1.5 - Environmental Problems

Question 1

Examples of environmental problems

Answer 1

Forests shrinkings, Deserts expanding, Soils eroding,
Deteriorating land for agriculture, Lower atmosphere is warming, Glaciers are melting/Sea levels rising, More intense weather, Droughts/Collapse of water sources, Loss of animals/extinctions

Question 2

Examples of causes of environmental problems

Answer 2

-Population growth
-Unsustainable resource use
-Poverty
-Excluding environmental costs from market prices
-Managing nature without knowing enough about it

Question 3

Poverty

Answer 3

when people are unable to meet their basic needs for adequate food, water, shelter, health, and education.

Question 4

Poverty and environmental degradation

Answer 4

-People in poverty usually focus on short-term survival
-Depletion and degradation of forests, soil, grasslands, fisheries, and wildlife.
-More children = more people to gather fuel, water, crops, etc.
-Poverty causes environmental degradation

Question 5

Environmental degradation causes poverty

Answer 5

-Malnutrition
-Limited access to adequate sanitation facilities/clean drinking water
-38% of the world do not have decent bathroom facilities
-1/7 people get water from polluted water sources (feces)
Respiratory diseases from air pollutants (open fires; poorly vented stoves)
-These cause at least 7 million premature deaths per year

Question 6

Malnutrition

Answer 6

lack of protein and other nutrients needed for good health.

Question 7

Affluence and the environment

Answer 7

High levels of consumption and unnecessary waste of resources
Fueled by mass advertising
←→
Could lead people to be more concerned about environmental quality
Provide money for developing technologies to help the environment
Clean water, clean air, safer food supply
Reduce population growth in developed countries

Question 8

Prices do not include the value of natural capital

Answer 8

-People to not have to pay for the depletion of natural resources
-Money > environment
-Subsidies that assist companies create more jobs which creates more degradation.
-Consumers are also not aware of this

Question 9

Environmental worldview

Answer 9

A set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what you think your role in the world should be.

Question 10

environmental ethics

Answer 10

Out beliefs about what is right and wrong with how we treat the environment.

Question 11

Aldo Leopold

Answer 11

-Forester, writer, and conservationist
-Became a leader of the conservation and environmental movement

Question 12

Types of worldviews

Answer 12

Planetary management, stewardship, environmental wisdom

Question 13

Planetary management worldview

Answer 13

We are separate from nature. Nature exists to help with our needs. We can use our own ingenuity/technology to manage the earth’s life-support systems

Question 14

Stewardship worldview

Answer 14

We can and should manage the earth for our benefit. We have an ethical responsibility to be a caring and responsible “steward” of the earth. We should encourage environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth and development.

Question 15

Environmental wisdom

Answer 15

We are dependent on nature. Nature exists for all species. Encourages earth-sustaining forms of economic growth and development.