HUMANS & THE

ENVIRONMENT
SocSci1

In this presentation...
Natural environment
Humans vis-a-vis the Environment
Human impact on ecosystems
Consequences of human
modification of the environment
Effect of natural hazards to
humans
Environmental challenges
Advocacy/Call to action
Perspectives on the Environment

The Natural Environment

comprises all living and non-living
things that occur naturally on Earth
or some part of it

The Natural Environment

Key components:
landscape units/natural systems
without massive human intervention
[includes all plants, animals, rocks, etc. and
natural phenomena that occur within their
boundaries]
natural resources and physical
phenomena [air, water, and climate, as
well as energy, radiation, electric charge,
and magnetism, not originating from
human activity]
Natural features which occur within areas
heavily influenced by man (such as wild
birds in urban gardens).

4 basic components of
Earths physical systems

Atmosphere
Biosphere
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere

Natural Environment vs Built

Environment
built environment comprises the
areas and components that are heavily
influenced by man
natural environment (with an
indefinite article), if the human impact
on it is kept under a certain limited
level
wilderness refers to areas without any
human intervention whatsoever (or
almost so).

The Natural Environment

ECOSYSTEM:
COMPLEX WEB LINKING ANIMALS,
PLANTS, AIR, WATER AND EVERY OTHER
LIFEFORM IN THE BIOSPHERE
STEADY STATE OF DYNAMIC BALANCE;
BY ALTERING ANY ONE PART YOU AFFECT
ALL THE OTHERS...
HUMAN SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON
PRESERVING THE ECOSYSTEM

The Natural Environment

Ecology (from Greek: , oikos,
"household"; and , logos,
"knowledge") is
.the scientific study of the distribution
and abundance of living organisms
.and how the distribution and abundance
are affected by interactions between the
organisms and their environment.

The Natural Environment

The environment of an organism includes
both
.physical properties, which can be
described as the sum of local abiotic
factors such as insolation (sunlight),
climate, and geology,
.and biotic factors, which are other
organisms that share its habitat.

The Natural Environment

Ecology or oekologie was coined by the
German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866,
when he defined it as "the comprehensive
science of the relationship of the organism
to the environment

The Natural Environment

COMMONERS LAW OF ECOLOGY
1. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED WITH
EVERYTHING ELSE...
2. EVERYTHING MUST GO SOMEWHERE...
3. NATURE KNOWS BEST....
4. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS FREE
LUNCH....

CLOTHING
FOOD

SHELTER

HUMAN
ENVIRONMENT
INTERACTION

LIVELIHOOD

RECREATION

Human Impact on Ecosystems

Arguments:
1. Population growth
2. Human modification of the physical
environment
2.1. Domino effect of human
modification
2.2. Role of technology
3. Human response to natural hazards

Human Impact on Ecosystems

Arguments:
1. Population:
As the human population grows, the
demand for Earths resources
increases.

Human Impact on Ecosystems

1.1 Earths human carrying capacity is
unknown.

Human Impact on Ecosystems

1. 2. Technology has helped to increase
Earths carrying capacity.
a. gas-powered farm equipment
b. medical advancements

Human Impact on Ecosystems

1.3. The growing human population
exerts pressure on Earths natural
resources.
1.3.1 Nonrenewable resources are used
faster than they form.
a. coal
b. oil

Human Impact on Ecosystems

1.3.2 Renewable resources
cannot be used up or can
replenish themselves over time.
a. wind
b. water
c. sunlight
1.3.3. Growing use of
nonrenewable resources may
lead to a crisis.
1.3.4. Resources must be
properly managed

Human Impact on Ecosystems

1.5. Ecological footprint helps assess
humans impact on the environment
a. An ecological footprint is the amount of
land needed to support a person.
b. The land must produce and maintain
enough
1. food and water
2. shelter
3. energy
4. waste

Human Impact on Ecosystems

c. Several factors affect the size of the
ecological footprint.
1. amount and efficiency of resource use
2. amount and toxicity of waste produced

Human Impact on Ecosystems

1.6. Effective management of
Earths resources will help meet
the needs of the future.
a. Earths resources must be
used responsibly.
b. Careless use of resources
makes them unavailable to
future generations.
c. Easter Island is an example of
irresponsible resource use.

