Environmental science: toward a sustainable future

665 Pages·78.176 MB·English

by  Wright, Richard T;Boorse, Dorothy F

Environmental Science
Toward a Sustainable Future
Richard T. Wright Dorothy F. Boorse
Twelfth Edition
ISBN 10: 1-292-02084-9
ISBN 13: 978-1-292-02084-6
Pearson Education Limited
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Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
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ISBN 10: 1-292-02084-9
ISBN 13: 978-1-292-02084-6
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed in the United States of America
1111222332580369258031999995399931
P E A R S O N C U S T O M L I B R AR Y
Table of Contents
1. Economics, Politics, and Public Policy
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 1
2. Science and the Environment
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 29
3. Basic Needs of Living Things
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 53
4. Populations and Communities
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 81
5. Ecosystems: Energy, Patterns, and Disturbance
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 109
6. Wild Species and Biodiversity
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 139
7. The Value, Use, and Restoration of Ecosystems
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 169
8. The Human Population
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 199
9. Population and Development
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 229
10. Water: Hydrologic Cycle and Human Use
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 255
11. Soil: The Foundation for Land Ecosystems
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 283
12. The Production and Distribution of Food
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 309
13. Pests and Pest Control
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 339
I
334445555666914704791453731533371
14. Energy from Fossil Fuels
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 365
15. Renewable Energy
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 393
16. Nuclear Power
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 417
17. Environmental Hazards and Human Health
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 443
18. Global Climate Change
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 471
19. Atmospheric Pollution
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 505
20. Water Pollution and Its Prevention
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 543
21. Municipal Solid Waste: Disposal and Recovery
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 573
22. Hazardous Chemicals: Pollution and Prevention
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 593
23. Sustainable Communities and Lifestyles
Richard T. Wright/Dorothy Boorse 617
Index 641
II
Economics,
Politics, and
Public Policy
Learning objectives
1. Economics and the Environment:
Describe how economic activity
relates to environmental goods
and services, and differentiate
between green and brown
An observer looks out over the Benxi Iron and Steel Group in Liaoning, China. economies.
2. Resources in a Sustainable Econ-
omy: Summarize the components
B
of the wealth a nation draws
y all measures, China has become the economic giant of the early 21st cen- on to establish and maintain
tury. Take your pick: umbrellas, toys, shoes, appliances, electronics, souve-
an economy, and identify new
nirs, clothes—chances are that they were made in China. China has become
efforts to measure true economic
the factory to the world. The Chinese economy has doubled in the past decade,
progress.
growing at close to 10% per year. In contrast, the U.S. economy grew only 2% per
3. Environmental Public Policy:
year over the same period. A new Chinese middle class numbers between 100 mil-
Explain the kinds of policies
lion and 150 million. Middle-class Chinese citizens commonly own a car and an
employed to regulate the use of
apartment and have opportunities to travel and purchase pricey consumer goods.
natural resources and deal with
With a population of 1.35 billion, China has a huge pool of labor. Now that the ex-
pollution, and describe a typical
treme control of private life is a thing of the past, people are able to choose where
policy life cycle.
they live, work, and travel. Millions of rural Chinese move to urban centers each
4. Benefit-Cost Analysis of Environ-
year, attracted by jobs created by factories that spring up almost overnight. Chinese
mental Public Policy: Discuss how
schools have created a workforce with a literacy rate that is over 95%. Because of
benefit-cost analysis is applied to
the accelerating pace of cultural life, children are now guiding their parents into the
environmental policy regulations,
realities of modernity. Traditions are being overthrown by the Internet, by the fierce
and give examples of the impact
drive to learn English, and by the social mobility that accompanies the
of regulations.
economic boom.
5. Politics and the Environment:
toxic air. There are clear signs that China’s race Assess the role played by
to achieve economic superpower status carries with partisan politics in recent
it some costs that go well beyond a stretching of environmental public policy.
From Chapter 2 of Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future, Twelfth Edition.
