Transcript 03_EnvSci - Life Sciences

IB 105 - Announcements
August 28, 2006
If you missed lectures last week:
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Introduction to Environmental Sciences
28 August, 2006
Lecture Objectives:
1. Define the field of Environmental Science
2. Be introduced to local, regional and global
environmental issues
3. Trace the history of Environmental
Sciences in the United States
What is environmental science?
Environmental Science – An
interdisciplinary area of study that
includes applied and theoretical
aspects of human impact on the
world
Env. Science
Environment – everything that
affects an organism in its lifetime
Ecology – the study of the
interrelationship between organisms and
their environment
Ecology
Why should I care?
Do you want:
the air you breathe to be clean?
the water you drink to be unpolluted?
the food you eat to be healthy?
not to be exposed to toxic wastes?
Interdisciplinary
Human impact on the natural world
Why study Environmental Science?
Environment affects human quality of life
Humans cause problems for the natural world
At what scale are environmental issues
important?
Local
Regional
Global
Each scale has its own issues.
Who is responsible at each scale?
Local Environmental Issues
• Often blend into regional or global issues
Examples include:
How much and where to build
Local leaf-burning bans
Local access to sanitary freshwater
Regional Environmental Issues
The Wilderness North
Wilderness – areas with minimal
human influence
Much of the land is government
owned
Rich in natural resources such
as timber, oil and natural gas
How much are beautiful scenery
and cool wildlife worth?
U.S. Senate kills Bush plan for Alaska drilling
Friday, April 19, 2002 By Tom Doggett, Reuters
WASHINGTON — In a big defeat for the Bush administration's
national energy plan, the U.S. Senate on Thursday killed a
White House proposal to let oil companies drill in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge.
President George W. Bush, a former Texas oilman, made
drilling in ANWR the centerpiece of his proposed U.S. energy
policy. The White House plan also encourages more U.S.
production of natural gas, coal, and nuclear power. "At a time
when oil and gas prices are rising, the Senate today missed
an opportunity to lead America to greater energy
independence,”
Conflict: Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
to oil and gas exploration will have severe impacts to wildlife.
Alternate resolution? increasing federally-mandated fuel
efficiency ratings for SUVs - sport utility vehicles.
The Agricultural Middle
Once was wilderness,
now farms and cities
Large parcels of land are
privately owned
Agriculture contributes to air
pollution, soil erosion and water
pollution
Feminized Frogs Study Finds Common Pesticide is
Blamed for Mutations
By Randolph E. Schmid The Associated Press April 15, 2002
Male frogs exposed to even very low doses of a common weed
killer can develop multiple sex organs — sometimes both male
and female — researchers in California have discovered.
"I was very much surprised," at the impact of atrazine on developing
frogs, said Tyrone B. Hayes of the University of California at Berkeley.
Atrazine is the most commonly used weed killer in North America, he
said, and can be found in rainwater, snow runoff and ground water.
The Environmental Protection Agency permits up to three parts per
billion of atrazine in drinking water. But Hayes' team found it affected
frogs at doses as small as 0.1 part per billion.
As many as 20 percent of frogs exposed during their early
development produced multiple sex organs or had both male and
female organs.
The Dry West
Federally owned land, leased for
ranching
Access to freshwater a
major issue
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…
The Forested West
Governments and large
commercial timber
industries own much of the
land
Should these ancient
trees be cut?
Should these
animals be
threatened?
The Oregonian
Ruling on spotted owl may hinder logging.
Sunday, August 08, 2004 JOE ROJAS-BURKE
An appeals panel orders federal land managers to use a stricter
standard for protecting critical habitat. In a ruling likely to further
tie up logging in Northwest forests, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals said federal fish and wildlife officials must apply a stricter
standard to protect critical habitat for the northern spotted owl and
other threatened or endangered species.
The ruling late last week could force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to withdraw approval for some timber sales within the 6.9
million acres of federal forest designated as critical habitat for the
spotted owl. More broadly, it could raise the bar for approval of
logging and many other actions on any critical habitat by requiring
federal agencies to consider the potential to impede recovery, not just
survival of species
Pacific Yew
Taxus brevifolia
Little was known about Pacific yew prior to the discovery of
taxol and, for the most part, the tree had been regarded as
a non-commercial weed species. Taxol was initially
extracted from the bark of the Pacific yew Taxus brevifolia
in the 1960's. Since that time its use as an anti-cancer drug
has become well established. Taxol is now also being used
in a wide variety non-cancer related medical applications.
