Module 1: The Environment and Sustainability

Chris Merkord

Perspective on What, Exactly?

Ecological foundations

• Structure, function, and processes of ecosystems
• Physical environment + biological communities (humans included)

Human–environment interactions

• Environmental problems created by human activity
• Societal dependence on natural systems

Societal responses

• How social, legal, economic, political, cultural, and religious systems address natural resource challenges

Sustainability

• What it is
• Why it matters
• How it is pursued
• Ethical tradeoffs involved

Ethical Thinking

Ethics asks how we decide what is right and wrong conduct.

• Everyday decisions are ethical decisions
• Scientific and environmental decisions scale those choices up

Example

• Would you park your car in this space?
• Why—or why not?

From the wikimedia free licensed media file repository

Bioethics

Bioethics - The study of ethical issues arising from advances in biology and medicine

Bioethics examines relationships among:

• Life sciences
• Biotechnology
• Medicine
• Politics and law
• Philosophy

Bioethics: Ordinary and Emerging Issues

Bioethics includes:

• Everyday value-based decisions in medicine
• The “ethics of the ordinary”

It also addresses emerging biotechnologies that affect:

• Basic biology
• Future humans

Bioethics: Emerging Technologies

Examples include:

• Cloning
• Gene therapy
• Human genetic engineering
• Altered DNA and proteins
• Life beyond Earth (astro-ethics)

These raise questions about:

• What life is
• What kinds of life should exist
• Who gets to decide

Biotic Ethics

Some ethical frameworks emphasize:

• The intrinsic value of life itself
• The responsibility to sustain and propagate life

These perspectives ask:

• Do humans have obligations beyond our own species?
• What responsibilities do we have to future life?

Geoethics

Geoethics

• Ethical thinking about human interactions with the Earth as a system

Includes scientific, technological, and social dimensions related to:

• Sustainability and development
• Geodiversity and geoheritage
• Mineral and energy resource use
• Natural hazard prediction and mitigation
• Geoscience communication

Why Ethics Matter in Science

Ethical concepts are essential for:

• Any scientific study
• Designing and implementing policies of change

Science tells us what is possible Ethics helps decide what should be done

The Problem

In an ideal world:

• Ethical principles would guide decisions
• As scientific understanding increases, responsibility would increase

In reality:

• Scientific capability often advances faster than ethical consensus

Example: DDT and pesticide use

• Synthetic pesticides were highly effective at controlling insect pests

• Widely adopted before ecological consequences were understood

• Scientific capability - Efficient, inexpensive, large-scale pest control

• Ethical and ecological failure

• Bioaccumulation in food webs

• Severe impacts on birds and other wildlife

• Long-term ecosystem damage

• Lesson - Technical success ≠ ethical or ecological success

• Sustainability requires anticipating system-wide and long-term effects

Source: https://www.blue-growth.org/Plastics_Waste_Toxins_Pollution/DDT.htm

Ethics and Sustainability: A Synthesis

Ethics provides a framework for deciding what should be done, not just what can be done

From an ecological perspective, ethics must integrate:

• Bioethics: responsibilities to life and future organisms
• Geoethics: responsibilities to Earth systems and resources

Together, these inform:

• Sustainable use of natural resources

• Long-term human–environment relationships

• Tradeoffs across space, time, and generations

Sustainability is ultimately an ethical problem, not just a technical one

Learning from the Earth

The Earth is a model of a long-term sustainable system.

• Life has persisted for ~3.8 billion years
• Biodiversity has survived major environmental change
• Ecosystem processes recycle matter and energy efficiently

What the Earth Teaches Us

Organisms persist by:

• Acquiring energy efficiently
• Minimizing waste
• Functioning within physical and chemical limits

Many scientists argue:

• Sustainability requires learning from how natural systems work

Biomimicry

Biomimicry - Design approach that studies and imitates strategies used by living systems

Coined by biologist Janine Benyus (1997)

Core idea:

• Nature is a model, measure, and mentor for sustainable solutions

Biomimicry: A Concrete Example

Gecko adhesion

• Gecko toes are covered with microscopic hairs called setae
• Each seta branches into hundreds of smaller structures called spatulae
• Branching increases contact area with surfaces

The Physical Mechanism

• Spatulae get extremely close to surfaces
• This allows van der Waals forces to operate

Result:

• Weak forces at the molecular level add up

• Enables strong, reversible adhesion without glue

Why This Matters for Sustainability

Geckos demonstrate:

• High performance without toxic chemicals
• Reversible attachment with minimal energy cost
• Functioning through structure, not consumption

Biomimicry asks:

• How can human technologies work with physical laws instead of against them?

Sustainability: Big Picture

Life on Earth has persisted for billions of years.