Human Impact on Ecosystems

2. The consequences of human modification
of the physical environment
the atmosphere (e.g., effects of ozone
depletion, climate change, changes in urban
microclimates)
the biosphere (e.g., the effects of
deforestation, expansion of the savanna,
reduction in biodiversity)
the lithosphere (e.g., the effects of land
degradation, soil salinization and acidification,
gully erosion, weathering by polluted air and
water)
and the hydrosphere (e.g., the effects of
ocean pollution, groundwater-quality decline)

Human Impact on Ecosystems

2.1. Domino Effect of human modification

modifications in one place often lead to

changes in other places
the effect of a factorys airborne emissions
on air quality in communities located
downwind
effect of acid rain, on ecosystems located
downwind
effect of pesticides washed into river
systems on water quality in communities
located downstream

Human Impact on Ecosystems

construction of dams and levees on river
systems in one region affects places
downstream
limits the availability of water for human
use,
enables electricity to be generated,
controls flooding
improves river transportation
leads to changes in ecosystems

Human Impact on Ecosystems

environmental change in one part of the
world can affect places in other parts of the
world
examples, industrial activity and acid rain
in North America
the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
accident and radioactive fallout in Europe
and Asia

Human Impact on Ecosystems

2.2. The role of technology in the human
modification of the physical environment
unintended and intended outcomes of major
technological changes in human history
the effects of automobiles using fossil fuels
nuclear power plants creating the problem of
nuclear-waste storage
the use of steel-tipped plows or the expansion
of the amount of land brought into agriculture

Human Impact on Ecosystems

effects of using chemical fertilizers and
pesticides, using modern tilling equipment
and techniques, and the hybridization of
crops on biodiversity
effects of energy-capturing technologies:
the introduction of fire, steam power, diesel
machinery, electricity, work animals,
explosives

Human Impact on Ecosystems

3. how natural hazards affect human
activities
in different regions of the world
effect of drought on populations in Ethiopia
compared with populations in Australia or
the southern part of the United States
on their severity of impact on humans
by length of event, total loss of life, total
economic impact, social effects, long-term
impacts, incidence of associated hazards

Human Impact on Ecosystems

ways humans prepare for natural hazards

earthquake preparedness,
constructing houses on stilts in flood-prone
areas,
designation of hurricane shelters and
evacuation routes in hurricane-prone areas

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Call to action/Advocacy:
Reduction and clean up of man-made
pollution, with future goals of zero
pollution;
Reducing societal consumption of nonrenewable fuels;
Development of alternative, green, lowcarbon or renewable energy sources;
conservation and sustainable use of scarce
resources such as water, land, and air;
Protection of representative or unique or
pristine ecosystems;

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Preservation and expansion of threatened
or endangered species or ecosystems from
extinction;
The establishment of nature and biosphere
reserves under various types of protection;
The protection of biodiversity and
ecosystems upon which all human and
other life on earth depends.

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Strong concern about climate change
global warming caused by anthropogenic
releases of greenhouse gases, most notably
carbon dioxide, and their interactions with
humans and the natural environment
focused on the mitigation of greenhouse gases
that are causing climatic changes:
(e.g. through the Climate Change Convention
and the Kyoto Protocol)
on developing adaptative strategies to assist
species, ecosystems, humans, regions and
nations in adjusting to the effects of global
warming

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Perspectives on human-environment relations:
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a concern for the
preservation, restoration, or improvement of the
natural environment, such as the conservation of
natural resources, prevention of pollution, and
certain land use actions
Supports the struggles of indigenous peoples
against the spread of globalization to their way of
life, which is seen as less harmful to the
environment

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Perspectives on human-environment
relations:
The study of practical environmentalism is
split into two positions:
the mainstream anthropocentric or
hierarchic,
the more radical ecocentric or
egalitarian

2 clashing knowledge systems

Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Western Knowledge Sytems

Holistic (way of life)

Hegemonic (way of control)

Culture-bound (diverse)

Class-based (elitist);pro-West

Ecocentric (communing with

nature)

Anthropocentric (humans
1st)

Protects biodiversity

Destroys biodiversity

Invokes land is sacred, land is

life

Invokes land could be

exploited and owned, land is
capital

Protects non-renewable energies

Disappearing knowledge
systems
Advocates traditional medicine or
ethnomedicine

Exploits non-renewable
energies
Dominant knowledge
systems
Advocates biomedicine

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Anthropocentric way of life:
Land is capital philosophy (profit-driven,
urbanization, technologization, private
ownership, convenience..)
Monoculture (agro-industrialization, HYV
technology, plantation economy)
Biotechnology (GMO)
May lead biodiversity loss and extinction of
species including humans

