ENVIRONMENT

SOCY 102
An environment is generally defined as the surroundings or conditions in which a person,
animal or plant survives or operates.
• Our environment is constantly changing, and as our environment
changes so does the need to become increasingly aware of the
environmental issues that are causing these changes. With a
massive increase in natural disasters, warming and cooling
periods, and different types of weather patterns, people need to
be a lot more cautious with the way they lead their lives in
conjunction with the types of environmental issues our planet is
facing.
Environment-Society Relations

• Societies adapt and transform the environments they

inhabit.
• They depend upon using resources and reducing hazards
for their survival and material well-being.
• They also assign meanings to the environment that vary
over place and time, which help define their identity and
values within the world.
Technological Changes and Environment Relationships
Hunter-Gatherer Survival based by gathering edible plants and killing animals.
Societies Little accumulated economic and food surplus.
Small numbers, decentralized and little use of resources.
Strong linkage with nature.

Agricultural societies Produce larger and more stable food supplies.

Larger settlements and populations.
First major environmental degradation.
Decline or collapse of civilizations linked with the degradation of the soils
and resource bases.
Human domination of nature (anthropocentric view).
Industrial societies Substitution of human and animal labor by machines.
Urbanization (population outside natural surroundings).
Began to change attitudes toward the environment.
Exploitation of resources exacerbated many environmental problems and
created new ones.
Pollution exacerbated by the use of synthetic materials.
• The resources we use can be classified as renewable or non-
renewable. The primary difference between the two is the rate at
which they are regenerated back into a usable form relative to the
rate at which humans use them. Non-renewable
resources cannot be replenished by natural means as quickly as
the rate at which they are consumed. They include minerals
and fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas, formed over millions
of years by natural processes from decayed plants and animals.
• Renewable resources are constantly available or
regenerated over short timescales by natural processes.
Some renewable resources, such as solar energy, are not
modified or used by humans. Others, such as water, are
altered when we use them and can be over-exploited or
damaged so that the resource is no longer available.
Environmental Problems
• Resource Depletion
– Natural resources
– Renewable to Nonrenewable
• Pollution
– Air, water, soil (Biodegradable/Non-Bio-
degradable
• Loss of Biodiversity
– Natural Resources (Food, oxygen, resources)
• Environmental issues are the harmful effects of human
activities on the environment. These include pollution,
overpopulation, waste disposal, climate change, global
warming, the greenhouse effect, etc.
• Various environment protection programs are being
practised at the individual, organizational and government
levels with the aim of establishing a balance between
man and the environment.
Climate Change

• Climate change is a great concern in today’s scenario.

This problem has surfaced in the last few decades.
Greenhouse gases are the major cause of climate change.
Environmental changes have several destructive impacts
such as the melting of glaciers, change in seasons,
epidemics, etc
Global Warming

• The burning of fossil fuels, emissions from automobiles

and chlorofluorocarbons add to the greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere. This has led to an increase in the earth’s
temperature causing environmental changes. This
increase in temperature across the globe is known as
global warming.
Ozone Layer Depletion

• The ozone layer is a layer of concentrated ozone gas. It

protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. This
very important layer is being destroyed by CFCs
(chlorofluorocarbons), which are used in industries and
everyday life (e.g. aerosol cans).
• The chlorine in these compounds destroys the ozone
layer. The hole in the ozone layer leaves humans and
wildlife exposed to harmful UV rays resulting in several
skin diseases including cancer.
Water Pollution

• The introduction of harmful substances into rivers,

oceans, lakes and ponds, which changes the physical,
chemical or biological condition of the water is called
water pollution. The polluted water lacks oxygen and
therefore the organisms die.
• Water is the main source of life and therefore it is our
prime duty to prevent it from any kind of pollution.
Air Pollution

• Air pollution is the result of emissions from industries,

automobiles, and the increasing use of fossil fuels. The
gaseous emissions have added to an increase in the
temperature of the earth. Not only this, but it had also
increased the risk of diseases among individuals.
Solid Waste Management

• Solid-waste management is defined as the discipline

associated with the generation, storage, collection,
transfer and transport, processing, and disposal of solid
waste in a manner that it does not have a harmful effect
on the environment.
Deforestation

• Deforestation is the depletion of trees and forests at an

alarming rate. The trees provide us with oxygen, and
several raw materials and also maintain the temperature
of the earth. Due to the depletion of trees for commercial
purposes, there has been a drastic change in the earth’s
climate.
• Forests are an abode to a large number of wild animals
and plants. Destruction of forests has led to the
elimination of a large number of plants and animal
species affecting biodiversity.
Overpopulation

