What Is Environmental Science?

1. Environment:

• From the French environner: to encircle or surround.
• The circumstances or conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms, OR
• The complex of social or cultural conditions that affect an individual or community.

Since humans inhabit the natural world as well as the "built" or technological, social, and cultural world, all constitute important parts of our environment.

2. Environmental Science:

• Systematic study of our environment and our proper place in it.
• Highly interdisciplinary, integrating natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities in a broad, holistic study of the world around us.
• Mission-oriented, problem solving science.
• Seeks new knowledge about (and impacts of humans on) the natural world.
• Identifies solutions to environmental problems.
• These solutions often involve human social systems as well as natural science.

A Brief History of Conservation and Environmentalism

A. Historic Roots of Nature Protection

Although many early societies had negative impacts on their surroundings, others lived in relative harmony. Recognizing human misuse of nature, however, is not unique to modern times.

Plato (4th century B.C.) wrote about how the people of Greece turned their country into a "skeleton of a body wasted by disease".

"The problems that overwhelm us today are precisely those we failed to solve decades ago." M.K. Tolba (199?), former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Some of earliest scientific studies of environmental damage were carried out in the eighteenth century by French and British colonial administrators who often were trained administrators.

• Stephen Hales (British) -- suggested conservation of green plants preserved rainfall (1764).
• Pierre Poiver (French) -- developed forest reserves on island of Mauritius (1769).

B. Pragmatic Resource Conservation

George Perkins Marsh -- Man and Nature (1864)

• Warned of ecological damage from destruction of forest resources
• Establishment of National Forest Reserves (1873)

Utilitarian Conservation

Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot (circa 1905)

• Framework for national forest, park, and refuge system.
• Pinchot promoted the conservation of natural resources to provide for the "greatest good, for the greatest number (of people) for the longest time".
• "The first principle of conservation is development and use of the natural resources now existing on this continent for the benefit of the people who live here now. There may be just as much waste in neglecting the development and use of certain natural resources as there is in their destruction". (Pinchot) [forest service approach]

C. Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation

Preserving nature on the basis of moral and aesthetic values has been termed biocentric preservation "The world, we are told, was made for man. A presumption that is totally unsupported by the facts...Nature's object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of them. ... Why ought man to value himself as more than an infinitely small unit of the one great unit of creation?" John Muir, geologist, author and first president of theSierra Club.

• Nature deserves to exist for its own sake
• National Park Service (est. 1916) approach
• Often at odds with Utilitarian Conservation approach of the Forest Service.

D. Modern Environmentalism

Modern industrial expansion and development of domestic and defense-related chemicals during and after the Second World War created a new set of environmental problems.

Rachel Carson , Silent Spring (1962), wrote about chemical pollution and the threats posed to humans and other species.

Her warnings awakened the public and engendered a movement of environmentalism, extending previous concerns to include both environmental resources and pollution.

• Activists
• Litigation
• Intervention in regulatory process
• Use of mass media
• Promotion of scientific research

Environmental agenda has expanded to include issues such as:

• human population growth
• atomic weapons testing
• atomic power
• fossil fuel extraction and use
• recycling
• air and water pollution
• and others. . .

The movement of global environmentalism recognizes that we must be concerned with the life support systems of the whole planet.

Leaders of this movement have been central in bringing global issues to the forefront of the public's attention. The 1992 U.N "Earth Summit" was an excellent example of international cooperation and awareness of the need for global environmentalism.

Current Conditions:

A Marvelous Planet

We are fortunate to live in a beautiful, prolific, agreeable world. It will take care and hard work to keep it this way.

We should ask ourselves: what is our proper place in nature? What oughtwe do and what can we do to protect the irreplaceable habitat that produced and supports us?

These are some of the central questions of environmental science:

Environmental Dilemmas

• Human population growth
• 6 billion now; as many as 25 billion within next century
• To check the current and predicted world population size, go look at the World Population Clock (close the new window to return to these pages). (located at "http://sunsite.unc.edu/lunarbin/worldpop")
• Can we support on a sustainable basis this many people?
• Food shortages and famines
• Water deficits and contamination
• Fuel and energy use
• Destruction of tropical forests, coral reefs, wetlands, etc.
• Loss of biological variety and abundance
• Toxic air and water pollutants
• Hazardous wastes

These and other similarly serious problems illustrate the importance of environmental science and environmental education for everyone.

Signs of Hope

In spite of the seemingly overwhelming problems, progress has been made in many areas that provide signs of hope for the future of our global environment.

North/South: A Divided World

We live in a world of haves and have-nots; a few of us live in increasing luxury while many others lack the basic necessities for a decent, healthy, productive life.

World Bank Estimates:

• 20% of human population lives in acute poverty (70% of them are women and children).
• Poor forced to meet short-term survival needs at expense of long-term sustainability.

Generally, "environmental quality" is perceived as access to adequate diet and housing, basic sanitation, clean water, education, and medical care.

In this case, then, the richest countries in the world have the best environmental quality.

Rich and Poor Countries

Average Indicators for Quality of Life:

10 poorest: Mozambique, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Congo, Malawi, Rwanda, Chad, Sierra Leone, Nepal, and Niger.
10 richest: Switzerland, Luxembourg, Japan, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, U.S., Denmark, and Canada.

Source: World Resources Institute 1998-99.

Fair share of resources?

Many of the poorest countries are those which have the highest levels of cultural and biological diversity (i.e., have much natural resources to protect).

The richest countries (highest "quality of life") consume the majority of resources and produce the majority of wastes.

