Transcript 24, Tomorrow`s World - Napa Valley College

24
Tomorrow’s World
Overview of Chapter 24
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Living Sustainably
Sustainable Living: A Plan of Action
Changing Personal Attitude and Practices
What Kind of World Do We Want?
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Choose to live sustainably?
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Globally, 1 in 4 live in extreme poverty
1 in 7 little access to enough or quality foods
Fairness and equality
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Living Sustainably
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Environmental Sustainability
 Ability
to meet humanity’s current needs without
compromising the needs to future generations

Sustainable development
report – Our Common Future (aka
Brundtland report)
 1987
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Living Sustainably
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Consumption

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Human use of materials
and energy
World does not have
enough resources to
sustain everyone at
level enjoyed by US

Asian countries rapidly
catching up
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Five Recommendations For
Sustainable Living
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1. Eliminate poverty and stabilize the human
population
2. Protect and restore Earth’s resources
3. Provide adequate food for all people
4. Mitigate climate change
5. Design sustainable cities
From Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress
and a Civilization in Trouble, Published in 2006 by
Lester R. Brown
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 1 - Eliminating Poverty
and Stabilizing Human Population

Eliminate Poverty
 Improve
quality of life in
lower-income countries
will require increasing
economic growth
 Must
address issues of:
health, nutrition and
education
 Role
of women requires
attention (right)
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 1 - Eliminating Poverty
and Stabilizing Human Population

Eliminate Poverty
 Need
more trained
professionals in
developing countries
 Debts to poorest
countries should be
forgiven
 Population
 Must
devote necessary
resources to family
planning
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 1 - Eliminating Poverty
and Stabilizing Human Population
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Microcredit programs

“The poor stay poor, not because
they’re lazy but because they
have no access to capital.”


Peruvian economist Hernando de
Soto
Small loans of $50-$500
dollars to establish selfemployment projects that
generate income

Examples: sewing machines,
refrigerators, chickens
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 2 - Protecting and
Restoring Earth’s Resources
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The world’s forests
 Lost
for two reasons
 Converted
to cash
 Pressure from rapid
population growth
and widespread
poverty
 Need
to protect
forest resources
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 2 - Protecting and
Restoring Earth’s Resources

Loss of biodiversity
 Need
to protect
biodiversity
 Food,
medicine,
clothing
 Ecosystem services
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 2 - Protecting and
Restoring Earth’s Resources

Protecting and Restoring
Earth’s Resources
 Economic
development
cannot ignore functions of
biological and physical
systems
 Depends on attitudes and
practices based on scientific
information
 Connection to cultural
diversity
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 3 - Providing
Adequate Food For All People
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
Link between poverty and food insecurity
Agriculture must be improved to achieve more
global sustainability
Manage farmlands and
grazing lands efficiently
(precision farming and
IPM)
 Reduce loss of soil
fertility, erosion, aquifer
depletion, etc.

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Case in Point: PA association for
sustainable agricultural
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Connects farmers and
non- farmers
Agritourism
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 4 - Mitigating
Climate Change
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Human activities are causing the increase in
global temperature
Must address climate change in aggressive
coordinated fashion
 Cannot
wait until scientific knowledge is
complete- earth is too complex

Stabilizing climate requires a comprehensive
energy plan
 Phase
out of fossil fuels in both developed AND
developing countries
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 4 - Mitigating
Climate Change

Comprehensive energy plan
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recommendation 5 - Designing
Sustainable Cities
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~50% of world’s population now lives in cities
Need to design sustainable cities
 Urban
transportation systems
 Parks and open spaces
 Innovative
approaches to handle
water scarcity and
sewage treatment
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Case-In-Point: Durban, South
Africa
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Member of Sustainable Cities Network
Community participation needed
 Food
gardens in schools
 Waste reduction programs
 Renewable energy in
many homes
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Changing Personal Attitudes and
Practices

Sustainable consumption
 Use
of goods and services that satisfy basic
human needs and improve the quality of life but
that minimize the use of resources so they are
available for future use

Needs of survival compared to wants
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Changing Personal Attitudes and
Practices

Role of Education
 Accurate
information must be made widely
available
 People’s concerns
for the environment
do not translate into
action
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Role of Education

People must be educated to understand the
reasons for changing practices
1.
2.
3.
4.
Set up environmental curricula at all school
levels
Encourage environmental activities and
organizations
Support institutions that promote conservation
and sustainability
Encourage inclusion of relevant material in
programs of social groups
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
What Kind of World Do We Want?

Those who live in developed countries are the
source of most of the problems facing the
global environment
 Assumption
made that environment will take care
of itself
 This view needs to be changed radically
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
What Kind of World Do We Want?
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Most critical environmental problem is our own
attitudes and values
Your generation must be the next pioneers
 Explore
a different way for humans to exist in the
world
 Requires reconnecting with natural environment
 Requires revaluing ourselves according to a new
set of ideals

What kind of world do you want to live in?
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.