Chapter

Fifteen
The
Environment
The Ecosystem

• The interrelationships between all living things

and the environment.
• Emphasis is on interdependence of all things.
• People, nature, and the earth form a delicately
balanced system.
• Ozone is a rare form of oxygen that is poisonous
to human beings at ground level but is
necessary in the upper atmosphere to absorb
the deadly ultraviolet radiation of the sun.

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmental Pollution
© Norman R. Rowan/Stock Boston
• Pollution is the harmful
alteration of our environment
by our own actions.
• Pollutants – either unwanted
by-products or our activities
or the obnoxious residues of
things we have made, used,
and thrown away.
• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Land Pollution
• Global Warming
• Noise Pollution
• Aesthetic Damage

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Types of Pollution
• Air pollution
– Most air pollution is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
• Water pollution
– Organic sewage
– Eutrophication
– Infectious agents
– Organic chemicals
– Inorganic and miscellaneous chemicals
– Sediments from land corrosion
– Radioactive substances
– Waste heat from power plants and industry

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Types of Pollution—Continued
• Land pollution
– Pesticides – chemicals used to kill insects defined as
pests.
– Herbicides – chemicals used to kill plant life, particularly
weeds.
– Chemical wastes
– Radioactive fallout
– Acid rain
– Garbage
• Global warming
– Since the late 1800’s the average global surface
temperature has increased about 0.75 degrees C.
– Most warming has occurred since 1950.
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Environmental Depletion
• The Dwindling Natural Resources
– No nation is self-sufficient in the modern world.
• Energy Production and Consumption
– Energy consumption per capita is higher in the
United States than it is in any other country in
the world.
– Consumption is growing more rapidly than
production.

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmental Pollution
Problems
• Enforcement of air pollution standards has been
reducing the amount of pollutants released into the air.
• In 2002, 34.3% of children under the age of 18 lived in
an area that did not meet one or more of the air quality
standards.
• Sick building syndrome.
• Presence of radon gas
• Electromagnetic radiation
• In 2000, 39% of rivers and streams; 45% of lakes,
reservoirs, and ponds; 78% of the Great Lakes
shoreline; and 14% of ocean shoreline were polluted.

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmental Depletion
• Over the course of human history, nearly half of
the earth’s forests have been depleted, most of
which has occurred since 1970.

• Energy use per capita is increasing in most of

the developing nations.

• In 1970, Americans drove their cars, vans,

pickups, and SUVs 1.043 trillion miles; by 2004,
the number rose to 2.72 trillion miles.

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Physical Threat
• Air pollution can cause or contribute to:
– Permanent lung damage in children
– Fetal deaths
– Infant mortality
– Respiratory illness
– Cardiovascular disease
– Skin problems, ulcers, and liver and kidney damage
– Premature deaths
– Asthma attacks
– Lung cancer
• Exposure to toxic materials can also lead to sterility
• The depleted ozone layer raises the risk of skin cancer

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Threat to the Ecological
Balance
• The lust for more affluence and unrestrained population
growth are ravaging the environment – Paul Ehrlich.
• A number of species of animals and plants have
disappeared.
• People depend on biological diversity for the quality of
their lives.
• Photosynthesis – a natural process essential to life,
resulting in the production of oxygen and organic
materials.
• Urbanization – the increasing concentration of people
living in cities.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Other Problems

• The Economic Costs

– Damage to livestock, trees, and crops
– Death of wildlife
– Expense of pollution-control measures
– Cost of medical care for those whose health is affected
– Lost work time due to ill health
– Expense of maintaining and refurbishing buildings and
other structures that deteriorated because of pollution
– Cost of restoring the quality of the air and of waterways.
• Threat to World Peace

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Social Structural Factors
• Population Growth
– Population growth accelerates the consumption of
earth’s natural resources.
– Any given area on earth has a limited carrying
capacity.
– Threshold effect
• The Industrial Economy
– The U.S. with about 4.6% of the world’s population,
accounts for 22% of the world’s carbon dioxide
emissions.
– More than ¼ of all cars in the world are on U.S. roads.
• The Politics of the Environment
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Social Psychological Factors

• Attitudes and the Environment

– Many people see the earth as a resource to be mined
rather than as a trust to be cared for.
– 42% of Americans believe the government was doing
about the right amount or too much to protect the
environment.
• Values and the Environment
– Quantitative colossalism
– Individualism

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.