SOCECOL E8 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ecological Stability

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Social Ecology
• Course: SOCECOL E8
• Professor: John M.Whiteley

Document Summary

Increasing numbers of people lack the means for a decent life. Professor whiteley"s commentary: the context for this answer is the continuing population explosion on the planet. Bright"s development of the significance of this first threat is that population now (about 7 billion) is twice what it was in 1950, and is projected minimally to increase to over 9 billion by the year 2050. In bright"s view, such an increase is not likely to foster either social stability or ecological stability. Certain forms of pollution are altering global chemical cycles which in turn regulate key ecosystem processes. Professor whiteley"s commentary: bright focuses on three specific forms of ecosystem altering pollution. Carbon dioxin, primarily from burning fossil fuels, is causing global climate change by trapping heat and thereby raising the temperature of the earth. The second and third forms of pollution are from the production and use of fertilizers.