• The earth’s population is increasing drastically. It is

estimated to be more than seven billion. The increasing
population has led to a shortage of resources. If this
continues, it will be very difficult to sustain such a huge
population. The other environmental issues including
pollution, waste management, deforestation, climate
change and global warming are all associated with
overpopulation
Why Do We Have Environmental Problems?
• Major causes of environmental problems are
population growth, wasteful and unsustainable
resource use, and exclusion of harmful
environmental costs from the market prices of
goods and services.
Driving Forces
• Promotion of economic growth
– Market economies are based on economic expansion:
• Growth of production (supply).
• Growth of consumption (demand).
– Issue reinforced by globalization.
– Governments try to reinforce economic growth:
• Elected for such a purpose.
• Reversed if they “mismanage” the economy.
– Consequences:
• Depletion of nonrenewable resources.
• Overuse of renewable resources.
• Between 1995 and 1998 the world’s economic output exceeded the
output from the beginning of history to 1900.
Driving Forces
• Culture and belief systems
– Consumerism incarnates materialistic values in human behavior.
– Fulfillment derived from the accumulation of goods.
– Expands the demand side of the market economy.
– Lebow (commenting American consumerism):
• “Our enormously productive economy … demands that we make
consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of
good into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and ego
satisfaction in consumption. … We need things consumed, burned up,
worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate.”
– Becoming the dominant global social paradigm.
Driving Forces
• Technology
– Population growth, economic growth and consumerism existed,
to various degrees, before the industrial revolution.
– Technological developments have expanded the processes.
– Technological growth often the result of resource depletion.
– More efficient technologies also a factor of accelerated resource
depletion.
– So far, technology as been more a factor of resource depletion
and environmental destruction than of conservation.
The Vicious Circle
• Era of super disasters
– Climate change.
– Deforestation.
– Poverty.
– Crowding.
• Collision to create more considerable hazards
– 1 billion people are living in shantytowns.
– Several of the largest cities are at risk of earthquakes.
– 50% of the global population lives along the coastline.
– 10 million are at high risk of being flooded.
– 96% of all causalities from natural disasters are in the Third World.
The Vicious Circle
• Increase of pressures over
marginal land,
overexploitation, and
deforestation.
Population • Erosion and floods.
• Increase use of fertilizers,
pesticides and water.
• Migration to shantytowns.
• Erosion, salination and floods
lower agricultural yields,
Environment employment and incomes.
• Overpopulation increases
health problems and lowers
productivity.
Causes of Environmental Problems

• Exponential population growth

• Wasteful and unsustainable resource use
• Poverty
• Failure to include environmental costs of goods and
services in market prices
 Developed and Developing Countries
• The unequal distribution of wealth and resources around the world influence the
environmental problems and solutions a society can make.
• Developed countries have higher incomes, slower population growth, diverse industrial
economies, and stronger social support.
• Developing countries have lower average incomes, simple agriculture-based
communities, and rapid population growth.
 Population and Consumption
• Almost all environmental problems can be traced back to two root causes:
• The human population in some areas is growing too quickly for the local
environment to support.
• People are using up, wasting, or polluting many natural resources faster than
they can be renewed, replaced, or cleaned up.
 Local Population Pressures
• When the population in an area grows rapidly, there may
not be enough natural resources for everyone to live a
healthy, productive life.
• In severely overpopulated regions, forests are stripped
bare, topsoil is exhausted, and animals are driven to
extinction.
• In these areas, malnutrition, starvation, and disease can
be constant threats.
 A Sustainable World
• Sustainability is the condition in which human needs are
met in such a way that a human population can survive
indefinitely.
• Sustainability is a key goal of environmental science.
 A Sustainable World
• A sustainable world is not unchanging as technological
advances and human civilizations continue to be
productive.
• However, our current world is not sustainable as the
developed countries are using resources faster than they
can be replaced.
• Achieving a sustainable world requires everyone’s
participation including individual citizens, industry, and
the government.
What Is an Environmentally Sustainable
Society?
• Our lives and economies depend on energy from the sun
and natural resources and natural services (natural
capital) provided by the earth.

• Living sustainably means living off earth’s natural income

without depleting or degrading the natural capital that
supplies it.
How Can we Live More Sustainably? Three
Big Ideas
• We can live more sustainably by relying more on
solar energy, preserving biodiversity, and not
disrupting the earth’s natural chemical recycling
processes.
Three Big Ideas for Sustainability

• Rely more on renewable energy from the sun

• Protect biodiversity
• Do not disrupt earth’s natural chemical cycles
• Nations, from core nations to peripheral and semi-
peripheral nations alike, have to devise a plan for how to
preserve natural resources while this expansion occurs.
Human activities create many environmental issues from
global warming to pollution, to toxic waste and an
abundance of garbage. One attempt to address the issue
of environmental damage caused by human activity is the
Kyoto Protocol, now known as the Paris Agreement.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Humans and the environment have been interacting since humans first
walked the Earth. Humans change their environment both positively and
negatively and the environment affects how humans live in many different
ways.
• The main interactions between humans and our environment can be grouped
into the use of resources and the production of waste.
• Resources can be classified as renewable (e.g. water) or non-renewable (e.g.
fossil fuels).
• Humans are extracting increasing quantities of natural
resources from the Earth which is causing problems of
over-exploitation, for example through overfishing and
deforestation.
• Water is used for domestic, industrial and agricultural
purposes. Some countries are classed as ‘water stressed’
or ‘water scarce’ because available supply does not meet
demand.
• Human activities produce many different types of waste, which
can pollute the environment. One example is e-waste from
discarded electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, which
contain many toxic substances that can pollute groundwater, soil,
and air unless their disposal is well-managed.
• Agriculture is the dominant economic activity in 3rd world countries
and significantly impacts the use of resources, especially water
and soil. It also contributes to climate change by releasing
greenhouse gases (e.g., methane from cattle) into the
atmosphere.