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Instructor's Guide to

Environmental Issues: An Introduction to Sustainability

3rd Edition

Robert L. McConnell

Emeritus Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences

University of MaryWashington

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Daniel C. Abel

Campus and Community Sustainability Initiative

Coastal CarolinaUniversity

Conway, South Carolina

Instructor's Guide to

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

An Introduction to Sustainability

Third Edition

Robert L. McConnell, Ph.D.

Emeritus Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences

University of MaryWashington

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Daniel C. Abel, Ph.D.

Campus and Community Sustainability Initiative

Coastal CarolinaUniversity

Conway, South Carolina
CONTENTS

Preface

Basic Concepts and Tools

Applying Elementary Math

Using Critical Thinking

Evaluating the Role of Government

Part OnePrinciples of Sustainability

Part TwoPopulation and Migration

1Global Population Growth: Is it Sustainable?

2Carrying Capacity and Ecological Footprint

3Coastal Population Growth: Bangladesh

4The Impact of Migration

Part ThreeClimate Change

5Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change

6The Challenges of Climate Change

Part Four Energy

7Oil and Natural Gas

8 Coal

9Bringing the World to The U.S. Standard of Living

10Sustainable Energy

Part Five Consumption and the Quality of Life

11Global Water Supplies: Are they Sustainable?

12Motor Vehicles and the Environment

13Motor Vehicles and the Environment: Global Trends

14Whacker Madness? The Proliferation of Turfgrass

15The Impact of Interjurisdictional Waste Disposal: Truckin’ Trash

16Mining: Is It Sustainable?

17Environmental Health: POPs

Part Six Threats to Ecosystems

18 Global Grain Production: Can We Beef It Up?

19Soils and Sustainable Societies

20 The State of Global Forests

21 Restoring Estuaries: Chesapeake Bay

22 Illegal Immigration

23 Catch of the Day: The State of Global Fisheries

Part Seven Sustainability and the Individual

24 Sustainable Communities: Sprawl vs. Smart Growth

25Sustainable Coastal Development

26 Sustainable Buildings and Housing

27 The Three R’s: Reduction, Recycling, Reuse

28 A Sustainable Diet

29 The Sustainable Campus

30 Restoration Ecology

Index

Answers to Questions______

Basic Concepts and Tools: Using Math and Critical Thinking

Question 1: How many micrometers are in a meter?

One million or 1 x 106

Question 2: How many centimeters are in a kilometer?

100,000 or 1 x 105

Question 3: How many grams are in a ton?

One million or 1 x 106

Question 4: Express your height in feet, meters, and centimeters.

For comparison, according to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2002 the average 19-year old American male and female were, respectively, 5 ft 10 in and 5 ft 4 in.

5 ft 10 in = 70 in; 70 in x 0.0254 m/in = 1.78 m

1.78 m x 100 cm/m = 178 cm

5 ft 4 in = 64 in; 64 in x 0.0254 m/in = 1.63 m

1.63 m x 100 cm/m = 163 cm

Question 5: Express your weight in kilograms and pounds.

For comparison, according to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2002 the average 19-year old American male and female weighed, respectively 172 and 149 lb.

172 lb x 1 kg/2.2 lb = 78.2 kg

149 lb x 1 kg/2.2 lb = 67.7 kg

Question 6: Express one billion (1,000,000,000) in scientific notation.

1 x 109

Question 7: Express 2,360,000 in scientific notation.

2.36 x 106

Question 8: Express 23,000,000,000,000 (23 trillion) the customary way using exponents.

2.3 x 1013, or 23 x 1012

Question 9: Convert 1.86 mm to (a) nm, (b) µm (micrometers), (c) cm, (d) m, and (e) km. Express your answers as decimals and in scientific notation.

  1. 1.86 x 106 nm

b. 1.86 x 103µm

c. 0.186 cm

d. 1.86 x 10-3 m

e. 1.86 x 10-6 km.

Question 10: Perform the following manipulations:

(8.7 x 10-3) x (4.2 x 10-9) = 3.7 x 10-11

(5.2 x 1018) x (8.7 x 1022) = 4.5 x 1041

(8.7 x 10-3) ÷ (4.2 x 10-9) = 2.1 x 106

(5.2 x 1018) ÷ (8.7 x 1022) = 6.0 x 10-5

Question 11: In a clear sentence or two, explain what you think Jefferson meant by the phrase we underlined.

Obviously, students may take an expansive or a restrictive view of the quote. A consensus will probably arise that he meant 'harm' in a broad sense.

Question 12: Do you think he was referring solely to thugs who physically brutalize their fellow citizens? Explain.

Most will probably conclude that there are many ways to 'harm' others beyond the physical. Some may hold that it is the responsibility of the person who is being harmed to prove the harm, which is the basis of much of our civil law. Some may also wonder if Jefferson could conceivably have anticipated the myriad ways that people could injure each other.

Question 13: Could he logically have been referring also to citizens who sought to poison others? In other words, is restraining poisoners a legitimate role of government? Explain.

Logically, Jefferson could have been referring to poisoning.Most will conclude that it is a legitimate role of government, but a bit of discussion is certainly warranted.

Question 14: Now, what if a citizen or organization dumps a toxin into water or air that all citizens depend on, or if a citizen or organization fills in a wetland that performed valuable ecological functions upon which local residents depend? May government under Jefferson’s principle restrain that person or organization?