The Pacific yew and taxol is a compelling example of the
unknown values in forests.
http://www.uihealthcare.com
The Great Lakes and Industrial Northeast
Many large cities
Urban sprawl is a
major environmental
issue
Great lakes have been
severely impacted
Zebra mussels starving out Great Lakes
native fishes
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
By Environmental News Network
Whitefish in the northern part of Lake Michigan
seeking some of their favorite food - tiny crustaceans
known as Diporeia - might go hungry, say scientists from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Whitefish are not the only fish being starved. Fish such as sculpin,
smelt, and chub, which are prey for trout and salmon, are also
being affected. These smaller fish feed heavily on Diporeia and
their feeding patterns, numbers, and distributions are changing
because of the loss of the small shrimp-like crustaceans.
U.S. State Department
(http://www.state.gov/g/oes/ocns/inv/cs/2304.htm)
The zebra mussel’s penchant for suctioning to hard
surfaces has caused technical problems for the American
power industry. Water intake pipes are often encrusted with
thousands of zebra mussels which increase sedimentation
and corrosion of the pipes, as well as restricting or even
stopping water flow. Maintenance of pipes clogged with
zebra mussels costs the power industry up to $60 million
per year and temporary shutdowns due to insufficient water
flow can cost over $5,000 per hour. The total cost to the
United States of the zebra mussel invasion is estimated at
$3.1 billion over the next ten years.
The Diverse South
Has many of the problems
of the other regions
Poverty leads to the increased
industrial development at the expense
of other values
Coastlines and marine resources are
impacted by increased development
CNN
'Dead zone' spreads across Gulf of Mexico
Wednesday, August 4, 2004 Posted: 7:26 PM EDT
The "dead zone" reappears each summer suffocating sealife.
HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- A huge "dead zone" of water so
devoid of oxygen that sea life cannot live in it has spread across
5,800 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico this summer in what has
become an annual occurrence caused by pollution. The extensive
area of uninhabitable water may be contributing indirectly to an
unusual spate of shark bites along the Texas coast, experts said. A
scientist at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium said Tuesday
measurements showed the dead zone extended from the mouth of the
Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana 250 miles west to near the
Texas border and was closer to shore than usual because winds and
currents. In the last 30 years, the dead zone has become an annual
summer phenomenon, fed by rising use of nitrate-based fertilizers by
farmers in the Mississippi watershed, Rabalais said.
Global
Environmental
Issues
Pollution does not
respect political
boundaries!!
BBC
Sunday, 27 August 2006
Third of China 'hit by acid rain'
One third of China is suffering from acid rain
caused by rapid industrial growth, an official
report quoted by the state media says.
Pollution levels have risen and air quality has
deteriorated, the report found. This comes
despite a pledge by the authorities to clean up
the air.
Water 'wake-up call' given by UN
By Imogen Foulkes BBC correspondent
Thursday, 26 August, 2004, 11:46 GMT
The UN says the world faces a silent emergency because of the
continued lack of clean water and sanitation.
A new report reveals that more than 40% of the world's
population does not have even the most basic sanitation. More
than one billion people have no access to clean water sources,
the document adds.
If things continue as they are, half a billion people will still have
no sanitation nine years from now. And while the world is on
target to meet the clean drinking water goals, population growth
will probably outstrip the improvements. This would leave 800
million people drinking unsafe water in 2015. Some 4,000
children die daily from illnesses caused by unclean water
Example Exam Question
In the southwestern United States, a primary
environmental issue throughout most of the
region is:
1) Extensive deforestation
2) Too many cornfields
3) Too little water
4) Urban sprawl
History of Environmentalism in the US
Naturalist Philosophers
(mid 1800s)
•Nature has intrinsic
aesthetic and spiritual
values
•Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in
1836, “behind nature, throughout
nature, spirit is present”
•Henry David Thoreau published his classic, Walden, in
1854, in which he recounts his life in the woods
"Man did not weave the web of life - he is
merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to
the web, he does to himself."
