ES101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Gross Domestic Product, Land Degradation, Soil Fertility
24 May 2018
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ES 101 – Intro to Environmental Studies
Module 1 Notes (chapter 1 and chapter 2)
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems: An Introduction and Overview
1-1 Living more sustainably
• Environmental science
o The study of how the earth works, how we interact with the earth and
how to deal with environmental problems
o Interdisciplinary study that uses information from the physical
sciences and social sciences to learn how the earth works, how we
interact with the earth and how to deal with environmental problems
o Involves integrating ideas from natural world (biosphere) and
cultural world (culturesphere)
• Environment is everything that affects a living organism
• Ecology is a biological science that studies the relationships between living
organisms and their environment
• Environmentalism is a social movement dedicated to protecting the earths
life support systems for us and other species
• Members of the environmental community include:
o Ecologists
o Environmental scientists
o Conservation biologists
o Conservationists
o Preservationists
o Environmentalists
• Our existence, lifestyles and economies depend completely on the sun and
the earth, a blue and white island in the black void of space.
• Capital
o Wealth used to sustain a business and to generate more wealth
• Energy from the sun as solar capital
• Solar energy includes direct sunlight and indirect forms of renewable solar
energy such as
o Wind power
o Hydropower (energy from flowing water)
o Biomass (direct solar energy converted to chemical energy and stored
in biological sources of energy such as wood)
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ES 101 – Intro to Environmental Studies
• Planet’s air, water, soil, wildlife, forest, rangeland, fishery, mineral and
energy resources and the processes of natural purification, recycling and pest
control as Natural Resources/Natural Capital
• Natural capital consists of resources (air, water, soil, energy, minerals) and
ecological services (population control, nutrient recycling, climate control,
pollution control, waste treatment, biodiversity, pest & disease control) that
support and sustain the earths life and economies.
• Natural capital that nature provides at no cost to us plus the natural
biological income it supplies can sustain the planet and our economies
indefinitely as long as we do not deplete them
• Biological income is renewable supplies of wood, fish, grassland for grazing
and underground water for drinking and irrigation.
• Carrying capacity
o Maximum number of organisms that can be maintained in an area
without degrading the environment
o Term is used in managing wild species such as deer or salmon
o Also used to refer to the max number of people who can live in an area
at a very basic level of existence without degrading the environment
o In the case of people, if they have cultural amenities such as luxuries
and technology that raise their impact beyond basic levels then it is
called cultural carrying capacity
o Related to sustainability
• Sustainability
o Ability of a system to survive for an extended period of time
o Related to carrying capacity
• Environmentally sustainable society meets the current needs of its people for
food, clean water, clean air, shelter and other basic resources without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs
• Living sustainably means living off natural income replenished by soils,
plants, air and water and not depleting or degrading the earths natural
capital that’s supplies this biological income.
1-2 Population growth, economic growth, economic development and
globalization
• Economic growth is an increase in the capacity of a country to provide people
with goods and services.
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ES 101 – Intro to Environmental Studies
o This requires population growth (more producers and consumers),
more production and consumption per person or both.
o Usually measured by the % change in a countries gross domestic
product (GDP) : the annual market value of all goods and services
produced by all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic,
operating within a country
o Changes in a coutries standard of living are measured by per capita
GDP: the GDP DIVIDED by the total population at midyear.
• Economic development is the improvement of living standards by economic
growth
• Developed countries include CANADA, USA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, NEW
ZEALAND and the countries of EUROPE
• Developed countries are highly industrialized and have high average per
capita GDP
• DevelopING countries include AFRICA, ASIA and LATIN AMERICA
• 97% of projected increase in world population is expected to take place in
developing countries
• Benefits of economic development
o Global life expectancy doubled since 1950
o Infant mortality cut in half since 1955
o Food production ahead of population growth
o Air and water pollution down in more developed countries
o Number of people living in poverty dropped
• Drawbacks of economic development
o Life expectancy 11 years less in developing countries than in
developed countries
o Infant mortality rate in developing countries over 8 times higher than
in developed countries
o Harmful environmental effects of agriculture may limit future food
production
o Air and water pollution levels in most developing countries is too high
o Half of the worlds people trying to live on less than $4 a day
• Globalization is the process of social, economic and environmental global
changes that lead to an increasingly interconnected world
o Involves increasing exchanges of people, products, services, capital
and ideas across international borders.
o Factors accelerating globalization include
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Document Summary
Module 1 notes (chapter 1 and chapter 2) Chapter 1: environmental problems: an introduction and overview. 1-2 population growth, economic growth, economic development and globalization: economic growth is an increase in the capacity of a country to provide people with goods and services. Gdp: the gdp divided by the total population at midyear: economic development is the improvement of living standards by economic growth, developed countries include canada, usa, japan, australia, new. International trade and investment: decentralized network, where everyone has access to everyone else, represents a democratization of learning and communication. It is expected to last atleast 6 billion years as the sun completes its life cycle as a star: on a human time scale, a renewable resource can be replenished fairly rapidly through natural processes. But this only works as long as the resource is not used up faster than it is replaced.
