastal regions results in the intrusion of salt
water.

  
 Cont’d…

 Land rush

 The world’s population is growing at a faster rate. This has led to large number of people
being declared food-insecure; this has therefore resulted in land rush since nations are
scrambling to secure land for agriculture and also to grow bio-energy crops to generate
cheap fuels.

 Slashing and burning of forests is an ever increasing practice and it can lead to biodiversity
and ecosystems loss as well as land degradation.

 According to the UNEP, approximately 5 million hectares of land is annually lost through
soil erosion and land degradation.

 Pastoralists and cattle ranchers are plundering the Amazon rain forest at an alarming rate.
 Cont’d…
  Biodiversity conservation

 Biodiversity is critical for the survival of the ecosystem because it can help in food
production, disease control, crop pollination and recreation.

 Increased human population

• The world’s population is increasing at a faster rate. This has resulted in over consumption,
leading to poverty and other environmental problems.

 New technologies
• Increased demand for food globally has forced scientists to manipulate plant DNA to
produce strong and drought and disease resistant crops.There is the general fear that GMO
products are harmful to human beings. When GMO food products are released to the
environment, they may not be recalled, making it a dangerous global experiment.
 Cont’d…

 Habitat loss

• Habitat loss and fragmentation due to deforestation and human development.

• This is considered as the major cause of diminishing biodiversity globally.

• Many species are faced with extinction.

 Ozone depletion

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are considered to be the main cause of ozone depletion.

• The term ozone depletion implies a decline in the quantity of ozone in the earth's
stratosphere.

• The loss of ozone in the lower stratosphere was first recorded in Antarctica in the 1970s.
 Cont’d…

 CFCs when released into the atmosphere add to the ozone depletion which are used in
aerosol sprays as well as air conditioners.

 The ozone hole in the Antarctic is caused primarily due to these CFCs. Due to ozone
depletion, humans are faced with various other problems such as dealing with the harmful
effects of UV rays. These affect not only humans, but also affect plants and various species
of animals as well.

 Pollution (Air, Water, Soil, Noise)

• Pollution is something that we face on an everyday basis. It is probably a problem that we

may have become immune to, given our fast-paced lives.

• Air pollution and noise pollution are increasing at an alarming rate today.
 Cont’d…

 Air pollution occurs with the addition of harmful chemicals into the earth's atmosphere.

 The main pollutants of air are carbon monoxide, CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons), nitrogen
oxides and sulfur dioxide.

 Water pollution is caused when wastes are released into the water and contaminates it.

 Soil pollution takes place when the soil is contaminated due to various industrial
activities.

 Noise pollution occurs when the noise levels (honking, loud speakers, etc.) crosses the
normal decibel level.

 This can have a harmful effect on one's hearing and lead to more severe after-effects, both
physical and psychological (fatigue, irritation, stress, etc
 Cont’d…

 Loss of Natural Resources

• With the alarming rate of increase in population, the loss of natural resources has become
one of the major concerns.

• Issues like deforestation, animal extinction, shortage of water, lack of space and food are
only some of the concerns brought on by the lack of resources.

• There are many reasons that lead to the loss of natural resources (increasing demands
brought on by population explosion, disregard for nature, human greed).

• This, in turn, affects the varied ecosystems.

 Cont’d…

 Loss of Biodiversity
 Biodiversity refers to the combination of a diverse range of species on earth.
 The varied plants, animals and microorganisms, the different ecosystems (coral reefs, deserts,
rain forests, etc.) all have a unique role to play in the cycle of earth.

 These diverse species lead to the boost of varied ecosystems, which thus enables them to
prevent, as well as recover from several disasters.

 However, due to varied human activities like deforestation, and hunting, the natural habitats
as well as the survival of several species are being threatened.

 Several species are on the verge of extinction, while others have already become extinct. that
can lead to varied effects, some of which are - increase in sea levels (leading to floods),
droughts, wildfires, forest destruction and more.
Global Environmental Problems

 Some regional and global environmental issues are given below:

 Global Warming
 Ocean acidification
 Pollution
 Acid rain
 Ozone depletion
Cont’d…

1. Global Warming
 Global Warming is the unusually rapid increase in earth's average temperature over the
past century primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil
fuels.
 It occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants and greenhouse gases
collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off
the earth's surface.
 Normally, this radiation would escape into space—but these pollutants, which can last
for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter.
 That's what's known as the greenhouse effect.
Cont’d…

2. Ocean Acidification
 Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans,
caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) 242 from the atmosphere.
 Seawater is slightly basic (meaning pH > 7), and ocean acidification involves a
shift towards pH neutral conditions rather than a transition to acidic conditions
(pH < 7).
 Carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels dissolves in seawater
and produces carbonic acid, and this lower the pH of the ocean water finally
lead to ocean acidification
Cont’d…

3. Acid Rain
 Acid rain, or acid deposition, is a broad term that includes any form of precipitation
with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the
atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that
is acidic.
 It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure.

 Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with
the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids.
 Some governments have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the release of sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere with positive results.
 Cont’d…

4. Ozone layer depletion

 Is the thinning of the ozone layer present in the upper atmosphere. This happens when the
chlorine and bromine atoms in the atmosphere come in contact with ozone and destroy the
ozone molecules.

 One chlorine can destroy 100,000 molecules of ozone. It is destroyed more quickly than it is
created. Some compounds release chlorine and bromine on exposure to high ultraviolet light,
which then contributes to the ozone layer depletion. Such compounds are known as Ozone
Depleting Substances (ODS).

 The ozone-depleting substances that contain chlorine include chlorofluorocarbon, carbon

tetrachloride, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and methyl chloroform.
 Chlorofluorocarbons are the most abundant ozone-depleting substance. It is only when the
chlorine atom reacts with some other molecule, it does not react with ozone
 End of Chapter One!
Thanks For Your Attention!
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