Mr. Lowrie's Science Site
  • Home
  • Environmental Systems
    • First Week Stuff
    • Key Terms Glossary
    • Unit 1: Introduction to Environmental Science >
      • Chapter 1: Science and the Environment >
        • Section 1: Understanding Our Environment
        • Section 2: The Environment and Society
      • Chapter 2: Tools of Environmental Science >
        • Section 1: Scientific Methods
        • Section 2: Statistics and Models
        • Section 3: Making Informed Decisions
      • Chapter 3: The Dynamic Earth >
        • Section 1: The Geosphere
        • Section 2: The Atmosphere
        • Section 3: The Hydrosphere and Biosphere
    • Unit 2: Ecology >
      • Chapter 4: The Organization of Life >
        • Section 1: Ecosystems: Everything is Connected
        • Section 2: Evolution
        • Section 3: The Diversity of Living Things
      • Chapter 5: How Ecosystems Work >
        • Section 1: Energy Flow in Ecosystems
        • Section 2: The Cycling of Materials
        • Section 3: How Ecosystems Change
      • Chapter 6: Biomes >
        • Section 1: What is a Biome?
        • Section 2: Forest Biomes
        • Section 3: Grassland, Desert, and Tundra Biomes
      • Chapter 7: Aquatic Ecosystems >
        • Section 1: Freshwater Ecosystems
        • Section 2: Marine Ecosystems
    • Unit 3: Populations >
      • Chapter 8: Understanding Populations >
        • Section 1: How Populations Change in Size
        • Section 2: How Species Interact with Each Other
      • Chapter 9: The Human Population >
        • Section 1: Studying Human Populations
        • Section 2: Changing Population Trends
      • Chapter 10: Biodiversity >
        • Section 1: What is Biodiversity?
        • Section 2: Biodiversity at Risk
        • Section 3: The Future of Biodiversity
    • Unit 4: Water, Air, and Land >
      • Chapter 11: Water >
        • Section 1: Water Resources
        • Section 2: Water Use and Management
        • Section 3: Water Pollution
      • Chapter 12: Air >
        • Section 1: What Causes Air Pollution?
        • Section 2: Air, Noise, and Light Pollution
        • Section 3: Acid Precipitation
      • Chapter 13: Atmosphere and Climate Change >
        • Section 1: Climate and Climate Change
        • Section 2: The Ozone Shield
        • Section 3: Global Warming
      • Chapter 14: Land >
        • Section 1: How We Use Land
        • Section 2: Urban Land Use
        • Section 3: Land Management and Conservation
      • Chapter 15: Food and Agriculture >
        • Section 1: Feeding the World
        • Section 2: Crops and Soil
        • Section 3: Animals and Agriculture
    • Unit 5: Mineral and Energy Resources >
      • Chapter 16: Mining and Mineral Resources >
        • Section 1: Minerals and Mineral Resources
        • Section 2: Mineral Exploration and Mining
        • Section 3: Mining Regulations and Mine Reclamation
      • Chapter 17: Nonrenewable Energy >
        • Section 1: Energy Resources and Fossil Fuels
        • Section 2: Nuclear Energy
      • Chapter 18: Renewable Energy >
        • Section 1: Renewable Energy Today
        • Section 2: Alternative Energy and Conservation
      • Chapter 19: Waste >
        • Section 1: Solid Waste
        • Section 2: Reducing Solid Waste
        • Section 3: Hazardous Wastes
    • Unit 6: Our Health and Future >
      • Chapter 20: The Environment and Human Health >
        • Section 1: Pollution and Human Health
        • Section 2: Biological Hazards
      • Chapter 21: Economics, Policy, and the Future >
        • Section 1: Economics and International Cooperation
        • Section 2: Environmental Policies in the United States
        • Section 3: The Importance of the Individual
  • AP Environmental Science
    • First Week Stuff
    • Unit I: Humans and Sustainability: An Overview >
      • Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
    • Unit II: Science, Ecological Principles, and Sustainability >
      • Chapter 2: Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems
      • Chapter 3: Ecosystems: What are They and How Do They Work?
      • Chapter 4: Biodiversity and Evolution
      • Chapter 5: Biodiversity, Species Interactions, and Population Control
      • Chapter 6: The Human Population and Its Impact
      • Chapter 7: Climate and Biodiversity
      • Chapter 8: Aquatic Biodiversity
    • Unit III: Sustaining Biodiversity >
      • Chapter 9: Sustaining Biodiversity: Saving Species and Ecosystem Services
      • Chapter 10: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: Saving Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services
      • Chapter 11: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
    • Unit IV: Sustaining Natural Resources >
      • Chapter 12: Food Production and the Environment
      • Chapter 13: Water Resources
      • Chapter 14: Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
      • Chapter 15: Nonrenewable Energy
      • Chapter 16: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
    • Unit V: Sustaining Environmental Quality >
      • Chapter 17: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
      • Chapter 18: Air Pollution
      • Chapter 19: Climate Disruption
      • Chapter 20: Water Pollution
      • Chapter 21: Solid and Hazardous Waste
      • Chapter 22: Urbanization and Sustainability
    • Unit VI: Sustaining Human Societies >
      • Chapter 23: Economics, Environment, and Sustainability
      • Chapter 24: Politics, Environment, and Sustainability
      • Chapter 25: Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability
  • Chemistry
    • First Week Stuff
    • Matter