Richard T. Wright, Dorothy F. Boorse. Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.
Economics, Politics, and Public Policy
Figure 1 Smog in Linfen, China. The city is re-
puted to have the worst air in China.
the social fabric. Seven Chinese cities are among the “10 most tries were encouraged to develop their resources relatively free
polluted places” in the world, according to the World Health of the restraints of central planning. The booming economy has
Organization. The air is loaded with sulfur dioxide from coal- also put great power in the hands of the local governments and
burning power plants and coal stoves, and acid rain costs some industries and has enabled them to flaunt existing environmental
$4.3 billion annually in crop damage. Up to 750,000 premature laws and policies. China does have its Ministry of Environmental
deaths a year are believed to be traceable to air pollution. In the Protection, similar to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
city of Linfen in Shangxi province, the hospital treats countless (EPA), but the country is so large that the ministry has been un-
numbers of patients with respiratory disease each day. The city able to keep up with the need for enforcement. Recently,
is dotted with coke ovens, coal-processing plants, factories, and the Chinese government has been turning to international
a coal-fired power plant (Fig. 1). It has been at the top of China’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and has encouraged
pollution charts for years. One of its hamlets, Beilu, is known as concerned citizens to form homegrown NGOs that focus atten-
“the cancer village” because of the extremely high death rate of tion on pollution and other environmental issues. At least 2,000
those 55 and older. such groups are now registered, and they are beginning to make
a difference. Typically, a group—like Green Camel Bell in the
toxic Water. Xiao Sizhu, a farmer in the village of western Chinese city of Lanzhou—identifies a case of blatant
Xiaojiadian, died at 55 of esophageal cancer. In an interview pollution by some factory, documents the pollution, and reports
shortly before his death, Xiao spoke of swimming and fishing in it to the central government. Green Camel Bell was successful
the tributary of the Yellow River that runs through the village. in shutting down more than 30 factories dumping wastes into
However, he says, “Now I never go close to the water because it tributaries of the Yellow River.
smells awful and has foam on top.” One oncologist calls the area
“the cancer capital of the world” because of esophageal and bottom Line. China’s example demonstrates that eco-
stomach cancer rates that are 25 times higher than the national nomic growth can lift millions out of poverty and establish a
average. The Yellow River itself is being sucked dry by irrigation country’s strong place in the world market. But when this growth
projects stemming from some 20 dams, and the remaining water is at the cost of natural resources and the health of many of its
is grossly polluted with sewage and industrial wastes. Three people, it is clearly unsustainable. The economic development
chemical spills in 2006 turned the Yellow River red, and another happening in China has already taken place in the industrialized
spill turned it white. More than 500 million rural Chinese are countries of Japan and the West, but in these countries, pollu-
forced to use water that is contaminated by human and industrial tion has been addressed by environmental laws and regulations.
waste; only 20% of wastewater receives any treatment. The Chinese example shows us that economic growth must be
accompanied by the development and enforcement of just and
environmentaL PoLicy. The Chinese economy effective environmental public policies.
has flourished in large degree because of the decentralization of We look first at economics and its connections to the natural
power in the 1980s, when local governments and private indus- environment.
2
Economics, Politics, and Public Policy
1 Economics and the Environment very activity creates. A strong relationship exists between the
level of development of a nation and the effectiveness of its
Economics is the social science that deals with the produc- environmental public policies. Figure 2 shows three patterns
tion, distribution, and consumption of goods and services that describe relationships between various environmental
and with the theory and management of economies or problems and per capita (per individual in the population)
economic systems. Because economic goods and services income levels.
are usually connected to—and indeed depend on—en-
vironmental goods and services, economics needs to be • Many problems decline (for example, sickness due to in-
grounded in an understanding of the biological and physi- adequate sanitation or water treatment) as income levels
cal world. Simply put, no environmental goods and serv- rise, because the society decides to apply the resources
ices, no economy. available—usually from taxes—to address the problems
with effective technologies.