The United States (4.5 % of world's population):

Source: World Resources Institute 1998-99.

North/South Division

In large part the world is divided into North ("haves") and South ("have-nots").

Exceptions are countries like Australia and New Zealand ("haves"), and India, China, and Baltics ("have nots").

Political Economies

• First World: industrialized, market-oriented, democracies of Western Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and their allies.
• Second World: originally included centrally planned, socialist countries, such as former Soviet Union and Easern European allies, as well as several Asian socialist countries. Most are rapidly changing to market economies.
• Third World: nonaligned, nonindustrial, ex-colonial nations (eg., India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Syria, and many African countries) self-labeled during the 1960's as third world to show independence from other superpower groups. Typically used now to describe developing countries.
• Fourth World: poorest nations with neither market economies nor central planning, as well as the indigenous communities within wealthy countries.

Human Development

United Nations Human Development Index (HDI)

Annual report that ranks countries based on many of the factors discussed above.

• HDI ranges from 0 to 1.
• The top 20 nations (HDI >0.92) 18 are in North America or Western Europe.
• Of the bottom 20 nations (HDI <0.35), 18 are in Africa.
• The lowest HDI was Sierra Leone (0.19).

Developmental Discrepencies

Aggregate numbers such as the HDI hide many important issues.

• Gender inequities
• Race disparities
• Regional / Ethnic differences

Good News and Bad News

Over the past fifty years in nearly all areas around the world there have been significant improvements in the overall quality of life as measured by HDI.

• Global GDP increased 10-fold
• Higher quality of life
• 1960 -- 3/4 of population measured <0.5 HDI
• 1999 -- <1/3 below 0.5 HDI
• incomes have doubled in developing countries
• malnutrition declined by almost one-third
• child death rates declined by two-thirds
• average life expectancy increased by 30%
• significantly higher access to safe drinking water

Nonetheless, the gap between the richest and poorest people worldwide has also increased significantly.

• Income ratio between richest 20% and poorest 20%
• 1960 -- 30:1
• 1999 -- 100:1

Sustainable Development

Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway) UN Report: Our Common Future (1987). Current Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

• "Sustainable development means "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Can Development Be Truly Sustainable?

Relationship between sustainable ecology and sustainable economic growth must be recognized. While economic growth makes possible a more comfortable lifestyle, it doesn't automatically result in a cleaner environment.

The 20:20 Compact for Human Development

(1995 UN Summit for Social Development)

Goals:

• universal primary education (male and female)
• adult literacy doubled (females same as males)
• eliminate severe malnutrition
• availability of family planning services
• safe drinking water and sanitation for all
• credit for all

Estimated cost: $30-$40 billion per year

Suggested funding comes from the 20:20 formula:

• 20% of aid to developing countries to humanitarian needs (current: 7%)
• 20% of developing countries' budgets devoted to human concerns.

Indigenous People

Indigenous homelands harbor more cultural and biological diversity than all the world's nature reserves. . .

Environmental Perspectives

"Answer me one question, are these the shadows of the things that will be or are they shadows of the things that may be only?"
Question asked by Scrooge to the Ghost of Christmas Future after seeing the disparity between the rich and poor of London (Dickens, Christmas Carol)

What will be our environmental future and what can we do to shape it? Think about the following worldviews and tactical positions as you proceed through the rest of this course.

Pessimism and Outrage

We are faced by a number of very serious environmental problems. It is easy to assume a grim view of our future and approach environmental problems with pessimism and outrage.

Neo-Malthusian approach -- human nature will result in a dismal cycle of overpopulation, misery, vice and starvation.

Optimism

Science and technology have provided many benefits to humanity; they also have caused many difficulties.

Technological optimists beleive that human ingenuity and enterprise will find cures for all our problems.

Questions for Review

1. Define environment and environmental science.
2. List six environmental dilemmas that we now face and describe how each concerns us.
3. Describe the differences between the North/South or rich/poor or more developed/less developed nations. What do we mean by First, Second, and Third World?
4. Compare some indicators of quality of life between the richest and poorest nations.
5. Why should we be concerned about the plight of the poor? How do they affect us?
6. What benefit to us would there be in protecting the rights of indigenous people?
7. Give some reasons for pessimism and optimism about our environmental future and summarize how you feel personally about the major environmental problems that we face.
8. Do you think that environmental conditions are better now or worse than they were 20 or 100 or 1,000 years ago? Why?

Questions for Critical Thinking

1. How could we determine whether the deformity of frogs has some grand, global significance, or is merely a random, local event?
2. What are the fundamental differences between utilitarian conservation and altruistic preservation? Which do you favor? Why?
3. Do the issues discussed in this chapter as global environmentalism belong in an environmental science text? Why would anyone ask this question?
4. Some people argue that we can't afford to be generous, tolerant, fair, or patient. There isn't enough to go around as it is, they say. What questions would you ask such a person?
5. Others claim that we live in a world of bounty. They believe there would be plenty for all if we just shared equitably. What questions would you ask such a person?
6. Around 200 million children are forced into dangerous, degrading slave labor each year. Is it our business what goes on in other countries?
7. What would it take for human development to be really sustainable? What does sustainable mean to you?
8. Are there enough resources in the world for 8 or 10 billion people to live decent, secure, happy, fulfilling lives? What do those terms mean to you? Try to imagine what they mean to others in our global village.
9. What responsibilities do we have to future generations? What have they done for us? Why not use whatever resources we want right now?
10. Do you see any similarities between current conditions and those of the fourteenth century? Have we made any real progress or do things just stay the same?