Chapter 1:  Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability


Section 1:  What are Some Principles of Sustainability?

Concept 1-1A:  Nature has been sustained for billions of years by relying on solar energy, biodiversity, and chemical cycling.

​Concept 1-1B:  Our lives and economies depend on energy fro the sun and on natural resources and ecosystem services (natural capital) provided by the earth.
​
Concept 1-1C:  We could shift toward living more sustainably by applying full-cost pricing, searching
​for win-win solutions, and committing to preserving the earth's life-support system for future generations.

Section 2:  How are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting the Earth?

Concept 1-2:  As our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earth's natural capital. 
Section 3:  Why Do We Have Environmental Problems?

Concept 1-3A:  Major causes of environmental problems are population growth, unsustainable resource use, poverty, avoidance of full-cost pricing, and increasing isolation from nature.

​Concept 1-3B:  Our environmental worldview play a key role in determining whether we live unsustainably or more sustainably.

Section 4:  What is an Environmentally Sustainable Society?

Concept 1-4:  Living sustainably means living off the earth's natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it.

Files:
APES Ch.1 Presentation
File Size: 4264 kb
File Type: pptx
Download File

APES Ch.1 Student Notes
File Size: 28 kb
File Type: docx
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APES Ch.1 Glossary
File Size: 19 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

Guest Essay: Brown
File Size: 133 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Key Terms:
  • affluence
  • biodiversity
  • chemical cycling
  • doubling time
  • ecological footprint
  • ecology
  • ecosystem
  • ecosystem services
  • environment
  • environmental degradation
  • environmental ethics
  • environmental science
  • environmental wisdom worldview
  • exhaustible resource
  • exponential growth
  • full-cost pricing
  • hunter-gatherer
  • ​inexhaustible resource
  • input pollution control
  • less-developed country
  • malnutrition
  • more-developed country
  • natural capital
  • natural capital degradation
  • natural income
  • natural resources
  • natural services
  • nonpoint sources
​
  • nonrenewable resource
  • nutrient
  • nutrient cycling
  • open-access renewable resource
  • organism
  • output pollution control
  • per capita ecological footprint
  • planetary management worldview
  • point source
  • pollutant
  • pollution
  • pollution cleanup
  • pollution prevention
  • poverty
  • recycle
  • renewable resource
  • resource
  • reuse
  • rule of 70
  • scientific principles of sustainability
  • social science principles of sustainability
  • solar energy
  • species
  • stewardship worldview
  • sustainability
  • sustainability revolution
  • sustainable yield (sustained yield)
  • ​tragedy of the commons
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