Introduction to Environmental Biology

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Dominic Wilcox
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12 January 2007 2nd class meeting Introduction

spikes, maybe 5 - Proactive examples Peer

or 26 January Environmental Biology (ECOL 206)

3 short readings on website Lab 17/19 Jan: UA

1 12 January nd class meeting Introduction to Environmental Biology - Easter Island - 4 spikes, maybe 5 - Proactive examples Peer Introductions? 12 Jan READINGS: Withgott & Brennan [2007hardcopy] Chapter 1 Ishmael for lab on 24 or 26 January Environmental Biology (ECOL 206) University of Arizona, spring 2007 Kevin Bonine, Ph.D. Anna Tyler, Graduate TA For Wednesday 17 Jan: 3 short readings on website Lab 17/19 Jan: UA Arboretum weblink 1 Easter Island 2 (p. 8-9 Withgott & Brennan 2007) 1

Authors Note: Since the events of September 11 and now the military action that the world is involved in the environmental problems of the world don't seem so important now.

2 Authors Note: Since the events of September 11 and now the military action that the world is involved in the environmental problems of the world don't seem so important now. While I strongly agree that survival of the civilized world should be our priority right now we need to remember that the environment of this planet is what sustains all of us and we ignore it at our own peril. The lessons of Easter Island are just as valid today as they were on September 10. I hope and pray that we will all be able to get back to such mundane things as 'saving the rain forest' very soon. - Cliff Wassmann 3 Natural Capital and Natural Resources: -everything flowing in natural economy and human economy Miller,

3 Natural Resources: Resource = anything obtained from environment to meet human needs and wants Some resources readily available: (sun, wind, surface water, fertile soil, plants) others require effort and technology to extract: (oil, iron, groundwater, industrial crops) 1. Perpetual (solar energy, tides, winds) 2. Renewable (forests, grasslands, game animals, freshwater, fresh air, fertile soil) 3. Nonrenewable (coal, oil, natural gas, minerals) (some metallic minerals can be recycled) 5 Sustainable yield -rate at which a renewable resource can be used indefinitely without the supply decreasing Beyond that rate we get degradation: -urbanization removes productive land -salinization of soil -topsoil erosion -deforestation -groundwater depletion -overgrazing -loss of biodiversity -pollution 6 3

4 Tragedy of the Commons (p. 6 Withgott & Brennan 2007) Garrett Hardin, Scale - short-term -long-term Cassandras vs. Cornucopias (p. 21 Withgott & Brennan 2007) 8 4

5 9 4 Spikes Lecture Slides from Guy

6 Four spikes* Greenhouse gases Extinction Consumption Population Time 11 *Ed Ayres (1999, God s Last Offer) Emerging spike? Greenhouse gases Extinction Consumption Population Infectious diseases Time 12 6

7 Sources Greenhouse gases Outcomes Temperature e.g., Katrina, Precipitation Rita Altered ecosystems CO 2 fossil fuels Methane CFCs NO x } Solutions Kyoto et al. Energy policy Individual actions 13 Drivers Loss of habitat Ecological footprint Homogenization Extinction Outcomes Reduced ecosystem services (valued at $33 trillion/year) Reduced inspiration Reduced flexibility Reduced beauty Solutions $30 billion* (~70%) Individual actions 14 *E.O. Wilson (2002, The Future of Life) 7

8 Consumption Consume: 1. To do away with completely; destroy 2a. To spend wastefully; squander 2b. Use up 3. To waste or burn away; perish 15 Consumption Outcomes Intergenerational inequity Distinct social classes Economic growth Drivers Neoclassical economics Marketing Human desire Solutions Steady-state economy Shift subsidies 16 Individual actions 8

military expenditures to protect Middle East oil: $30-60 billion/year* Value of Middle East oil: $20

9 Consumption Enough paved roads in U.S. to circle globe 157 times* U.S. military expenditures to protect Middle East oil: $30-60 billion/year* Value of Middle East oil: $20 billion* Water consumed by showering once/day for one year: 5,000 gal + Water required to grow one pound of beef in the U.S.: 2,600-5,000 gal + *Lester Brown (2003, Plan B) 17 + John Robbins (2001, Food Revolution) Consumption World Ecological Footprint, Number of Earths Required Earth's Ecological Capacity Ecological Footprint K Source: WWF, UNEP, Global Footprint Network 18 9

Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, 18e G. TYLER MILLER SCOTT E. SPOOLMAN 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability Core Case Study: A Vision of a More Sustainable World in 2065 A transition in