Here you may have to stimulate students to get a reasoned discussion going. Some may conclude that again it is up to the person claiming harm to prove it, but what if it is an animal or plant which can't “prove” harm? Also, some may claim that progress would be paralyzed if society interprets Jefferson’s reference to ‘injury’ broadly. Those should be challenged to provide logical examples rather than broad assertions.

Question 15: Therefore, is it appropriate that local government primarily or solely bear the responsibility for protecting its own environment? May the states and federal government have a legitimate role based on the transboundary nature of pollution? Explain and justify your answer, using additional paper if necessary.

Most students will probably acknowledge a legitimate federal and state government role to address transboundary pollution. Some may disavow any major role of government in protecting the environment, but it is difficult to sustain this position using logic.

Question 16: Discuss your opinion on the precautionary principle. Should those who wish to introduce a new chemical, a new industrial process, a land-use change, and so on, have to demonstrate that their change will not harm the environment before proceeding? Explain and defend your answer, using additional paper if necessary.

One could contrast the Precautionary Principle with the Risk Paradigm, and see what students conclude. One could bring up CFCs, DDT, and any number of other toxins that would probably never have been developed if the Precautionary Principle had been applied. It is also worth noting that approval of new drugs by the FDA is supposed to rely on the Precautionary Principle. Would the many adverse reactions to drugs on the part of patients have been avoided by applying the PP more rigorously?

Question 17: Consult an economics textbook or do a search on the internet using the term externalities. State whether you conclude that externalities should be included in the costs of goods, or whether and in what circumstances some costs can be left for others to pay. Justify your answer using those principles of critical thinking outlined previously.

Giving them examples would help here. See for example:

They can also search the Web using the key words “externalities,” “environmental externalities,” or “true-cost pricing.”

‘True-Cost Pricing’ is pricing of goods that includes the costs of externalities. A gallon of gas at the pump could cost $10.00 or more and would include costs not currently factored into the price: costs of the environmental impact of exploration, transportation, and refining; costs borne by the health care system for cardiovascular and respiratory problems associated with air pollution; economic and ecological damage caused by the introduction of exotic species in ballast water; the cost of maintaining and deploying armed forces to protect oil interests, etc.

Question 18:

Do you share or reject Jefferson’s opinions concerning corporations? Cite evidence or provide support to your conclusion. It might help you to prepare a list of positive and negative contributions corporations make to our economy. Do you feel corporations have too much power in contemporary life? Why or why not? Use additional paper if necessary.

This should be a very provocative question, especially if recent corporate scandals are discussed. The Green Party web site would be a good source for provocative information.

In his book In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations (Sierra Club Books, 730 Polk St. San Francisco, CA 94109), author Jerry Mander provides a list of the Eleven Inherent Rules of Corporate Behavior. There are available at and a partial list is summarized below. This list is quite provocative and may be beyond the scope of your course.

“The Profit Imperative: Profit is the ultimate measure of all corporate decisions. It takes precedence over community well-being, worker health, public health, peace, environmental preservation or national security...

The Growth Imperative: Corporations live or die by whether they can sustain growth…The growth imperative also fuels the corporate desire to find and develop scarce resources in obscure parts of the world.

Competition and Aggression: Corporate ideology holds that competition improves worker incentive and corporate performances and therefore benefits society

Amorality: Not being human, corporations do not have morals or altruistic goals.

Hierarchy: Corporate laws require that corporations be structured into classes of superiors and subordinated within a centralized pyramidal structure: chairman, directors, chief executive officer, vice presidents, division managers and so on.

Ephemerality: Corporations exist beyond time and space: they are legal creations that only exist on paper. They do not die a natural death; they outlive their own creators. They have no commitment to locale, employees or neighbors.”

Students could also read and discuss two books by Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce (1994), and Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (2000), with

Amory and L. Hunter Lovins. Summaries and sample chapters may be found on amazon.com and similar sites.

Issue 1

Global Population Growth: IS IT SUSTAINABLE?

Question 1-1: The mid-year 2006 world population was 6.52 billion and was growing at a rate of 1.14%. Project what the world population would be in 2025, 2050, and 2100 at this constant growth rate.

N = N0 x ert

For 2025:N = (6.52 x 109) x e(.0114 x 19)

= 8.10 x 109

For 2050: N= (6.52 x 109) x e(.0114 x 44)

= 10.77 x 109

For 2100: N= (6.52 x 109) x e(.0114 x 94)

= 19.04 x 109

Question 1-2: Given a 1999 world population of 6 billion, and a 2006 population of 6.52 billion, calculate the average annual growth rate over the 7-year period.

r = (1/t)ln(N/N0)

= (1/7)ln[(6.52 x 109)/(6 x 109)]

= 0.0119, or 1.19% per year

Question 1-3: At an annual growth rate of 1.14%, how long would it take a population of 5 billion to grow to 10 billion?

t = (1/r)ln(N/N0)

= (1/0.0114)ln[(10 x 109)/(5 x 109)]

= 60.8 years

Question 1-4: Use the doubling time formula to estimate how long it would take a population of 5 billion to double given an annual growth rate of 1.5%.

t = 70/r

= 70/1.5

= 46.7 years

Question 1-5: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, world population will increase from 6.52 billion in 2006 to 9.30 billion by 2050. Calculate the average annual growth rate for that period.

r = (1/t)ln(N/N0)

= (1/44)ln [(9.30 x 109)/(6.52 x 109)]

= 0.0081, or 0.81%

Question 1-6: Use the growth rate you calculated in Question 1-5 to project when the 2006 population will double.

t = 70/r

= 70/0.81

= 86.4 years, or 2092

Question 1-7: Does a population growth rate of 1.1