Transcript CHAPTER ONE: Our Changing Environment

CHAPTER ONE:
Our Changing Environment
seven super subjects
Savannah Devore
Subject One:GREEN ARCHITECTURE
Subject One:Green Architecture
DEFINITION: describes environmentallyconscious design techniques in the field of architecture.
Sustainable architecture is framed by the larger discussion
of sustainability and the pressing economic and political
issues of our world.
Lewis Center for Environmental
Studies, Oberlin College
Ways the building is
environmentally friendly:
motion sensors for lights,
waste water recycled for
toilet use, triple pane
windows
Subject Two:ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Environmental Science
DEFINITION: interdisciplinary study of humanity’s
relationship with other organisms and the nonliving physical
environment
POLLUTION= any alteration of air, water, or soil that harms
the health, survival or activities of living organisms
What do we need? / What’s cheapest? POLLUTION
PREVENTION
continued...
One goal of environmental science is to use ECOLOGY to
address human population growth
ECOLOGY= discipline of biology that studies the interrelationships between organisms
and their environments
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Earth’s natural capital..
renewable=LIVING, replenishable=NONLIVING
WHY aren’t we sustainable?
we’re using non-renewable resources as if they’re
infinite, renewable faster than can be replenished,
polluting, population
Why can’t we stop?
ecological, societal, economic factors
Challenge= meet immediate needs AND protect the
environment in the long term.
Subject Three:EVOLUTION OF PEOPLE
EVOLUTION OF PEOPLE
a. Hunter Gatherers- used “earth wisdom”, had only three energy sources
(sun, fire, muscle power), attempted to live sustainably
b. Agricultural Revolution- began 10,000-12,000 years ago, gradually
settled into communities, urbanization, farming, large families,
domesticated animals, birth rates up, accumulating material goods, survival
of plants and animals became less important. focused on
farming/managing nature
continued...
c. Industrial Revolution- began around 1870s, production, commerce,
trade, shifted dependence from renewable to non-renewable resources,
new machines, BIGGERBIGGERBIGGER
d. Technological Revolution- new technologies are enabling people to deal
with more information more rapidly, impact is not yet clear.
Subject Three: MEETING THE CHALLENGE
2002 World Summit
1992- UN Conference on Environment and Development
Focused on: pollution, deterioration of atmosphere and ocean, decline in
species diversity, deforestation
AGENDA 21recommended over 2500 actions to deal with the most urgent problems
2002- World Summit on Sustainable Development
assessed progress/failures
agreements don’t help unless ENFORCED
Subject Five: OUR IMPACT
a. Increasing human population
poverty... World Bank estimates 2.8 billion live in EXTREME poverty
b. Population, Consumption, and Environment Impact
Impact on the environment can be calculated with I=PAT
I- environmental impact
P- # of people
A- affluence per person (amount of resource used)
T- environmental effects of technologies used
Subject Six: SUSTAINABLE YIELD
Sustainable Yield
SY may be calculated as the rate of increase in natural
capital
two ways of looking at it...
a. SY= (TOTAL BIOMASS at a time t+1)- (TOTAL BIOMASS at a time t)
b. SY= (annual growth and recruitment)-(annual death and emigration)
Subject Six: The Role of ETHICS, VALUES, and WORLDVIEWS
in Addressing Environmental Problems
ETHICS
definition= branch of philosophy that is derived through the
logical application of human values
values= principles that an individual or society considers
important or worthwhile
can change as society changes
environmental ethics= applied ethics considering the
moral basis of environmental responsibility and how far it
extends
AP...
There are TWO worldviews.
western worldview
“expansionist” “frontier”
deep ecology worldview
“sustainable development ethic”
IB...
Ecocentrism- nature centered
Anthropocentrism- people centered
Technocentrism- technology centered
and under these fall...
Deep Ecologists
Self-reliance Soft Ecologists
Environmental Managers
Cornucopians
DONE.