LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, 18e

G. TYLER MILLER • SCOTT E. SPOOLMAN

1
Environmental __________, Their
Causes, and ______________
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Cengage
CengageLearning 2015
Learning 2015
Core Case Study: A Vision of a More
Sustainable World in ________

• A transition in human _________ toward

the environment, and a shift in behavior,
can lead to a much better future for the
planet in 2065
• ______________
– The capacity of the earth’s natural systems
and human cultural systems to survive,
flourish, and adapt into the very _________
future
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1-1: What Are Some ___________ of
Sustainability?

• _________ has sustained itself for billions

of years by using solar energy, biodiversity,
and nutrient cycling
• Our lives and economies depend on
_________from the sun and on natural
resources and natural services (_________
__________) provided by the earth

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1-1: What Are Some Principles of
Sustainability? (cont’d.)

• Shift toward living more sustainably by:

– Applying _________pricing, searching for
win-win solutions
– Committing to ___________ the earth’s life-
support system for future generations

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Environmental Science Is a Study of
______________ in Nature

• _____________: everything around us

• Environmental__________:
interdisciplinary science connecting
information and ideas from:
– ___________ sciences: ecology, biology,
geology, chemistry
– _________sciences: geography, politics,
economics
– __________: ethics, philosophy
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Three Scientific ________ of Sustainability

• Dependence on ________ energy

– The sun provides warmth and fuels
photosynthesis
• _____________
– Astounding variety and adaptability of natural
systems and species
• _________ cycling
– From the environment to organisms and then
back to the environment
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Three Principles
of Sustainability Solar Energy

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Chemical Cycling Biodiversity Fig. 1-3, p. 8
Sustainability Has Certain Key
Components

• Natural _________: keep species alive

– Natural __________: useful materials and
energy in nature
– Natural _________important nature
processes such as renewal of air, water, and
soil
• ____________ services
– Processes provided by healthy ecosystems

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 Natural Capital
Solar Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Ecosystem Services
energy

Air
Renewable
Air purification energy (sun,
wind, water
Climate control flows)
UV protection
(ozone layer) Life
(biodiversity)

Water Population
control
Water purification
Pest
Waste treatment control

Nonrenewable Soil Land

minerals
(iron, sand) Soil renewal Food production
Natural
gas Nutrient
Oil recycling
Nonrenewable Coal seam
energy
(fossil fuels)

Natural resources
Ecosystem services Fig. 1-3, p. 7
Other Principles of Sustainability Come
from the Social Sciences

• _________________
– Include harmful health and environmental
costs of goods and services
• _______________
– Benefit people and the environment
• A _____________to future generations

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Some Resources Are ___________ and
Some Are _____

• ____________
– Anything we obtain from the environment to
meet our needs
– Some directly available for use: sunlight
– Some not directly available for use: petroleum
• An ___________ resource
– Solar energy

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Some Resources Are Renewable and
Some Are Not (cont’d.)

• _____________ resource
– Several days to several hundred years to
renew
– Examples: forests, grasslands, and fertile soil
• ___________ yield
– Highest _______ at which we can use a
renewable resource without reducing
available supply

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Some Resources Are Renewable and
Some Are Not (cont’d.)

• _____________ resources
– Finite stock on earth
– Energy resources
– Metallic mineral resources
– Nonmetallic mineral resources

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Principles of
Sustainability

ECONOMICS
Full-cost pricing
Wi

tio to
ns
PO in re
n-w

en ility
e g nsib S
fut spo THIC
LIT su

era
IC lts

Re E
S

ur

Fig. 1-5, p. 9
Countries Differ in their Resource ______
and Environmental _______

• _______-developed countries
– Industrialized nations with high average
income
– 17% of the world’s population
• _______-developed countries
– 83% of the world’s population

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1-2: How Are Our ___________ Footprints
Affecting the Earth?

• As our ecological footprints grow, we are

___________and ___________ more of
the earth’s natural capital

Also called a
__________
footprint

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Ecological footprints are not all equal

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Patterns of Natural Resource Consumption

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Fig. 1-12a, p. 15
 Patterns of Natural Resource Consumption

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Fig. 1-12b, p. 15
We Are Living _______________

• Environmental degradation: wasting,

depleting, and degrading the earth’s
natural capital
– Happening at an ____________rate

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 Natural Capital Degradation
Degradation of Normally Renewable Natural Resources

Shrinking
Climate forests
change
Decreased
wildlife
Air pollution habitats
Species
extinction
Soil
erosion Water
pollution

Declining ocean
fisheries
Aquifer
depletion

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Fig. 1-7, p. 11
____________ Comes from a Number of
Sources

• __________ of pollution
– ________sources
• Single, identifiable source
– _______sources
• Disbursed and difficult to identify
• What are some strategies for pollution
cleanup and prevention?