• Sustained by solar energy
• Maintained through biodiversity
• Stabilized by chemical (nutrient) cycling

Core idea - Long-term persistence is possible when systems operate within limits

Environmental Science

Environmental science studies: - Interactions between humans and the natural world

Environment - Everything around us, living and nonliving

Ecosystem - Organisms in a defined area interacting with each other and their environment

Environmentalism

Environmentalism - A social movement focused on sustaining Earth’s life-support systems

Distinction:

• Environmental science → understanding
• Environmentalism → action

Goals of Environmental Science

Environmental science aims to:

• Understand how life on Earth has persisted
• Understand human–environment interactions
• Identify ways to address environmental problems
• Support more sustainable living

Three Scientific Principles of Sustainability

Life on Earth is sustained by:

Dependence on solar energy - Drives climate, photosynthesis, and food webs

Biodiversity - Provides ecosystem services and resilience

Chemical (nutrient) cycling - Waste in one process becomes a resource in another

A Core Ecological Insight

Interdependence, not independence, sustains life

• Organisms depend on ecosystems
• Ecosystems depend on energy flow and material cycling
• Humans are part of—not separate from—these systems

Natural Capital

Natural capital

• Natural resources
• Ecosystem services provided by healthy systems

Examples:

• Clean air and water
• Pollination
• Climate regulation

Neill et al. A Natural Capital Lens for a Sustainable Bioeconomy: Determining the Unrealised and Unrecognised Services from Nature(2020) Sustainability, 12(19), 8033 – 8057.

Degrading Natural Capital

Humans degrade natural capital by:

• Using renewable resources faster than they can regenerate
• Overloading ecosystems with pollution and waste

Result:

• Loss of ecosystem services
• Reduced system resilience

What Is a Resource?

Natural resources

• Useful materials and energy from nature

Resources may be:

• Readily available
• Dependent on technology for extraction or use

Types of Resources

Inexhaustible resources

• Perpetually available (e.g., solar energy)

Renewable resources

• Replenished within their sustainable yield

Nonrenewable resources

• Fixed quantities renewed only through long-term geologic processes

Sustainable Resource Use

Sustainable solutions prioritize:

• Refuse
• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle

Goal: - Lower demand before increasing supply

Social Dimensions of Sustainability

Key ideas from the social sciences:

• Ecosystem services are free benefits from nature

• Economies depend on healthy ecosystems

• Sustainability requires slowing resource use to match replacement rates

Sustainability Solutions

Effective solutions:

• Cross disciplines (science, economics, politics)

• Involve trade-offs and compromises

• Can be encouraged through policy and subsidies

• Depend on individual and local actions

Global Inequality in Resource Use

Countries differ in environmental impact:

Industrialized countries

• ~17% of global population
• Disproportionately high resource use

Developing countries

• ~83% of global population
• Middle-income and low-income nations

Natural Capital Use and Degradation: The human ecological footprint has an impact on about 83% of the earth’s total land surface. Used with permission from Wikimedia Commons

How Are We Affecting the Earth?

Over time, growth of ecological footprints depletes and degrades earth’s natural capital (natural resources and ecosystem services)

Environmental degradation

Humans have the power to sustain, add to, or degrade natural capital

Summary of natural capital degradation. Used with permission from Wikimedia Commons

We Are Degrading Commonly Shared Renewable Resources

Natural Capital Use and Degradation:

• The human ecological footprint in North America.

• Colors represent the percentage of each area influenced by human activities.

Cumulative degradation due to the overuse of:

• Open access, renewable resources (atmosphere, open ocean, fish)

• Shared resources (grasslands, forests, streams)

Used with permission from The Wildlife Conservation Society

What Is an Ecological Footprint?

Ecological footprint

• The amount of land and water needed to supply a population or geographic area with renewable resources
• The ability to absorb/recycle wastes and pollution produced by resource usage

The growth of ecological footprints

• Leads to degradation of natural capital
• Results in the creation of pollution and waste

Source: WWF Japan and Global Footprint Network; Ecological Footprint for Sustainable Living in Japan; From https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/

Our Ecological Footprints Are Growing

Ecological deficit - occurs when the ecological footprint is larger than the biological capacity to replenish resources and absorb wastes/pollution

In an ecological deficit, people are living unsustainably

• This creates adverse environmental impacts, which can be mitigated by upcycling

IPAT - Environmental Impact Model

In the early 1970s, a new environmental model called the IPAT model was developed

Determines environmental impact of human activities

Impact (I) = Population (P) × Affluence (A) × Technology (T)

Credit: Johnathan’s Classroom https://www.jonathansclassroom.com/the-material-world.html

Human Population Is Growing at a Rapid Rate

Exponential growth:

The J-shaped curve represents past exponential world population growth

Projections to 2100 showing possible population stabilization as the J-shaped curve of growth changes to an S-shaped curve.

