Sustainability

1. Sustainability Learning outcome 1.4.1: Describe the three pillars of sustainability Resource: substance in the environment that is useful to people, economically & technologically feasible to access, and socially acceptable to use ex. food, water, minerals, soil, plants, & animals • renewable resource: produced in nature more rapidly than is consumed by humans • Ex. wind, hydro, & solar power • nonrenewable resource: produced in nature more slowly than is consumed by humans • Ex. oil, coal, & natural gas

2. Sustainability Two major misuses of resources: • Human depletion of nonrenewable resources such as fossil fuels • Human destruction of renewable resources through pollution Sustainability: use of Earth’s renewable and nonrenewable resources in ways that ensure resource availability in the future • Efforts to recycle, develop less pollution, & protect farmland from suburban sprawl increase sustainability of resources • Requires curtailing the use of nonrenewable resources and limiting the use of renewable resources to the level at which the environment can continue to supply them indefinitely

3. Sustainability 3 Pillars of Sustainability according to the United Nations: • UN report Our Common Future (Brundtland Report) argues that sustainability can be achieved only by bringing together environmental protection, economic growth, & social equity • Environmental Pillar: • Conservation: sustainable use and management of Earth’s resources to meet human needs such as food, medicine, & recreation • Preservation: maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible ex. hunting is prohibited in certain areas or times of the year

4. Sustainability 2. Economy Pillar: • natural resources acquire a monetary value through exchange in the marketplace • Price of a resource depends on society’s technological ability to obtain it and to adapt it to that society’s purpose Ex. tourism 3. Society Pillar: • Humans need shelter, food, and clothing to survive, so they make use of resources to meet their needs • Consumer choices can support sustainability when people embrace it as a value Ex. buying organic foods instead of foods that may be grown with pesticides or using cloth grocery bags instead of plastic bags

5. PHYSICAL PROCESSES Climate – long-term average weather condition at a particular location • Koppen System => divides world into 5 main regions • Influences human activities  food production Vegetation • 4 MAJOR BIOMES • FOREST – trees form continuous canopy; covers large % of Earth’s surface • SAVANNA – mixture of trees & grasses • GRASSLAND – grass rather than trees; low precipitation (American prairies) • DESERT – essentially no vegetation; dispersed adaptive plants

6. World Climate Regions Fig. 1-14: The modified Köppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.

7. PHYSICAL PROCESSES • Soil • Contains nutrients necessary for successful growth of plants • 2 basic problems: (1) Erosion; (2) Depletion of nutrients • Landforms • Vary from relatively flat to mountainous • Topographic maps – show detail of physical features and cultural features; geographers use to study relief & slope

8. CULTURAL ECOLOGY • Geographic study of human-environment relationships • Humboldt & Ritter urged the adoption of scientific inquiry; concentrated on how physical environment caused social development => Environmental Determinism • Possibilism physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment • People can choose a course of action from many alternatives in the physical environment

9. Modifying the Environment: Netherlands • The Dutch have modified their environment in 2 ways: polders & dikes • Polder: piece of land that is created by draining water from an area • Dutch have reserved most of the land for agriculture to reduce dependence on imported food • Dikes prevent the North Sea from flooding much of the country • Ex. Zuider Zee project & Delta Plan • Use of insecticides and fertilizers on Dutch farms has contributed to contaminated drinking water, acid rain, and other environmental problems • Dutch have become world leaders in reducing the causes of global warming by acting to reduce industrial pollution and increase solar and wind power use

10. Environmental Modification in the Netherlands Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for extensive environmental modification in the Netherlands.

11. Modifying the Environment: Florida • The Everglades was once a very wide and shallow freshwater river w/ a sensitive ecosystem of plants and animals in which much as been destroyed by human action • U.S. Army Corps built a levee around Lake Okeechobee during the 1930s, drained 1/3 of the Everglades during the 1940s, diverted the Kissimmee River into canals during the 1950s, & constructed dikes & levees near Miami and Ft. Lauderdale in the 1960s • Used the land for growing sugarcane & growing population • Polluted water from cattle grazing flowed into Lake Okeechobee, which was the source of fresh water for ½ of Florida’s pop. • Plants & animals began to become endangered • ½ of the Everglades has been lost to development

12. Environmental Modification in Florida Fig. 1-16: Straightening the Kissimmee River has had many unintended side effects.

13. C-38 CanalFlorida The canal has carried water with agricultural runoff and pollution into Lake Okeechobee

14. Other Examples of HEI Desalinization Three Gorges Dam