CHAPTER 17 The Environment The Ecosystem (pp. 578-579) The ecosystem refers to a set of living things and their environment: The
emphasis is on the interdependence of all things--people, land, animals, vegetation,
atmosphere, and social processes. To maintain reasonable balance, we must confront
the ecological consequences of everyday decisions that may pollute and/or deplete
the environment. Types of Environmental Problems (pp. 579-587) We may divide our environmental problems into two types: environmental
pollution and environmental depletion. Pollution is the harmful alteration
of our environment by our own actions and refers to degradation of air, land
(pesticides, herbicides), water (including eutrophication), aesthetic
environment (eye pollution) and sound environment (sound pollution). Depletion
refers to dwindling natural resources, including supplies of energy, and increasing
demands on these resources. How Big Are Our Environmental Problems? (pp. 587-593) The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established standards
for six "criteria" air pollutants: sulfur dioxide, particulate matter,
carbon monoxide, ozone, lead, and nitrogen dioxide. In general, enforcement
of air pollution standards has been reducing the amount of pollutants, but this
is not to say that the problem has been resolved. The greenhouse effect continues
to be a controversial issue. Some advances have been made in water pollution
control. Water and air pollution are related. We are consuming natural resources at an astounding pace; the problem of
depletion, however, is international. The United States uses more energy than
other countries. The demand in the United States for various kinds of energy
has grown more rapidly than the population. Environmental Problems and the Quality of Life (pp. 594-599) Environmental problems confront us with inherent contradictions among some
of our values. Environmental pollution is a threat to our physical and mental
well-being. Pollutants of all kinds are hazardous not only to humans, but to
plant life as well. Pesticides and herbicides are also a problem. A whole chain of consequences can follow from human action on the environment,
posing a threat to the ecological balance. The possibility exists that we may
somehow intrude into the major processes of the ecosystem and cause irreversible
damage that could threaten life and processes like photosynthesis. It is difficult to place a price tag on our ecological problems, but the
dollar costs do not reflect our losses. The contradictions between the demand for energy, the desire for a clean
environment, the desire for reasonably low prices for energy, and the value
on political independence are manifested on the international level in the form
of a threat to world peace. Contributing Factors (pp. 599-608) The problems of ecology are closely linked to population growth: as population
increases, our ecological problems also increase. Further, some problems are
caused by ignorance and accidents and persistently evade solution. For example,
population increases can lead to (a) diminishing returns, which means lower
payoffs for investments of money and energy, and (b) the "threshold effect,"
which refers to a point of environmental death caused by population/pollution
excess. Americans consume a disproportionate share of the world's resources,
contribute a disproportionate share of the world's pollution, and therefore
intensify environmental problems. Additional contributing features involve the
industrial economy, the politics of ecology, and such social psychological factors
as exploitative attitudes, our value of individualism, and our emphasis on materialism,
even overconsumption. At the outset, we need to acknowledge that environmental problems pose
numerous dilemmas. A number of courses of action have been suggested, including
programs of environmental pollution and depletion control, population control,
public education, and voluntary energy conservation (for example, car pooling).
There is a critical need for political action, including sanctions for polluters,
tax incentives for research, and role models for private industry. The industrial
sector must be encouraged to search for alternative clean sources of power,
such as solar energy. |