Chief Seattle, 1854.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our
Ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
Ancient Indian Proverb
Pragmatic Resource Conservation
(Mid to late 1800s, early 1900s)
•Preservation of nature for future consumption
Man and Nature by George Perkins Marsh
published 1864
• Marsh traveled widely and saw environmental damage
elsewhere in the world
•His book warned of the ecological consequences of the
“conquest” of the frontier—resources are not endless
•Natural forest reserves established in the US in 1873 to
protect dwindling timer supplies
Pragmatic Resource Conservation
•In 1905, then president Theodore Roosevelt
appointed Gifford Pinchot as chief of the
Forest Service
•Pinchot argued for forest protection “not because they
are beautiful or because they shelter wild creatures of
the wilderness, but only to provide homes and jobs for
people”
•“…for the greatest good, for the greatest number for
the longest time”
Moral and aesthetic nature preservation
(Mid to late 1800s, early 1900s)
•Preservation of nature for nature’s sake
•Yellowstone National Park established in
1872 (National Park Service not established
until 1916)
•John Muir, early environmental activist
strenuously opposed Pinchot’s policies
John Muir
•“The world, we are told, was made
for man. A presumption that is
totally unsupported by the facts…”
•Formed Sierra Club in 1892
(http://www.sierraclub.org/)
•Fought for the establishment of Yosemite and King’s
Canyon National Parks
•Lobbied to create national park system (Formed
in 1916, 2 years after his death)
Interest in environmental issues lagged
behind more immediate issues during the
early part of the 1900s
By the mid 1900s, there was growing
concern about heath and ecological
damage caused by pollution
Aldo Leopold
•Founded the field of game
management
•His most famous publication A
Sand County Almanac was
published in 1949, a year after
his death
•Chapter called “The Land Ethic” set the
foundation for “modern” conservation
Rachael Carson
•Published Silent Spring in 1962
•Warned about the consequences of
pesticide use (DDT)
•Book marked the beginning of the modern
environmental movement
April 22th, 1970 – First Earth Day
20 million people in 2,000 communities marched to
demand improved environmental quality
Environmentalism in the 1970s:
Clean Water Act
Clean Air Act
Safe Drinking Water Act
Endangered Species Act
Establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency
Environmentalism in the 1980s:
•Backlash against the environmental movement
•Increased resource use on public lands
•Federal funding for energy conservation and renewable
resources cut
•Relaxed federal air and water quality standards
Late 1980s – “Wise-use” movement
Ron Arnold major proponent, wrote “The Wise-use Agenda”
•Replace National Park Service with privately operated parks
•Remove restrictions on wetland development
•Cut all remaining old growth forests and replace with tree
farms
•Open all national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges,
to off-road vehicles, commercial development, mining, and
drilling for oil
At the same time (1980s), visible environmental problems
pushed environmental issues to the forefront
Exxon Valdez oil spill
Hypodermic needles and other toxic waste washing up on
beaches in NY and NJ
At the same time (1980s), visible environmental problems
pushed environmental issues to the forefront
Thinning ozone layer over
Antarctica
1983 EPA and National Academy of Sciences Report warns of
environmental problems associated with global warming
Global environmental citizenship - 1990s
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro
172 Governments participated
Focus on Climate Change and Biological Diversity
1997 Kyoto Protocol
Nations pledged to reduce emissions
US signed but did not ratify the protocol
Global environmental citizenship
1990s to present
•Clinton administration protected more land as national
monuments in lower 48 states than did any other
administration
•Increase awareness by the general public regarding
issues of biodiversity, invasive species, global change,
etc.
•UN names 2003 as the International Year of Freshwater
2000-present: Current Administration often comes under
attack from Environmental Groups
•Revisions to the Clean Air Act that allow increased
pollution
•Favors increased use of resources on Federal lands
(e.g., “Healthy Forest” initiative)
•VP Cheney: Conservation may be a sign of personal
virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound,
comprehensive energy policy.
What do you think?
The environment should be protected:
For the most effective future use of
natural resources by people
For nature’s sake
Not at all, or only when it does not come
at an expense to humans
Points to know:
1. Name 5 disciplines that environmental science encompasses.
2. Know the major environmental concerns of the 6 major regions of North
America.
3. How do environmental issues become a global concern?
4. For each person, classify their environmental view as “nature”,
“conservation” or “consumption”:
Ron Arnold
Ralph Waldo Emerson
John Muir
Rachael Carson
Aldo Leopold
Gifford Pinchot
Dick Cheney
George Perkins Marsh
Henry David Thoreau
5. Know the environmental issues (generally, and at least 2 specifically)
that occurred in:
1970’s
1980’s
1990’s
2000-present