The Earth’s population is NOT evenly distributed

More than half the world’s population lives within the Yuxi ellipse.

Credit: https://www.statsmapsnpix.com/2022/02/the-yuxi-circle.html

Poverty Can Have Harmful Environmental and Health Effects

Harmful effects

• Short-term requirements for survival can lead to degraded forests, topsoil, grasslands, fisheries, and wildlife populations

Health effects

• Malnutrition, limited access to sanitation/clean drinking water, outdoor and indoor air pollution

• One of every three children younger than age 5 in less-developed countries suffers from severe malnutrition caused by a lack of calories and protein.

Credit: Steve Evans, Wikimedia Commons

We Are Increasingly Isolated from Nature

More than half the world’s population lives in urban environments, technologically isolated from nature

We are unaware of:

• The origins of our food, water, and other goods

• The pollution and waste generated by the production of these goods and services

Ecological Footprints Are Impacted By Cultural Changes

Three major cultural changes

• Agricultural revolution

• Industrial–medical revolution

• Information–globalization revolution

Some technological leaps have enabled us to reduce our ecological footprint

• Energy-efficient LED light bulbs and cars

• Solar and wind energy

Sustainability revolution is an emerging fourth major cultural change

Affluence Has Harmful Environmental Effects

• High levels of consumption and waste of resources

• More air pollution, water pollution, and land degradation

• Acquisition of resources without regard for the environmental effects of their consumption

It would take more than a million years for natural processes to replace the coal that was removed from this strip mine in the U.S. state of Wyoming within a couple of decades.

Small remaining area of once diverse Amazon rain forest surrounded by vast soybean fields in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Images used with permission from Wikimedia Commons

Affluence Has Beneficial Environmental Effects

• Better education

• Scientific research

• Technological solutions resulting in improvements in environmental quality (e.g., safe drinking water)

Prices of Goods/Services Rarely Include Their Harmful Environmental/Health Costs

• Consumers are unaware of the damage caused by their consumption

• Current government subsidies often increase environmental degradation

• To live sustainably, government subsidies must become beneficial to the environment by:

  • Taxing pollution and waste

  • Shifting from environmentally harmful to environmentally beneficial subsidies

What Is Your Environmental Worldview?

Each individual has his or her own environmental worldview

• A set of assumptions and values reflecting how one thinks the world works and what one’s role in it should be

Your environmental worldview is partly determined by your environmental ethics

• A set of beliefs about what is right and wrong in your behavior toward the environment

People Have Different Views About Environmental Problems/Solutions

Three major types of worldviews:

• Human-centered

  • Sees the natural world primarily as a support system for human life.

  • Humans are separate from and in charge of nature and that society should manage the earth for the benefit of humans.

• Life-centered

  • All species have value in fulfilling their ecological roles, regardless of their potential or actual use to society

• Earth-centered

  • People are part of and dependent on nature, and the earth’s natural capital exists for all species, not just for humans

The Rise of Environmental Conservation and Protection in the United States

The preservationist school (John Muir)

• Leave wilderness areas on some public lands untouched

The conservationist school (Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot)

• Manage all public lands wisely and scientifically, primarily to provide resources for people

Preservation of the Quality of the Planet’s Air, Water, Soil, and Wildlife

Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson

• Heightened public awareness to pollution problems and the widespread use of pesticides such as DDT

Image used with permission from Smithsonian Magazine

First Earth Day was held on April 20, 1970

In 1970, the U.S. government established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

“Decade of the environment”

What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?

• In order to live sustainably, one must live off the natural resources without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies these natural resources

• Earth’s natural capital provides natural income

  • Renewable resources such as plants, animals, soil, and clean water and air

• By living only on the natural income and not depleting the natural capital, society moves from an unsustainable lifestyle to a sustainable one

Is There Any Good News?

Many have a better quality of life. The food supply is more abundant and safer.

• In many parts of the world, air and water are cleaner.

• Toxic chemical exposure is more avoidable.

• Endangered species and ecosystems are protected.

• Some grasslands and wetlands are restored.

A More Sustainable Future Is Possible

Given enough time, most degraded environments can recover, but many will take hundreds and even thousands of years to recover

• Time is our most scarce resource

• However, 5–10% of a population that changes can make a difference

• Changes can occur in a shorter time than previously thought

A More Sustainable Future Is Possible

• Create a more sustainable future. Use natural capital and natural resources. Avoid disruption of the earth’s chemical cycles.

• Utilize full-cost pricing. Be aware of ecological footprints, and address cleanup and prevention.

• Find win-win solutions. Apply these solutions to other societies. Leave the planet in the same or better condition than we inherit.

Key Takeaway

Sustainability is not a single problem or solution.

• It integrates ecology, resources, and society
• It depends on understanding limits
• It requires choices at individual, national, and global scales