• Some problems increase and then decline (for exam-
Relationships Between Economic
ple, urban air pollutants like sulfur dioxide, particulate
Development and the Environment
matter, and carbon monoxide) when the serious conse-
In a human society, an economy is the system of exchanges quences of the problem are recognized and public policies
of goods and services worked out by members of the society. are developed to address them.
Goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed • Increased economic activity causes some problems to in-
as people make economic decisions about what they need crease without any clear end in sight (for example, sub-
and want and what they will do to become players in the urban sprawl, municipal wastes, and CO emissions).
2
system—what they might provide that others would need
The key to solving all of these problems brought on by
and want. As societies develop, economic activity as-
economic activity is the development of effective public poli-
sumes increasingly broader dimensions, with increasingly
cies and institutions. When this does not happen, environ-
pervasive impacts on the whole society. Furthermore, an
mental degradation and human disease and death are the
unregulated economy can make intolerable inroads into
inevitable outcomes. What is happening today in China is a
natural resources. In particular, during the latter part of
sad case in point. To understand this relationship better, let
the 19th century in the United States, private enterprise
us look at how economic systems work.
had unrestrained access to forests, grazing lands, and
mineral deposits. This unsustainable exploitation of re-
sources began to be addressed at the turn of the century,
Economic Systems
as government rules and regulations imposed necessary
limits. Economic systems are social and legal arrangements peo-
Fortunately, economic activity in a nation can also ple construct in order to satisfy their needs and wants and
provide the resources needed to solve the problems that this improve their well-being. Economic systems range from
A Figure 2 Environmental problems and per capita
Problems Decline
income. Some of the most serious environmental problems can
Problems Increase
be improved with income growth; other problems get worse and
m Then Decline
e then improve, while some problems just worsen.
bl
o
Pr
al
nt
e
m
n
o
vir
n
E
of
y
sit
n
e
Int B
C Problems Increase
$200 $2,000 $20,000
Economic Development
(Per Capita Income)
3
Economics, Politics, and Public Policy
Figure 3 Classical view of economic
a c “ Emaacrfcorapotonciniwttevoaoy)mlir. ts(aiby crole .ufa etcpLh tar aieonvr dirdttohu y(wrc neitnaseio)vt uenoarl”lnaev dlme( b rspeeo rtnstohottdesou umrccccoie rtgncssr)su e,(t ltielaotanrupb tf oailgnorrr,rgw eoa ew tnohnd)f e. H o u s e h o l d s $ P aiGd ofooCdr OsG NaonoSddUs SM aePnrdvTi IcSOeeNsrv ices Businesses
PRODUCTION
Labor Capital
$ Paid for Labor
Land
FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
the communal barter systems of primitive societies to the or change jobs. This system was most prominent during the
current global economy, which is so complex that it defies 20th century in the communist regimes of the Soviet Union
description. In the organized societies of today’s world, and its satellites and in Mainland China and some smaller
two kinds of economic systems have emerged: the centrally Asian countries. It proved to be a disaster, both economically
planned economy, characteristic of dictatorships, and the and environmentally. The failure of the centrally planned
free-market (or capitalist) economy, characteristic of de- economy in the former Soviet Union led to economic chaos
mocracies. in the countries that it once comprised or dominated. North
In any kind of economy, there are basic components Korea, Cuba, and a few African countries are the last to re-
that determine the economic flow of goods and services. tain this economic model.
