Cultural Changes and the Environment
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Technological impact per Environmental Population (P) x x unit of consumption (T) = impact of population (I) Figure 1-14 Connections: simplified model of how three factors-number of people, affluence, and technology-affect the environmental impact of the population in developing countries (top) and devel- oped countries (bottom). the same lifetime family resource consumption level as 2 Evidence from fossils and studies of ancient cultures children in a typical U.S. family. suggest that the current form of our species, Homo Some forms of technology, such as polluting facto- sapiens sapiens, has walked the earth for perhaps ries and motor vehicles and energy-wasting devices, 90,000-195,000 years-less than an eye-blink in the increase environmental impact by raising the T factor earth's 3.7 billion years of life. in the equation. Other technologies, such as pollution Until about 12,000 years ago, we were mostly control and prevention, solar cells, and energy-saving hunter-gatherers who typically lived in small groups devices, lower environmental impact by decreasing and moved as needed to find enough food for the T factor. In other words, some forms of technology . survival. Since then, three major cultural changes have are environmentally harmful and some are environmen- occurred. The agricultural revolution, which began tally beneficial. 10,000-12,000 years ago, allowed people to settle in vil- lages and raise crops and domesticated animals. ~ RESEARCH FRONTIER Finding ways to reduce over- Next the industrial-medical revolution, which began consumption about 275 years ago, led to a shift from rural villages and animal-powered agriculture to an urban society •. 12l rHINKING A80vr EXPONENTIAL GROWTH What role does using fossil fuels for manufacturing material items, 'J exponential growth (Core Case Study, p. 6) play in each of the agriculture, and transportation. It also involved using factors in the model in Figure 1-147 science to help us improve sanitation and understand and control disease. The third cultural shift, the infor- mation-globalization revolution, began about 50 years CULTURAL CHANGES AND ago. It is based on using new technologies for gaining THE ENVIRONMENT rapid access to much more information on a global scale. These technologies include the telephone, radio, Human Cultural Changes television, computers, automated databases, and re- Since our hunter-gatherer days, three major cultural mote sensing satellites. changes have increased the human impact on the Figure 1-15 lists major advantages and disadvan- environment. tages of the advanced industrial-medical revolution 20 CHAPTER1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability Americans) occupied North America for at least 10,000 years before European settlers began arriving in the early 1600s. This was followed by the frontier era (1607-1890), when European colonists began settling North Amer- ica. Faced with a continent containing seemingly inex- haustible forest and wildlife resources and rich soils, Mass production Increased air of useful and pollution the early colonists developed a frontier environmen- affordable tal worldview. They viewed most of the continent as products having vast resources and as a wilderness to be con- Increased water pollution quered and managed for human use. Higher standard Next came the early conservation era (1832-1870), of living for many during which some people became alarmed at the Increased waste scope of resource depletion and degradation in the production United States. They urged that part of the unspoiled Greatly increased wilderness on public lands owned jointly by all people agricultural production (but managed by the government) be protected as a Soil depletion and legacy to future generations. Most of these warnings degradation and ideas were not taken seriously. Lower infant The early conservation period was followed by an mortality era-lasting from 1870 to the present-with an in- Groundwater creasedrole of thefederal government and private citizens in depletion Longer life resource conservation, public health, and environmental expectancy protection. See Supplement 5 on p. S16 for more details and an overview of U.S, environmental history. Habitat destruction and degradation Biodiversity SUSTAINABILITY AND depletion ENVIRONMENTAL WORLD VIEWS Are Things Getting Better or Worse? 'Ore 1-15 Trade-ofts: advantages and disadvantages of the A Millennium Assessment (Science §nced industrial-medical revolution and by extension the and Politics) mation-globalization revolution, QUESTION: Which single ntage and disadvantage do you think are the most There is good and bad environmental news, :tant? Experts disagree about how serious our population and environmental. problems are and what we should do about them. Some suggest that human ingenuity by extension the information-globalization revo- and technological advances will allow us to clean up tion. During the last 50 years, living conditions have pollution to acceptable levels, find substitutes for any ved for the majority of the world's population. scarce resources, and keep expanding the earth's abil- 'individuals live longer, are better nourished and ity to support more humans. " ier, and have the freedom to participate in elect- Many leading environmental scientists disagree. d influencing their leaders. This progress, how- They appreciate and applaud the Significant environ- as put an increasing strain on the earth's natural mental and social progress that we have made, but 1: they also cite evidence that we are degrading and dis- rupting the earth's life-support systems in many parts of the world at an exponentially accelerating rate. They fEnvironmental History in the call for much more action to protect the natural capital States that supports our economies and all life. ronmental history of the United States According to environmental expert Lester R. of the tribal, frontier, early conservation, Brown, "We are entering a new world, one where the ern environmental eras. collisions between our demands and the earth's capac- :vjronmental history of the United States can be ity to satisfy them are becoming daily events. Our '-; into four eras. The first was the tribal era, during global economy is outgrowing the capacity of the earth ---.?O million tribal people (now called Native to support it. No economy, however technologically .. thomsonedu.com/biology/miller 21 Ai advanced, can survive the collapse of its environmen- reforestation program, we move closer to an economy tal support systems." that can sustain economic progress." ! In 2005, the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ! was released. According to this four-year study by Environmental Worldviews and Ethics i 1,360 experts from 95 countries, human activities are I degrading or using unsustainably about 60% of the The way we view the seriousness of environmental ,I world's free natural services (Figure 1-4, right) that problems and how to solve them depends on our sustain life on the earth. In other words, we are living environmental worldview and our environmental unsustainably. ethics. I This pioneering comprehensive examination of Differing views about the seriousness of our environ- ~ j the health of the world's life-support systems is also a mental problems and what we should do about them story of hope. It says we have the tools to preserve the arise mostly out of differing environmental world- planet's natural capital by 2050 and describes com- views and environmental ethics. Your environmental mon-sense strategies for doing this. worldview is a set of assumptions and values about The most useful answer to the question of whether how you think the world works and what you think things are getting better or worse is both. Some things your role in the world should be. Environmental are getting better and some are getting worse. ethics is concerned with your beliefs about what is right and wrong with how we treat the environment. a RESEARCH FRONTIER A crash program to gain better and Here are some important ethical questions relating to more comprehensive informationabout the health of the the environment: world'slife-supportsystems • Why should we care about the environment? Our challenge is to not get trapped into confusion and inaction by listening primarily to either of two • Are we the most important species on the planet or are we just one of the earth's millions of species? groups of people. Technological optimists tend to over- state the situation by telling us to be happy and not to • Do we have an obligation to see that our activities worry, because technological innovations and conven- do not cause the premature extinction of other tional economic growth and development will lead to species? Should we try to protect all species or only a wonder world for everyone. In contrast, environmen- some? How do we decide which species to protect? tal pessimists overstate the problems to the point where • Do we have an ethical obligation to pass on to fu- our environmental situation seems hopeless. The ture generations the extraordinary natural world we noted conservationist Aldo Leopold argued, "I have have inherited in as good condition, if not better, as no hope for a conservation based on fear." we inherited? [Xl Hovy WOULD You VOTE?* Doyou believe that the society • Should every person be entitled to equal protection you live inis on an unsustainable path? Cast your vote online from environmental hazards regardless of race, gen- at www.thomsonedu.com/biology/miller. der, age, national