Professional Documents
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Milton Freedman *
Question: What responsibilities do businesses
have to protect the environment or save
resources beyond the legal liabilities spelled
out in the law?
Answer: None. In fact, it would be unethical
for corporate leaders to consider anything
other than maximizing profits. To spend time
or resources doing anything other than making
profit and increasing the value of a company is
a betrayal of their duty
*1976 Nobel Prize in Economics
Atmosphere
300 miles of gas (Table 15.1)
78% nitrogen (inert)
21% oxygen
0.035% carbon dioxide
Troposphere (lower 5-11 miles)
Where we live
Determines weather and climate
Air Pollution
Greenhouse gasses
Increase the ability of the atmosphere to trap
heat
Ozone-depleting gasses
Destroy atmospheric ozone
Toxins
Chemicals
Particulates
2013 Pearson
Education, Inc.
Figure 8.20
Major producers
28% United States (5% of population)
23% China (20% of population)
2013 Pearson
Education, Inc.
Impacts of Global
Warming
Cold
Record/unseasonable cold
Rainfall (floods)
Drought
Storms (tornadoes, hurricanes, monsoons,
etc.)
Impact more pronounced further from the
equator and further from oceans
Poles most affected
Interior regions of continents more affected
2013 Pearson
Education, Inc.
Impacts of Global
Warming
Glaciers and sea ice melting
Arctic sea ice thinner, less coverage
Antarctic ice shelves disappearing, glaciers
retreating
Could raise sea levels hundreds of feet
2013 Pearson
Education, Inc.
Impacts of Global
Warming
Increase in sea level
Rise of 6-8 inches in last 100 years
Expect 3 feet increase by 2050
If all ice melts, sea levels would rise by
as much as 600 feet
Displace 1/3 of worlds population
Flood cities, disrupt transportation
Flood most productive agricultural regions
Impacts of Global
Warming
Disrupt plant and animal life
Change plant and animal distributions
Change growing seasons (plants)
Change breeding seasons (animals)
Widespread species extinctions
Spread of infectious diseases
(mosquitoes and malaria, etc.)
Significant impact on agriculture
2015
Ozone
Pollutant at ground level
Beneficial in the stratosphere (6-30 miles
up)
Absorbs 99% of UV radiation from sun
(mutagen)
Protects against cellular damage to plants and
animals
Every 1% loss of ozone leads to 1 million more skin
cancer cases per year, increased eye damage, etc.
Plants (especially food crops) are more sensitive to
UV damage than animals
Ozone
Ozone hole in stratosphere
First noted in 1985 over Antarctica in winter
Chlorine-based aerosols (CFCs) react with
and break down ozone
CFC is catalyst, not used up when it reacts
Air Pollution
Human sources
Primary pollutants
Released in their toxic form directly into the
air
Secondary pollutants
Modified to a toxic form after they are
released into the air
Chemical reactions in the presence of heat,
sunlight
photochemical smog
Criteria Pollutants
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Plastics
Foam
Paints
fabric treatments
preservatives
Solutions
Minimize production of toxins
scrub emissions
Remove toxins before they are released into
the air
Reduce consumption
Alternate energy sources
Change composition of consumer goods
Paints, plastics, foams, etc.