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Monoculture:
Advantages:
Increases the productivity of farmland
by growing only the best variety of crop
Allows more than one crop per year
Simplifies sowing and harvesting of the
crop
Reduces labour costs

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Monoculture:
Disadvantages:
Reduces genetic diversity and renders
all crops in a region susceptible to
disease
Fertilisers required to maintain soil
fertility
Pesticides are required to keep crops
healthy
Monoculture reduces species diversity
Less attractive countryside

Bahay-Kubo Technology vs HYV Technology

Bahay-Kubo Technology

HYV Technology

Katutubong binhi

IRRI Hybrid Rice

Diversified farming

Monocropping system

Bayanihan system of
farming

Bayaran system of farming

Use of traditional
technologies like carabaos
& natural fertilizers
Preserves agridiversity
Impoverish farmers and
farming communities

Use of modern farming

systems like tractor,
fertilizers and pesticides
Destroys agridiversity
Enriches agrochemical and
agribusiness companies

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Ecocentrism as a way of life:

Respects/protects biodiversity
Egalitarian
May lead to biodiversity conservation
and speciation
Sustainable development (diversified
farming, bahay kubo technology)
Land is life philosophy

Philosophical and Theoretical Framework of

IKSP
Land is sacred, land is life philosophy
Para sa aming mga Ayta, sagrado ang lupa. Ang lupa ang
siyang ina kung saan sumususo ang lahat at siyang
bumubuhay sa lahat ng nilikha-isda, hayop, tanim at tao
Hindi basta-basta sinasaling o pinuputol ang mga
halaman at kahoy dahil ito ay buhay na representasyon
ng mga ninuno, ng mga ninunong namatay at naging
abo o lupa na nagbigay sustansya sa mga kahoy at
halaman kaya dapat sila igalang (Bagat, 1995 in
Estacio, 1996:74)
Ecocentrism/Sustainable Ecosystems Approach
Ang tao at ang kalikasan ay iisa
[humans and nature are one]

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Biodiversity preservation
Biodiversity
variation of taxonomic life forms within a
given ecosystem, biome or for the entire
Earth
used as a measure of the health of
biological systems
variation of life at all levels of biological
organization
a measure of the relative diversity
among organisms present in different
ecosystems

Environmental Challenges of the Day

The 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro defined "biodiversity"
as "the variability among living organisms from
all sources, including, 'inter alia',
terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic
ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of
which they are part: this includes diversity
within species, between species and of
ecosystems
This is, in fact, the closest thing to a single legally
accepted definition of biodiversity, since it is the
definition adopted by the United Nations
Convention on Biological Diversity

Environmental Challenges of the Day

"totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a
region
present a unified view of the traditional three
levels at which biodiversity has been identified;
genetic diversity - diversity of genes within a
species
species diversity - diversity among species in an
ecosystem. "Biodiversity hotspots" are excellent
examples of species diversity.
ecosystem diversity - diversity at a higher level of
organization, the ecosystem

Environmental Challenges of the Day

2 views on Biodoversity
If the gene is the fundamental unit of natural
selection, according to E. O. Wilson, the real
biodiversity is genetic diversity
For geneticists, biodiversity is the diversity of
genes and organisms
They study processes such as mutations, gene
exchanges, and genome dynamics that occur at
the DNA level and generate evolution
Leads to biotechnology (genetically modified
organisms)

Environmental Challenges of the Day

For ecologists, biodiversity is also the
diversity of durable interactions among
species.
It not only applies to species, but also
to their immediate environment
(biotope) and their larger ecoregion.
In each ecosystem, living organisms
are part of a whole, interacting with not
only other organisms, but also with the
air, water, and soil that surround them.

Environmental Challenges of the Day

There are three indices which are commonly
used by ecologists:
Alpha diversity refers to diversity within a
particular area, community or ecosystem, and is
measured by counting the number of taxa within
the ecosystem (usually species)
Beta diversity is species diversity between
ecosystems; this involves comparing the number
of taxa that are unique to each of the
ecosystems.
Gamma diversity is a measure of the overall
diversity for different ecosystems within a region.

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Benefits Of Biodiversity:
1. Resistance to Catastrophe
2. Food and drink
3. Medicines
4. Industrial materials
5. Intellectual value (mental health)
6. Better crop-varieties
7. Leisure, cultural and aesthetic value

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Threats to Biodiversity:
1.Habitat destruction
2.Pollution
3.Species Introductions
4.Global Climate Change
5.Exploitation

Environmental Challenges of the Day

The Environmental movement (a term that
sometimes includes the conservation and
green movements) is a diverse scientific,
social, and political movement
In general terms, environmentalists advocate
the sustainable management of resources,
and the protection (and restoration, when
necessary) of the natural environment
through changes in public policy and
individual behavior.

