Philosophy and Fundamental Concepts Part 2: Culture and Environmental Awareness

Philosophy and Fundamental Concepts

Part 2: Culture and Environmental Awareness

Culture and Environmental Awareness

What is this? What is its significance?Present conditions and the way we perceive and respond to our physical environment are developed from cultural and social institutions Political Economic Ethical Religious Aesthetic

Solution to environmental issues/problems require change in how society works (e.g, similar to industrial revolution)

Environmental EthicsWhat does this mean? Environmental “consciousness”

Existence of relationships between the physical environment and civilization

Motivation for concept? e.g., “The Quiet Crisis”

Land Ethic: Responsibility to the total environment as well as society

Meaning / scope?

Limits?

Perspective

Environmental Crisis

Meaning? Increasing demands on diminishing resources Demands accelerate as the population grows Increasing production of wastes

Factors Overpopulation Urbanization Industrialization Low regard for environmental/land ethics Inadequacy of institutions to cope with environmental

stresses

Environmental Crisis: Examples

Deforestation

Mining of resources (e.g., metals, coal, petroleum)

Development/damage to groundwater and surface water resources

Eight Fundamental Concepts

1. Overpopulation = #1 environmental problem2. Environmental objective = sustainability3a The earth is (essentially) a closed system with respect to materials

3b Solutions to environmental problems require understanding of feedback and rates of

change in systems4a. The earth is the only sustainable habitat we have4b. It’s resources are limited5. Today’s physical processes are modifying our landscape (and environment), and have

operated throughout geologic time; but magnitude and frequency are subject to natural and man-induced changes

6. Earth processes that are hazardous to people have always existed7. An understanding of our environment requires an understanding of the earth sciences

(and related disciplines)8. The effects of land use tend to be cumulative. Thus, we have an obligation to those who

follow us.

Fundamental Concepts

1. Population Growth

2. Sustainability

3. Systems

4. Limitation of Resources

5. Uniformitarianism

6. Hazardous Earth Processes

7. Geology as a Basic Environmental Science

8. Obligation to the Future

Population Growth

Greatest environmental problem

Exponential growth

Exponential Growth

Growth Rate CalculationsAs a percentage (e.g., 2% per year) E.G. for a population of 100,000 (105)

After yr-1, increase = 0.02 x 105 = 2,000

Total population now =102,000

After yr-2, increase = 0.02 x (102,000)= 2,040

Population now = 104,040

Doubling Time Roughly = 70 ÷ growth rate

E.G. for a growth rate of 2%

Doubling time 70 ÷ 2 = 35 years

Standard growth equation: N=Noekt

see pg. 16



2. Sustainability

3. Systems






Sustainability

Concept of “sustainability” = ?

Sustain environmental resources so they can continue to provide benefits to people and the environment

Ensuring equal opportunity to resources for future generations

Types of development that: Are economically viable

Do not “harm” the environment

Socially just

Sustainable global economy (of planet & its resources)



2. Sustainability

3. Systems






SystemsSystem: Any part of the universe selected for study

Concept of “systems”

Earth as “a system” (w/ component systems): Atmosphere (air) Hydrosphere (water) Lithosphere (rock, soil) Biosphere (life)

Interactions of these parts = conditions of the environment

Changes in magnitude or frequency of processes in one part causes changes in other parts, e.g., ?

Earth “Cycles””

Systems: Principle of Environmental Unity

Everything affects everything else, e.g.:Mountain building affects atmosphere,

weather, which affects hydrosphere, which affects biosphere, which affects environment, and eventually the lithosphere (e.g., erosion)

Gaia Hypothesis (later; also see pg. 18)

System Factors/Components

Type of system (open, closed, etc.)

Stock (reservoir): quantity of stuff there

Fluxes (e.g., flow rate) InputOutput

Types of Systems

Open: Allows matter and energy in and out (e.g., environment)

Closed: Allows only energy in and out

Isolated: Allows neither matter or energy to enter or leave

Input-Output AnalysisDynamic systems have inputs & outputs

System parameters: Stock/pool Rates (fluxes)

Input Output Others

Main ways stocks can change

Residence Time

Measure of time required for the total stock or supply of material to be cycled through a system

Calculation of average residence time (ARD) Assumming constant size, rates, etc.

ARD = (size of stock) ÷ avg. rate of transfer

e.g., For a 100-million m3 reservoir with equal input & output rates of 1 m3/sec

ARD = 100x106 m3/(1 m3/sec) = 1.0 x 108 sec = 3.2 yrs

Significance?