Classical economic theory considers land (natural resources),
labor, and capital as the three elements that constitute the The Market Decides. In a pure free-market economy, the
“factors of production.” Economic activity involves the market itself determines what will be exchanged. Goods and
circular flow of money and products, as shown in Figure 3. services are offered in a market that is free from government
Money flows from households to businesses as people pay interference. The system is completely open to competition
for goods and services and from businesses to households and the interplay of supply and demand. If supply is lim-
as people are paid for their labor. Labor, land, and capital ited relative to demand, prices rise; if there is an oversupply,
are invested in the production of goods and services by busi- prices fall because people and corporations will economize
nesses, and the products provided by businesses are “con- and pay the lowest price possible. The whole system is in
sumed” by households. private hands and is driven by the desire of people and busi-
nesses to acquire goods, services, and wealth as they act in
The Rulers Decide. The cycles shown in Figure 3 apply to their self-interest. All “players” have free access to the mar-
both kinds of economic systems in existence today; the two ket. Competition spurs efficiency as inferior products and
systems differ mostly in how economic decisions are made. In services are forced out of the market. People can make in-
a centrally planned economy, the rulers make the basic deci- formed decisions about their purchases because there is suf-
sions regarding what and how much will be produced where ficient information about the benefits and harms associated
and by whom. The government owns or manages most in- with economic goods. The free-market economic system is
dustries, and the workers often lack the freedom to choose thought to be at its best when left completely alone.
4
Economics, Politics, and Public Policy
The Role of Governments. The preceding discussion de- hardships for people (and countries) at the bottom of the
scribes only the very basics of the two economic systems. In economic ladder. For example, if population growth is rapid
reality, no country has a pure form of either economy. Re- and there are not enough jobs to go around, the result often
cently, a hybrid economic system has emerged, called state is exploitation of workers. Furthermore, a market economy
capitalism, most fully developed in China, Russia, and the only offers people access to goods and services; if people lack
Gulf oil states. These countries, rich in natural resources or the means to pay, access alone will not meet their needs. In
in abundant labor (China), have used their exports to amass this situation, a society could employ a “safety net” to provide
capital that has enabled them to invest in building up the food security for impoverished people—something the market
country’s infrastructure and form state-owned corporations. does not do. Also, it is too easy for self-interest to lead busi-
Although major players in the global economy, these are nesses and individuals to exploit natural resources or avoid
countries where democracy is restricted. As they develop, costs by polluting the environment instead of producing a
their people are increasingly joining a “global middle class,” “clean” product.
and the tensions between state control of the economy and Presumably acting in the self-interest of their people,
political freedom are becoming evident (as in the 2011 governments also find ways to manipulate the market in
“Arab spring”). their own favor. This is especially true for international
The developed countries and many developing countries trade, where protective barriers and subsidies prevent the free
are democracies with market economies, but even in these, flow of goods and services. The World Trade Organization
government involvement occurs at many levels. Govern- (WTO) is supposed to enforce trade rules between nations,
ments can, for example, own and operate different facets of but wealthy nations have been able to dominate the WTO to
the country’s infrastructure, such as postal services, power the detriment of other countries.
plants, and public transport systems. Governments may
also control interest rates, determine the amount of money
International Trade and
in circulation, and adopt policies that stimulate economic
the World Trade Organization
growth in times of slowdown. Governments also maintain
surveillance over financial processes such as stock markets Trade is a fundamental economic activity. The exchange of
and bank operations (although not always well, based on the goods drives the engine of the free-market economy. In today’s
U.S. 2008 market meltdown). On the downside, powerful world, trade has become increasingly globalized, and in the
business interests can manipulate facets of a market econ- process, world trade has become one of the most dominant
omy, and unscrupulous people can exploit the freedom of forces in society. However, many question whether this is
the market to defraud people. Only governments can provide good, and their concerns become headline news every time the
the policing that the society needs. WTO meets. For example, in Seattle, Washington, in December
1999, tens of thousands of protesters (called “globophobes”
Is There a Conscience? Many people believe that the con- by some) took to the streets to block the delegates from
ventional capitalist economic system lacks a “conscience.” assembling—and were subjected to tear gas, pepper spray,
They argue that many workings of the market economy create and rubber bullets as things began to turn ugly (Fig. 4). The
Figure 4 Protestors at the WTO meeting. The
World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, Washington,
in 1999, drew thousands of protestors, who were repelled
by police using tear gas and water cannons.
5