PEE 1.1 Human Use of the Earth Flashcards
The natural resources and ecosystem
services that keep us and other species
alive and support human economies.
Natural Capital
Natural Capital Formula
Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Ecosystem Services
Materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans
Natural Resources
Processes provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human economies at no monetary cost to humans
Ecosystem Services
Supply is continuous or expected to
last for a very long time―at least 6
billion years in the case of our sun
Inexhaustible resources
Can be replenished by natural processes within hours to centuries, as long as we do not use it up faster than natural processes can renew it
Renewable resources
Renewable resources examples
e.g., air, trees, topsoil, freshwater
Inexhaustible resources examples
e.g., solar, wind, geothermal energy
Those necessary for all other ecosystem services, and their impacts on people are either indirect or occur over a very long time period.
Supporting services
The products obtained from ecosystems
Provisioning services
Provisioning services examples
food and fiber, fuel, freshwater, genetic
resources, biochemicals, natural
medicine, and pharmaceuticals
Supporting services examples
primary production, atmospheric oxygen
production, nutrient and water
cycling, and pollination
Exist in a fixed quantity, or stock, in the earth’s crust
Nonrenewable (depletable or
exhaustible) resources
Nonrenewable (depletable or exhaustible) resources examples
e.g., fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal)
The benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes
Regulating services
Regulating services examples
air quality
maintenance, climate regulation,
water regulation, erosion control,
water purification and waste
treatment, regulation of disease,
and storm protection
The nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences
Cultural services
The waste, depletion, or destruction of any of the earth’s natural capital.
Natural Capital Degradation
Contamination of the environment by any chemical or other agent such as noise or heat to a
level that is harmful to the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organism
Pollution
Single, identifiable sources
Point sources
Dispersed and often difficult to identify
Nonpoint sources
Involves cleaning up or diluting
pollutants after we have
produced them
Pollution cleanup
Efforts focused on greatly
reducing or eliminating the
production of pollutants
Pollution prevention
When the number of users is small, this
logic works. Eventually, however, the
cumulative effect of large numbers of
people trying to exploit a widely
available or shared resource can
degrade it and eventually exhaust or
ruin it.
The Tragedy of the Commons
The harmful environmental impact
Ecological footprint.
The average ecological footprint of an
individual in a given country or area
Per capita ecological footprint
Ecological footprint > Biological capacity to replenish resources
ECOLOGICAL DEFICIT
Ecological footprint < Biological capacity to replenish resources
ECOLOGICAL RESERVE/CREDIT
I in the IPAT Model
Impact (I)
P in the IPAT Model
Population (P)
A in the IPAT Model
Affluence (A)
T in the IPAT Model
Technology (T)
IPAT Model
Impact (I) = Population (P) × Affluence (A) × Technology (T)
The lifestyles of the world’s expanding
population of consumers are built on growing
affluence as more people achieve higher
incomes.
Unsustainable Resource Use
A condition in which people are
unable to fulfill their basic needs for
adequate food, water, shelter, health care,
and education
Poverty
Companies using resources to provide goods for consumers generally are
not required to pay for most of the harmful environmental and health costs
of supplying such goods.
Avoidance of Full-cost Pricing
Today, more than half of the world’s
people (and three out of four people in the
more developed countries) live in urban
areas, and this shift from rural to urban living
is continuing at a rapid pace.
Increasing Isolation from Nature
What is ultimately good for a person: basic needs are met, individuals have
a sense of purpose, they feel able to achieve important personal goals, and participate in
society.
Wellbeing
Enough basic necessities and enough income and wealth
Enough material resources
Length and quality of a person’s life
Health
Liberty of action and autonomy
Freedom
Secure access to resources, safety, and predictable
and controllable environment
Security
Social cohesion, mutual respect, good
gender and family relations and the ability to help other
Good social relations
Your set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what you think
your role in the world should be
Environmental Worldview
The natural world is primarily a
support system for human life
Human-centered
All species have value as participating members of the biosphere, regardless of their potential or actual use to humans
Life-centered
Humans are part of, and dependent on, nature and that the earth’s life-support system exists for all species, not just for us
Earth-centered
The capacity of the earth’s natural systems and
human cultural systems to survive, flourish and
adapt to changing environmental conditions into
the very long-term future
Sustainability
3 things to consider to achieve Sustainability
People & Place
Economy
Environment
Scientific Principles
Dependence on solar energy
Biodiversity
Chemical cycling (or nutrient cycling)
Solar energy warms the planet and provides
energy that plants use to produce nutrients
necessary for their own life processes and for
most animals, including humans.
Dependence on solar energy
This refers to the variety of genes, organisms,
species, and ecosystems. The interactions
among species provide vital ecosystem
services and keep any population from
growing too large. It also provides countless
ways for life to adapt to changing
environmental conditions.
Biodiversity (short for biological diversity)
This is the circulation of chemicals necessary
for life from the environment (mostly from soil
and water) through organisms and back to
the environment.
Chemical cycling (or nutrient cycling)
The inclusion of the harmful environmental
and health costs of producing and using
goods and services in their market prices.
ECONOMICS
Full-cost pricing
Learning to work together in dealing with
environmental problems by recognizing our
interdependent connections
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Win-win solutions
Leaving the planet’s life-support systems in at
least as good a condition as that which we
now enjoy, if not better, for future
generations
ETHICS
A responsibility to future generations
What keep us and other
species alive and support our economies
Natural capital
Many human activities can degrade natural capital by using normally renewable resources faster than nature can restore them and by overloading the earth’s normally renewable air and water systems with pollution and wastes
Natural capital degradation
Scientific, economic, and political
solutions to these problems
Solutions
Compromises when dealing with
conflicts
Trade-offs
The daily actions of each
and every individual are important
Individuals matter
