Chapter 1~ What on Earth Are We Doing? ~
“If everyone in the world had an ecological footprint equivalent to that of the typical North American or Western European, global society would overshoot the planet’s biocapacity three to five fold.”J. Kitzes et al., (2008)
Amber GilewskiTompkins Cortland Community College
• 67% of North Americans agree that environmental conditions are worsening
• 28% say they have made major lifestyle changes to protect the environment
• 55% made some minor changes• More than 90% of U.S. residents surveyed
indicated that the United States “should act to reduce global warming, even if it has economic costs”
Environmental problems are really behavioral problems
• They are caused by the thoughts, beliefs, values, and worldviews upon which human beings act
• Human behavior is ultimately responsible for rapidly deteriorating natural systems on which the survival of all species (including human) depends
THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEMThreats to the biosphere:
• Pollution• Over population• Climate change• Species extinctions• Deforestation• Ozone depletion topsoil loss• Coral reef destruction
Biology’s bottom line: Carrying capacity• The maximum number of any species a habitat
can support• If the territory is isolated and the population
cannot migrate to a new one, the inhabitants must find a balance with its resource base
• Alternatively, if the population grows too quickly so that it depletes its resources suddenly, the population will crash
Figure 1.1 The J-shaped curve of past exponential world population growth, with projections to 2050 (this figure is not to scale). Data from World Bank and United Nations; photo courtesy of NASA. (Adapted from Miller, G.T., Living in the Environment, 15E., p. 6, © Brooks/Cole, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc., 2007. With permission.)
Psychological reactions to environmental threats:
• Despair• Anxiety• Irritation• Anger• Feeling overwhelmed
The Psychological Impacts of Global Climate Change
Psychological Reactions to Environmental Threats
Boomster• Optimistic/unrealistic• Ingenuity will prevail• Belief that we’re not limited
by carrying capacity (minority view)
• Technology will save us• Believe the media is
exaggerating environmental problems/environmental skeptics
Doomster• Pessimistic/realistic• Sense of hopelessness• Viewed as giving a “doom
and gloom” perspective• Popular position (especially
amongst the younger and better educated persons)
• May not always agree on the solutions
Affluenza • An unsustainable addiction to consumption,
materialism, and economic growth• A painful, contagious, socially transmitted
condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste, resulting from the dogged pursuit of more
AFFLUENZA – PBS PROGRAM
Cultural versus biological carrying capacityI = P x A x T
• I – the impact of any group or nation• P – population size• A – the per-capita affluence, as measured by
consumption• T – the technology employed in supplying that
consumption
CONCLUSIONS:• No single academic discipline will provide the
solution to our environmental problems• Interdisciplinary collaborations are urgently
needed• Psychology has a lot to offer for understanding
how environmental degradation developed and the psychological forces maintaining it