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Enviro 1
Enviro 1
NATURAL CAPITAL – natural resources and natural services that keep us and
other forms of life alive and support our economies.
NATURAL RESOURCES – are materials and energy in nature that are essential
or useful to humans. 2 classifications RENEWABLE and NONRENEWALBE.
• Air Pollution
• Global Warming
• Soil Erosion
• Aquifer Depletion
• Shrinking Forest
• Decreased Wildlife Habitats
• Species Extinction
• Declining Ocean Fisheries
• Water Pollution
Our Ecological Footprint
http://myfootprint.org/en/
Pollution
Anything harmful to the health, survival, or
activities of humans or other organisms is
considered pollution.
Examples:
smokestack of a coal-burning power or industrial
plant, the exhaust pipe of an automobile, and
the drainpipe of a factory.
Nonpoint Source Pollution
Are dispersed and often difficult to identify.
Examples:
Pesticides blown from the land into the air and
runoff of fertilizers and pesticides from
farmlands, lawns, gardens, and golf courses into
streams and lakes.
Two main types of Pollutants
Biodegradable – harmful materials that can be
broken down by natural processes. Examples are
sewage and newspapers.
• Population Growth
• Unsustainable resource use
• Poverty
• Excluding environmental costs from market
prices
• Trying to manage nature without knowing
enough about it
Different Views about Environmental
Problems
Environmental Worldview – a set of
assumptions and values reflecting how you think
the world works and what you think your role in
the world should be.
Environmental Ethics – our beliefs about what is
right and wrong with how we treat the
environment
Example Environmental Worldviews
Planetary management worldview:
Humans are separate from nature, nature exists for
our needs.
Stewardship worldview:
Humans can and should manage the earth for our
benefit.
Environmental wisdom worldview:
Humans are part of, and totally dependent on, nature
and nature exists for all species, not just for us.
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
Inspired the environmental and conservation
movement with his book:
Biodiversity
Nutrient Cycling
Population Control
Solutions
Where we are currently Where we need to be
• Current Emphasis • Sustainability Emphasis
• Pollution cleanup • Pollution Prevention
• Waste Disposal • Waste Prevention
• Protecting Species • Protecting Habitat
• Environmental Degradation • Environmental Restoration
• Increasing Resource Use • Less Resource waste
• Population Growth • Population Stabilization
• Damaging Natural Capital • Protecting Natural Capital