AP Environmental Science

Chapter 1
Environmental Problems, Causes, and
Sustainability
 Exponential vs. Linear
• Exponential growth is currently occurring
with our population
– doubles quickly, “sneaky”
– 6.2 billion
– another billion in 12 - 15 years (from 2000)
• Linear growth is obvious
– straight line
 Types of growth

J-curve, exponential Linear growth

growth
 1,250
$1,024,000
1,000 Exponential growth
($1,000 invested at 10%
750 Per year interest)
Thousands of dollars

Linear growth
(saving $1,000
Per year)

$70,000

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Years
Fig. 1.2, p. 4
Slid e 2
 Solar and Earth Capital
• Solar - energy 99%
• Earth - resources, support systems
– climate control
– air and water purification
– recycling matter (iron, sulfur, nitrogen, etc.)
– renewable energy
– renewable matter resources
– Pest and disease control
– and more.
 Sustainability
• Are we living sustainably?

• A sustainable society manages its economy and

population size without exceeding all or part of
the planet’s ability to absorb environmental
insults, replenish its resources, and sustain
human and other forms of life over a specific
period (usually a human lifetime of 100 years)
 Carrying Capacity
• The maximum size of a population an area
can support and maintain over a period of
time

• Carrying capacity of the Earth for people is

around 12 billion. What may affect that
number?
 16
15
? 14
13
12
11

Billions of people
?
10
9
8
?
7
6

5
4
3
2
Black Death–the Plague
1
0
2-5 million 8000 6000 4000 2000 2000 2100
years Time B.C. A.D.
Fig. 1.1, p. 2
Hunting and Agricultural revolution Industrial
gathering revolution
 World Population reached
1 billion in 1804
2 billion in 1927 (123 years later)
3 billion in 1960 (33 years later)
4 billion in 1974 (14 years later)
5 billion in 1987 (13 years later)
6 billion in 1999 (12 years later)

World Population May Reach

7 billion in 2013 (14 years later)
8 billion in 2028 (15 years later)
9 billion in 2054 (26 years later)
Fig. 1.3, p. 5
 Doubling Time
• Rule of 70

• divide 70 by the percent growth rate and you

will find how long it takes the population to
double.

• 70/1.43(current growth rate approx.) = 49 years

(we started counting in 2000)
 Populations and Economy
• Developed - highly industrialized
– 20% population, 85% wealth, 88% resources,
75% pollution and waste, high GNP per capita

• Developing - low to moderate

industrialization
– 80% population, 15% wealth, 12% resources,
15% pollution and waste, low GNP per capita
 Resources

• Renewable - can be replenished in a lifetime

(wind)

• Potentially renewable - can be renewable if we

change our current habits (soil)

• Nonrenewable - only a fixed amount on Earth

(minerals)
 Resources

Perpetual Nonrenewable

Winds, Fossil Metallic Non-

Direct fuels minerals metallic
tides,
solar minerals
flowing
energy
water (iron, (clay,
copper, sand,
aluminum) phosphates)

Renewable

Fresh Fresh Fertile Plants and

air water soil animals
(biodiversity) Fig. 1.11, p. 11
 Per Captia Ecological Footprint
Country
(Hectares of land per person)

10.9
United States

5.9
The Netherlands

1.0
India

Fig. 1.10a, p. 11
 Total Ecological Footprint
Country (Hectares)

3 billion
United States
hectares

The Netherlands 94 million hectares

1 billion
India
hectares

Fig. 1.10b, p. 11
 Major Environmental Degradation to
Potentially Renewable Resources
• Urbanization
• Salinization of soil
• Wetland destruction
• Groundwater depletion
• Livestock overgrazing
• Poor soil management
• Deforestation
• Pollution
• Reduction of biodiversity
Production rate of resource

Area under curve

equals the total
amount of the
resource. Economic depletion
(80% used up)

Time

Fig. 1.12, p. 13
 Pollutants
• Point source vs. nonpoint source

• concentration - ppm, ppb, ppt

• persistence - degradable, slowly degradable

(DDT) or nondegradable

$ Always less expensive to prevent, instead of

trying to clean up.
 Causes of Environmental
Problems
• Rapid population growth
• wasteful use of resources
• degradation of earth’s life support systems
• poverty
• failure to encourage environmentally and
economically sustainable growth
• lack of full cost pricing
• human urge to “conquer” mother nature
 Biodiversity Depletion
• Habitat destruction
Air Pollution • Habitat degradation
• Global climate change • Extinction
• Stratospheric ozone
depletion
• Urban air pollution
• Acid deposition Food Supply Problems
• Outdoor pollutants • Overgrazing
• Indoor pollutants • Farmland loss
• Noise and degradation
Major • Wetlands loss
Environmental and degradation
Problems • Overfishing
• Coastal pollution
Water Pollution
• Soil erosion
• Sediment • Soil salinization
• Nutrient overload • Soil waterlogging
• Toxic chemicals • Water shortages
• Infectious agents • Groundwater depletion
• Oxygen depletion • Loss of biodiversity
• Pesticides • Poor nutrition
• Oil spills Waste Production
• Excess heat • Solid waste
• Hazardous waste

Fig. 1.13, p. 14
 Major Environmental Problems
• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Biodiversity Depletion
• Food Supply Problems
• Waste Production
• Rapid population growth
• Unsustainable resource use
• Poverty
• Not including the environmental
costs of economic goods and
services in their market prices
• Trying to manage and simplify
nature with too little knowledge
about how it works
Fig. 1.14, p. 15
Developing Countries

X X =

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

X X =

Developed Countries
Fig. 1.15, p. 15
 What needs to happen to be
sustainable
• Switch to pollution prevention, not cleanup
• switch to waste prevention and recycling
• protecting habitats instead of species
• environmental restoration of degraded areas
• lower resource use (less wasteful)
• ZPG - stabilized population