Environmental Challenges of the Day

In its recognition of humanity as a
participant in ecosystems, the movement
is centered around ecology, health, and
human rights
Additionally, throughout history, the
movement has been incorporated into
religion.
The movement is represented by a range
of organizations, from the large to
grassroots, but a younger demographic
than is common in other social movements

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Environmentalists are sometimes split up into two
groups: Dark and Light Greens.
Light Greens are the more popular and more
visible part of the environmental movement,
which includes the more famous and public
environmental groups such as Greenpeace,
Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club.
Light Greens do not follow environmentalism as a
distinct political ideology, but rather seek greater
environmental emphasis within existing
ideologies such as Conservatism, Socialism or
Liberalism

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Dark Greens are much more radical than light greens;
they tend to believe that all the current political
ideologies (that are referred to as industrialism) are
corrupt and naturally lead to environmental
degradation
they do not view mankind as part of the environment
but rather as a higher form of life with the right to take
what it wants from the environment.
Dark Greens claim that this is caused by the emphasis
on growth that exists within all existing ideologies
referred to a growth mania.
The dark green brand of environmentalism is
associated with ideas of Deep Ecology, Postmaterialism, Holism, the Gaia Theory of James Lovelock

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Gaia Hypothesis:
Gaia is a complex entity involving the
Earths biosphere, atmosphere, oceans,
and soil; the totality constituting a
feedback of cybernetic system which
seeks an optimal physical and chemical
environment for life on this planet -James
Lovelock
How Does Gaia work?
Life regulates the climate and atmosphere
at an optimum for itself
Homeostasis [ Like a thermostat]

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Deep Ecology
Taking its name and approach from
Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess' 1972
article on "The Shallow and the Deep,
Long-Range Ecology Movement," deep
ecology holds that the reform
environmentalism of the 1970s and 1980s
dealt only with legal and institutional fixes
for pollution and resource depletion, rather
than fundamental changes in human
relations with nonhuman nature

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Deep Ecology
Deep ecology requires a new metaphysics
of humans-in-nature not above it. This
cosmic/ecological metaphysics stresses an
1/thou relationship between humans and
nonhuman nature and the integrity of
person/planet
The principle of biospheric equality places
humans on an equal level with all other
living things in an organismic democracy.

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Deep ecology describes itself as "deep"
because it is concerned with fundamental
philosophical questions about the role of
human life as one part of the ecosphere,
rather than with a narrow view of ecology
as a branch of biological science,

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Arne Naess' Principles of Deep Ecology
1. Rejection of the man-in-environment
image in favor of the relational, total-field
image.
2. Biospherical egalitarianism.
3. Principles of diversity and of symbiosis.
4. Anti-class posture.
5. Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
6. Complexity, not complication.
7. Local autonomy and decentralization.

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Ecocentrism
is a philosophy that recognizes that the ecosphere,
rather than any individual organism, is the source and
support of all life and as such advises a holistic and
eco-centric approach to government, industry, and
individual
The root of "eco" is "home," and the ecosphere is the
home-sphere.
Ecocentrism puts the ecosphere first. It recognizes the
importance of the environment and the web of life and
realizes that no single organism is more important
than another
Ecocentrism does not even distinguish between
animate life and inanimate matter or process. The
entire "sphere" of life is important

Environmental Challenges of the Day

Critique of technology is a theory which criticizes
technology for alleged negative impact under
capitalist conditions
Proponents of this theory argue that that under
capitalist conditions technology is or becomes a
means of domination, control and exploitation, or
more generally something which threatens the
survival of humanity
In a wider sense a sceptical attitude towards
technology which is not necessarily fully
theoretically developed can also be related to the
critique of technology.

Cultural ecology
Four schools of thought developed by
geographers on cultural ecology
Environmental determinism
Possibilism
Environmental perception
Humans as modifiers of the earth

Environmental determinism
Developed during the first quarter of the
20th century.
Physical environment provided a dominant
force in shaping cultures
Humans were clay to be molded by nature
Believed mountain people, because they
lived in rugged terrain were:
Backward
Conservative
Unimaginative
Freedom loving

Environmental determinism
Believed desert dwellers were:
Likely to believe in one god
Lived under the rule of tyrants
Temperate climates produced:
Inventiveness
Industriousness
Democracy
Coastlands with fjords produced
navigators and fishers
Overestimated the role of environment

Possibilism
Took the place of determinism in the
1920s
Cultural heritage at least as important as
physical environment in affecting human
behavior
Believe people are the primary architects
of culture

Possibilism
Physical environment offers numerous
ways for a culture to develop.
People make culture trait choices from the
possibilities offered by their environment
to satisfy their needs.
High technology societies are less
influenced by physical environment.
Geographer Jim Norwin warns control over
environment may be an illusion because of
possible future climatic changes.