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Point-Source Pollution Non-Point Source

Fig. 1-8, p. 11
The __________ of the Commons: Degrading
Commonly Shared Renewable Resources

• _________ of resources
– Open access renewable resources
– Shared resources
• _________ of the commons
– Common property and open-access
renewable resources are degraded from
overuse
– What are some solutions?

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Ecological Footprints: A Model of
Unsustainable Use of Resources

• __________________
– Amount of biologically productive land and
water needed to provide a person or area with
renewable resources, and to recycle wastes
and pollution
• __________ecological footprint
• ________________
– Footprint is larger than biological capacity for
replenishment
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Natural Capital Use and Degradation

Fig. 1-11, p. 13
IPAT is Another Environmental Impact
Model

• ________________
– I = Environmental impact
– P = Population
– A = Affluence
– T = Technology

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 IPAT
Less-Developed Countries

Consumption Technological Environmental

Population (P) X per person X impact per unit of = impact of
(affluence, A) consumption (T) population (I)

More-Developed Countries

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Fig. 1-14, p. 17
Case Study: _______ Growing Number of
Affluent Consumers

• World’s ________ population

• ________ largest economy
• Two-thirds of the most _________ cities
are in China
• Projections for next decade
– Largest consumer and producer of______

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Cultural Changes Can Grow or Shrink Our
Ecological Footprints

• Humans were hunters and gatherers

_________ years ago
• _______ major cultural events
– ____________revolution
– ________________revolution
– __________________ revolution
• Current need for a sustainability revolution

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1-3: Why Do We Have Environmental
Problems?

• Major _______ of environmental problems

– Population growth, unsustainable resource
use, poverty, avoidance of full-cost pricing,
and increasing isolation from nature
• Our environmental _____________ play a
key role in determining whether we live
_____________ or more ____________

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Experts Have Identified Several Causes of
Environmental Problems

• Population __________
• Wasteful and unsustainable resource use
• _________
• Failure to include the _________
environmental costs of goods and services
in market prices
• Increasing isolation from nature

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Causes of Environmental Problems

Causes of Environmental Problems

Excluding Increasing
Population Unsustainable Poverty environmental costs isolation
growth resource use from market prices from nature

Fig. 1-15, p. 16
The Human Population is Growing at a
Rapid Rate

• ______________ growth
– Population increases at a fixed percentage
per unit time
• No one knows how many people the earth
can support indefinitely

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Exponential Growth of Human Population

Billions of people
?

Industrial
revolution
Black Death—the Plague

Time

Hunting and Agricultural revolution Industrial

gathering revolution
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Fig. 1-16, p. 17
__________ Has Harmful and Beneficial
Environmental Effects

• Harmful environmental impact due to:

– High levels of ______________
– High levels of ___________
– Unnecessary ________of resources
• Affluence can provide __________for
_________ technologies to reduce:
– Pollution
– Environmental degradation
– Resource waste
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Poverty Has Harmful Environmental and
Health Effects

• Unable to fulfill basic needs

– ________________, _________,
__________, _______________, and
___________
• Working to survive

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Prices of Goods and Services Do Not
Include the Harmful Environmental Costs

• _______________ do not pay the

environmental cost of resource use
• ___________________ do not include the
harmful environmental costs
• Companies receive ____________and
___________

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We are Increasingly _________ from
Nature

• Increasing populations in _________

areas
• Nature _________ disorder
– Not having enough contact with nature

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People Have Different Views on
Environmental Problems/Solutions

• Environmental ethics: What is right and

wrong with how we treat the environment?
– _______________management worldview
• We are separate from and in charge of nature
– _______________ worldview
• Manage earth for our benefit with ethical
responsibility to be stewards
– ___________________ worldview
• We are part of nature and must engage in
sustainable use
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1-4: What Is an Environmentally
Sustainable Society?

• Living _______________
– Live off the earth’s natural income
___________depleting or degrading the
natural capital that supplies it

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Environmentally Sustainable Societies

• Environmentally _____________ society

– Meets _________needs in a just and
equitable manner without compromising
future ____________ ability to meet their
needs
• Natural income
– Renewable resources

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A More Sustainable Future is Possible

• Overall ___________ that combines

environmental ____________ with
______________ for all life
• Social scientists suggest it only takes
_______% of the population to bring about
major social change
• Significant _________ change can occur
more quickly than we often think

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• A more sustainable __________will require that we:
– Rely more on energy from the ________ and other renewable energy
sources
– ____________ biodiversity through the preservation of natural capital
– Avoid disrupting the earth’s vitally important ____________cycles
• A major goal for becoming more sustainable is __________ pricing—
the inclusion of harmful environmental and health costs in the market
prices of goods and services
• We will benefit ourselves and future generations if we commit ourselves
to:
– Finding _______________solutions to our problems
– Leaving the planet’s life-support system in at least as good a shape
as what we now enjoy

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Tying It All Together

• The key to environmental solutions

– Apply the ___________________________to
the design of our economic and social
systems, and individual lifestyles
• The ______ century’s transition generation
will decide the path which humanity takes

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