Recognition of earth systems, cycles, processes

Magnitude of cycle times

Rates of natural processes

Features of SystemsMost earth systems would appear to be open, and dynamic

BUT, natural cycles more closely represent combinations of “closed” systems, because materials are continuously recycled (water, gases, chemicals, etc.)

Most dynamic systems tend toward steady state (“balanced” dynamics; pseudo equilibrium)

What are some examples of systems in, or that influence, the environment?

System Feedback

Negative: System adjusts to changed conditions to reestablish “steady state”, e.g., river

Positive: Changes in a system that cause significant modifications of a system, and result in amplification of the changes

Feedback Examples

Off-road vehicle erosion = what type of feedback?

Slope modification, erosion, stability = what type of feedback?

Earth “System” Science Typically involves complex systems

Systems interact with one another

Interactions generally result in a “balance of nature” (steady state)

Types of “changes” Disturbances (flood, earthquake)

Threshold (resistance of a river bank)

Complex response (flood erosion)

Examples of complex systems, feedback, etc.?

Gaia Hypothesis

Life significantly affects the planetary environment, i.e., has dynamic vs. passive effects (feedback)

Life affects the environment for the betterment of life (regulation processes, e.g., plankton controls of atmospheric O2 and CO2)

Life controls the global environment (e.g., regulation via + and - feedback)



2. Sustainability

3. Systems






Resource Limitations?The earth is the only place we can live that is now available/accessible to us

The earth’s resources are limited Some are renewable others aren’t

Two Views:1. Issue of resources is mainly one of our ability to figure out how to optimize

our utilization of them2. We are in a resource crisis because finite resources cannot sustain an

exponential population growth

Logical extrapolations?



2. Sustainability

3. Systems






Uniformitarianism

There is uniformity in the physical and chemical principles of geology (though not necessarily in the rates of processes)

“The present is the key to the past”We can gain understanding of geologic processes, systems, etc. in the past by understanding how they work today

Examples: Mountain building/topography/landscape Erosion Water cycles Climate Relationships between life & environment

Uniformitarianism con’t

Key concept in interpreting geologic observations, e.g., Glacial processes Marine fossils on mountain tops Volcanism elsewhere in the solar system Ore, petroleum deposits

Key for using geologic knowledge to understand natural earth processes in historical and predictive modes



2. Sustainability

3. Systems






Hazardous Earth Processes

Examples: Flooding Earthquakes Volcanism Landslides / mudslides

Dealing with natural hazards requires an understanding of the processes, factors, and their relationships to other earth systems



2. Sustainability

3. Systems






Geology as a Basic Environmental Science

All geology can be considered environmental

The environment and our understanding of it, is rooted in geology (together with biology,etc.)

Understanding our environment requires a broad-based comprehension and appreciation of the earth sciences

Main factors in interdisciplinary environmental science:

Physical

Biological

(Chemical)

Human use and interest



2. Sustainability

3. Systems






Obligation to the Future

Effects of land use tend to be cumulative

This use, and what mankind continues do, have important implications for those who follow us

Example: Ducktown, Tenn.

Ducktown, TN

Chapter SummaryEnvironmental Geology = ?Consideration of time in geologic sciencesCultural basis for environmental degradation (explain) Ethical Economic Political Religious

Environmental problems not confined to any one political or social systemLand ethic = ?Immediate cause of environmental crisis: Overpopulation Urbanization Industrialization (what do these mean; what’s the relationship?)

Chapter Summary con’t

Environmental “Problems” mean what?

Solutions to environmental problems require what?

Scientific understanding (of what?)Fostering social, economic, and ethical

behavior to allow implementation (Explain)

Eight Fundamental Concepts1. Overpopulation = #1 environmental problem

2. Environmental objective = sustainability

3a The earth is (essentially) a closed system with respect to materials

3b Solutions to environmental problems include understanding of feedback and rates of change in systems

4a. The earth is the only sustainable habitat we have

4b. It’s resources are limited

5. Today’s physical processes are modifying our landscape (and environment), and have operated throughout geologic time; but magnitude and frequency are subject to natural and man-induced changes

6. Earth processes that are hazardous to people have always existed

7. An understanding of our environment requires an understanding of the earth sciences (and related disciplines)

8. The effects of land use tend to be cumulative. Thus, we have an obligation to those who follow us.

Learning Objectives

Meaning of “Environmental Geology”

Scientific Method

Cultural/Environmental Awareness

Environmental Ethics

Environmental Crisis?

Sustainability

Systems; Environmental Unity

Uniformitarianism

Documents

Philosophy and Fundamental Concepts Part 2: Culture and Environmental Awareness