Environmental perception
Each persons or cultural groups mental
images of the physical environment are
shaped by knowledge, ignorance,
experience, values, and emotions
Environmental perceptionists declarechoices people make will depend more on
how they perceive the lands character
than its actual character
People make decisions based on distortion
of reality with regard to their surrounding
physical environment

Environmental perception
Geomancya traditional system of land-use
planning dictating that certain environmental
settings, perceived by the sages as auspicious,
should be chosen as the sites for houses, villages,
temples, and graves (feng-shui)
an East Asian world view and art
affected the location and morphology of urban
places in countries such as China and Korea
diffused (look up feng-shui on internet)

Natural hazards
Humans perceptions of natural hazards
Flooding, hurricanes, volcanic eruption,
earthquakes, insect infestations, and droughts
Some cultures consider them as unavoidable
acts of the gods sent down as punishments
because of the peoples shortcomings
During times of natural disasters, some
cultures feel the government should take care
of them
Western cultures feel technology should be
able to solve the problems created by natural
hazards

Natural hazards
In virtually all cultures, people
knowingly inhabit hazard zones
Especially floodplains, exposed coastal
sites, drought-prone regions, and active
volcanic areas
More Americans than ever live in
hurricane- and earthquake-prone areas
of the United States

Natural hazards
Migrants tend to imagine new homelands
as being more similar to their old
homelands than is actually the case
Humans perceptions of natural resources
Hunting and gathering cultures
Agricultural groups
Industrial societies

Humans as modifiers of the earth

Another facet of cultural ecology
In a sense, the opposite of environmental
determinism
Human modification varies from one culture to
another
Ecologists seek alternative, less destructive
modes of environmental modification
Humans of the Judeo-Christian tradition tend to
regard environmental modification as divinely
approved
Other more cautious groups take care not to
offend the forces of nature

Biodiversity:
Who cares?

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

What do you think biodiversity

means?

Biodiversity
What does Bio mean?

Bio =

Biodiversity
What does Diversity mean?

Diversity = Variety

Biodiversity is the variety of life on

Earth and the essential
interdependence of all living things

Scientists have identified more than 2 million species. Tens

of millions -- remain unknown
The tremendous variety of life on Earth is made possible by
complex interactions among all living things including
microscopic species like algae and mites.

There are 3 components of

biodiversity
1.

Diversity of genes

Chihuahuas, beagles, and rottweilers are all dogsbut

they're not the same because their genes are different.

Chihuahua

Beagle
Rottweilers

There are 3 components of

biodiversity
Diversity of species
For example, monkeys, dragonflies, and
meadow beauties are all different species.

Saki Monkey

Golden Skimmer

Meadow Beauty

There are 3 components of

biodiversity
Variety of ecosystems
Prairies, Ponds, and tropical rain forests are all
ecosystems. Each one is different, with its own set of
species living in it.

Paines Prairie

Florida Sand hill Pond

Hoh Rain Forest

Which is more diverse?

Which is more diverse?

Which is more diverse?

Which is more diverse?

Which has more cultural

diversity?

Which has more biodiversity?

Which has more biodiversity?

Biodiversity has Intrinsic Value

Intrinsic Value = Something that has value
in and of itself

Biodiversity also has utilitarian

Value
Utilitarian Value = the value something has as
a means to anothers end.
Utilitarian values include:
Goods
Services
Information

What do we get from

biodiversity?
Oxygen
Food
Clean Water
Medicine
Aesthetics
Ideas

Should we be concerned about

biodiversity?
What we know:
The Earth is losing species at an alarming rate

Some scientists estimate that as many as 3 species

per hour are going extinct and 20,000 extinctions occur
each year.

when species of plants and animals go extinct, many

other species are affected.

Threats to biodiversity
Habitat destruction
Pollution
Species Introductions
Global Climate Change
Exploitation

What gives?
Are you pro-diversity or anti-diversity?

References
Estacio notes (IKSP etc.)
www.spice.centers.ufl.edu(Biodiversity: Who cares?)