Transcript Week 1 Lecture 3

ECON*2100
Week 1 – Lecture 3
Economic Growth and the
Environment
Try to strike this term from your
vocabulary:
The Environment
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It can be a meaningless abstraction
• It includes everything outside your skin
– And a word that means everything
means nothing
• Try using the word “everything” in place of
“environment” and you’ll see the problem
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In this class…
• As much as possible we will refer to specific
issues:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Air quality
Water quality
Land management
Resource management
Climate
Etc.
• These are not the same issues; each one raises
different considerations
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The nature of value
• Are humans “harming” the
natural world?
• Nature cannot “harm” nature
• One part just changes and
reorganizes another
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The nature of value
• What about humans?
• If humans are part of nature, then everything
humans do is natural.
• So humans can’t “harm” nature either, just
change it.
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The nature of value
• What about humans?
• But suppose we take the view that humans
are harming nature, not just changing it.
• That means humans aren’t part of nature.
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The nature of value
• What about humans?
• So you can’t argue that humans are just
another part of nature and that human
activity is harmful to the natural word.
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The nature of value
• If humans are not part of nature, what are
they?
• The main options are:
– A special creation
– An aberration
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The nature of value
• Special creation:
– Humans are not part of nature, and their wellbeing is of primary concern
– The natural world matters insofar as it matters to
people
– Humans can harm nature and can harm one
another by changing nature in deleterious ways
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The nature of value
• Aberration:
– Humans are not part of nature, and they matter
less than nature
– The natural world has intrinsic value that is
maximized when human activity is minimal or
absent
– Humans harm nature by everything they do
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Is environmentalism anti-human?
• The latter view can lead
to radically inhumane
opinions
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In this class
• Human welfare is the criterion
for valuing things
• Air quality, water quality, forest
space, etc., all matter because
they are valuable to people
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Air Pollution
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ground Level Ozone (O3)
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
Particulate Matter (PM, TSP)
Sulphur Oxides (SOx)
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
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Air Pollution
• Some result from emissions:
– SOx, NOx, particulates, VOCs, CO
• Some formed by secondary processes
– PM2.5, O3
• These imply very different control problems
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Air Pollution vs Income
• Is it like this?
Pollution
160
120
80
40
0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
Gross Domestic Product
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Air Pollution vs Income
Total Suspended Particulates
TSP Concentration (ug/m3)
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
$0
$5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
Income per capita (1992$)
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Air Pollution vs Income
Nitrogen Dioxide
300
250
ug/m3
200
150
100
50
0
$0
$5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
Income (GDP/capita)
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Air Pollution vs Income
Sulfur Dioxide
250
ug/m3
200
150
100
50
0
$0
$5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
Income (GDP/Cap)
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0
01/11/2000
01/09/2000
01/07/2000
01/05/2000
01/03/2000
01/01/2000
01/11/1999
01/09/1999
01/07/1999
01/05/1999
01/03/1999
01/01/1999
01/11/1998
01/09/1998
01/07/1998
01/05/1998
01/03/1998
01/01/1998
Ozone: 11 AM, Bay&Wellesley
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
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Ozone: Monthly Averages
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airqualityontario.com
• Guelph
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0
01/11/2000
01/09/2000
01/07/2000
01/05/2000
01/03/2000
01/01/2000
01/11/1999
01/09/1999
01/07/1999
01/05/1999
01/03/1999
01/01/1999
01/11/1998
01/09/1998
01/07/1998
01/05/1998
01/03/1998
01/01/1998
ppb
NOx: 11 AM Bay&Wellesley
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
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NO2: Monthly Averages
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TSP: Monthly Averages
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Toronto Air Pollution Trends
Toronto (Downtown) TSP levels (Micrograms/m3)
450
TSP.BW
400
TSP.avg
TSP (micrograms/m3)
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1962
1965
1968
1971
1974
1977
1980
1983
1986
1989
1992
1995
1998
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Toronto Air Pollution Trends
Toronto (Downtown) Sulphur Dioxide Levels
200
SO2.BW
175
SO2.QH
SO2 (ppb)
150
SO2.avg
125
100
75
50
25
0
1965
1968
1971
1974
1977
1980
1983
1986
1989
1992
1995
1998
2001
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Toronto Air Pollution Trends
Toronto (Downtown) Ozone Levels (ppb)
100
O3.BW
O3.LK
O3.avg
Ozone (ppb)
75
50
25
0
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
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Toronto Air Pollution Trends
Toronto (Downtown) NO2 levels (ppb)
100
NO2.LK
NOX.avg
NO2 (ppb)
75
50
25
0
1974
1977
1980
1983
1986
1989
1992
1995
1998
2001
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SO2: Monthly Averages
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Air Pollution Since 1940: USA
300
NOx
VOC
CO
SO2
PM10
250
200
150
100
50
0
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
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Air Pollution vs Income: USA
Total Particulate Emissions ('000 tons)
21,000
18,000
15,000
12,000
9,000
6,000
3,000
0
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
US Real GDP per Capita (1996$)
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Air Pollution vs Income: USA
Total Carbon Monoxide Emissions ('000 tons)
140,000
130,000
120,000
110,000
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
US Real GDP per Capita (1996$)
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Water Pollution (Kg/worker/day) vs
Income
0.025
Kg/day per worker
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.005
0
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
Income (1985 US$)
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Water Pollution: Great Lakes
Contaminant Levels in Herring Gull Eggs, Lake Ontario
160.00
140.00
Index (1974=100)
120.00
100.00
DDE
Dieldrin
Mirex
HCB
PCBs
80.00
60.00
40.00
20.00
0.00
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
Year
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Water Pollution: Great Lakes
Contaminant Levels in Herring Gull Eggs, Lake Erie
140.00
120.00
Index (1974=100)
100.00
DDE
Dieldrin
Mirex
HCB
PCBs
80.00
60.00
40.00
20.00
0.00
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
Year
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Global Issues: Ozone Layer
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Global Issues: Ozone Layer
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Global Issues: Global Warming
• CO2 emissions per capita
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Global Issues: Global Warming
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Global Issues: Global Warming
• Upcoming IPCC Report:
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Summary
• The “Environment” as an abstract term is
meaningless
• You have to identify the specific aspect you
are discussing, since the issues differ
• If humans are merely a part of nature then
everything humans do is natural
• Valuing environmental damage requires
adopting a human-centered point of view
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Summary
• Air pollutants do not necessarily increase with
economic growth, and many in fact go down as
incomes get high enough
• Stratospheric ozone depletion mainly occurred in polar
regions and in the mid-latitudes during late Winter and
early Spring
• CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is believed to cause
general warming of the lower atmosphere, though
currently the observed changes are below model
projections
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Next
• Models of economic growth
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